Sometimes Notre Dame comes out for a football game not ready to answer the intensity and emotion of the big game spotlight. Saturday night was not one of those occasions. A strong start and stingy defense allowed the Fighting Irish to come up just short of a dominant but entirely controlling first half against the visiting Michigan Wolverines. In the second half, the Irish offense was bottled really well and a game-winning turnover from the Notre Dame defense sealed a perfect start to the 2018 campaign.
Here’s our first 18 Stripes game review of the season.
Stat Package
| STAT | ND | UM |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 24 | 17 |
| Yards | 302 | 307 |
| Passing | 170 | 249 |
| Rushing | 132 | 58 |
| 1st Downs | 21 | 20 |
| 3rd/4th Conversions | 8 of 16 | 6 of 16 |
| Yards Per Play | 4.37 | 4.44 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 2 |
PASSING OFFENSE
Well, it was just enough. Barely.
Prior to a couple of incompletions to end the first half, Wimbush was a heartening 10 of 13 for 148 yards to open the game. Basically, about as good of an effort as you could ask for given his struggles last year. He looked confident and nothing like the jittery passer we saw down the stretch in 2017.
However, he did finish the game going 2 of 9 for 22 yards with an interception.
One the one hand, it felt like Notre Dame’s offense went a little bit into a shell as it was nursing a lead and facing a Michigan offense showing no signs of life or ability to move quickly. On the other hand, it also felt like the more the game progressed the more Michigan was figuring out how to bother Wimbush and force incompletions. I’m chalking most of this up to Michigan’s defense being really, really good–and defensive end Chase Winovich seemingly having 28 quarterback pressures–and Wimbush not looking as good due to the competition.
Overall, a pretty encouraging effort from Wimbush. His accuracy was solid and he displayed really great pocket presence limiting Michigan to *only* 2 sacks.
It’s tough to say if right tackle is going to be an issue or not. Robert Hainsey clearly struggled in a big way and Tommy Kraemer had to come in and get some work, too. Things were much more quiet on the left side which is a huge win for Liam Eichenberg in his first career start.
RUSHING OFFENSE
Things were right around where I thought they’d be with Wimbush (77 non-sack yards) totaling exactly half of Notre Dame’s 154 non-kneeling, non-sack yardage. Color me shocked that Jafar Armstrong opened the game as the favored son at running back. I really didn’t believe in the hype enough for him to pass up Tony Jones to that degree.
No one will look back at this game with wide-eyed wonder but I thought the backs overachieved relative to where I thought they’d be for the opener. However, Armstrong’s 2 touchdown runs kind of masked a lot of struggles for him. He did run tough enough (40% success isn’t too bad against Michigan’s defense) but 35 yards on 15 carries doesn’t quite match some of the post-game hype, although he did chip in 2 catches for 11 yards.
Irish Run Success
Wimbush – 7 of 17 (41.1%)
Jones – 4 of 9 (44.4%)
Armstrong – 6 of 15 (40.0%)
Davis – 0 of 2 (0.0%)
TOTAL – 17 of 43 (39.5%)
I was pleasantly surprised with Jones who added 10 more yards than Armstrong on 6 fewer carries. I think most agree his ceiling is definitely limited but his median performance can help the team from a backup role when he’s used judiciously. Albeit from a small sample size, Avery Davis looks small and too gadget-y to really challenge for top carries. It’s difficult to see him averaging more than 1.5 carries per game, especially when Dexter Williams returns.
I actually expected Wimbush to run a little more (38.6% of offensive carries) although it cannot be stressed enough how important his legs are in crucial moments. From the 9 carries given on 3rd or 4th down Wimbush ran 7 times (Armstrong twice) and he was successful on 4 of those attempts. Wimbush finished with 44 yards rushing on these downs which is so huge and difference-making in tight games.
PASSING DEFENSE
Michigan used 14 more pass attempts to accumulate 69 more passing yards so that felt like for the most part both sides tied when it came to the quarterbacks through the air. This should’ve been (we were led to believe) a bigger advantage for Michigan which did not come to fruition. Plus, the Wolverines couldn’t muster a passing touchdown while Wimbush’s 43-yard touchdown to Finke was crucial in what ended up being a 1-score victory.
Notre Dame mostly limited Patterson & Co. to a lot of cheap underneath stuff. Michigan finished with a below average 6.9 yards per attempt figure while the Irish offense was better at 7.7 YPA. Again, this should’ve been a strength for Michigan.
In the negative column, Michigan improved a bit in the second half. Patterson completed passes in the first half (9 of 12) but for a paltry 62 yards (5.1 YPA) with 8 of the 9 completions gaining fewer than 10 yards. In the second half, Patterson settled down and went 11 of 18 for 165 yards.
Also, it was frustrating watching backup Dylan McCaffrey throw for first downs on half of his 6 passing attempts. Although, those throws only accounted for 21 yards at a time in the 4th quarter when Michigan really needed to move down the field quicker.
Michigan’s longest pass play looked like it could’ve been the fault of an Irish safety, it seemed like there was some miscommunication at the very least. Otherwise, Alohi Gilman (7 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 pass break-ups) looks like he’ll be a 3-year starter and backbone of the defense for a good long time.
I can’t praise Julian Okwara enough for his interception, just pure athleticism and instinct to drop back, turn his head, and have the ability to pick that pass off near the sideline.
The pressure on Patterson was very good at times, others it struggled to put the game away earlier than what occurred. Somehow, the Irish ended up with 6 pressures to Michigan’s 3 which doesn’t seem possible even with fewer attempts by Wimbush.
RUSHING DEFENSE
Saturday’s game is a good example of how success rate doesn’t always tell the complete truth, or at least give an accurate feel of a performance. In total, Michigan was 12.2% better than Notre Dame with their run success rate and I’d venture to guess in the past this would’ve correlated strongly with a loss.
The problem for Michigan was their lack of explosiveness. The same could be said for Notre Dame outside of Wimbush, of course.
Michigan Run Success
Higdon – 12 of 21 (57.1%)
McCaffrey – 1 of 3 (33.3%)
Peoples-Jones – 1 of 1 (100.0%)
Evans – 0 for 2 (0.0%)
Patterson – 1 of 2 (50.0%)
TOTAL – 15 of 29 (51.7%)
I was a little surprised to see Higdon so successful, however, his longest run was 10 yards. He was running tough but finished with a mediocre 3.4 average. For sure, having Michigan lose 11 yards on a poor field goal hold and a hefty 32 yards on 3 sacks given up made their net rushing look so much worse. Still, this was one of the best run defense performances of the Elko/Lea era.
Additionally, Michigan tied for the national lead in tackles for loss last year and Notre Dame was even (7 for each side) in this game. A common theme for this game is that Notre Dame went tit-for-tat in Michigan’s areas of strength.
SPECIAL TEAMS
There were some bright moments but largely too many mistakes. It was a tough day in the office for kickoff specialist Jonathan Doerer who launched one out of bounds, was flagged for a late hit, and was on the field for Michigan’s kickoff touchdown. Notre Dame wisely inserted Justin Yoon the rest of the way and kicked the ball out of the end zone.
The Irish seemed to do this last year, too. They haven’t shown themselves to be proficient in return coverage but appear to want Doerer to land balls inside the 5 so they can practice tackling. Well, that backfired.
We should praise Justin Yoon for nailing his lone attempt from 48 yards when the Irish really needed some breathing room in the second half. Tyler Newsome had one really poor punt, and finished strong with a pair of very good boots.
TURNING POINT
Answering the bell. Notre Dame controlled the first half, and while they left many fans wanting more to bury Michigan before the break, that strong beginning set up a second half where Michigan simply couldn’t catch up.
I thought the first series in the 2nd quarter for Notre Dame was such a tone setter. Michigan had just answered with a field goal to finally get on the board and the Irish proceeded to put together a 15-play drive that ate up 7:37 of game time resulting in a touchdown to make the score 21-3.
Even better, 57 of the 75 total yards on this drive came on the ground. The Irish ran the ball 13 times against this stout run defense and put the ball in the end zone!
3 STARS
1 DE Khalid Kareem – How does Walter Camp Player of the Week sound? He was briefly injured in the second half but finished with 9 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 hurry, and the game-winning forced fumble.
2 QB Brandon Wimbush – I’m going to call it a quiet confidence and one of the better 229 total yard performances we’ll see from an Irish quarterback.
3 S Alohi Gilman – 7 tackles, 2 break-ups, and 1 TFL. A really good safety has arrived.
FINAL NOTES
Freshmen Watch: It’s not surprising given how big of an opener this was but only 4 true freshman participated against Michigan: wideout Kevin Austin, defensive lineman Jayson Ademilola, linebacker Bo Bauer, and safety Houston Griffith.
The #IrishWearGreen campaign from reports on campus appeared quite successful. However, I’m sticking to my guns that green simply looks horrible in the stadium. By all accounts, this was the best color coordinating effort (ever?) in Notre Dame Stadium and no one watching on television would really notice. The exception would be for tight shots (mostly of the students) on TV and for the people on campus and in the stadium who get to see the green more up-close while tailgating. In that light, the green out is really more of a gameday attitude so at least that’s commendable.
Asmar Bilal was one slipped sack away from having a really strong game. He blew up a Michigan option and flew across the field for a big tackle for loss on another snap.
The only injury coming out of the game is Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa who was in a protective boot on the sidelines. Kelly just updated the media on Sunday that it’s a broken foot for 10 weeks. MTA could conceivably come back late in the season and still qualify for the new 4-game redshirt rule. However, foot injuries are usually not worth rushing back for on the big men.
NBC should be ecstatic. Not only did ESPN choose South Bend for the GameDay location but the Notre Dame game led all Saturday matchups in ratings and it was the highest rated Irish game on NBC since the 2006 Michigan matchup. There’s no doubting the country loves them some Notre Dame-Michigan.
Maybe all we’ll ever know of Alize Mack is making some incredible catches mixed with easy drops? His lone 26-yard catch that tacked on a targeting call was pretty huge, though.
I had been sleuthing Notre Dame’s social media for a while and they were practicing an awful lot in white cleats during fall camp. Turns out, the Irish faced Michigan in white cleats at home. As far as I’m aware this is only the 2nd time since 1986 (the program wore white cleats quite liberally in the 70’s and 80’s which was put to an end by Mr. Lou Holtz) that white cleats were used for the home team inside Notre Dame Stadium. A few of the players (notably receivers) wore light gray cleats, as well. The only other white cleat home game in recent memory was the 2015 game against Navy when each team wore the same ‘mutual respect’ accessories. Yuck.
Quite a debut from first-year defensive coordinator Clark Lea, right? I’m sure his feet haven’t touched the ground yet and won’t for a few days.
What to make of Michigan? They still have 4 more ranked teams remaining on their schedule, plus a road game at pesky Northwestern, plus Maryland looks frisky and Nebraska’s opener was cancelled so we don’t know how they look yet under Scott Frost. As hilarious as this may be, Harbaugh could’ve stunted his offense even more by making Shea Patterson the chosen one for the next 2 seasons. Their offense is such a complex mess of different schemes that it’s hard to see them really picking up steam any time soon. Plus, I wasn’t all that impressed with their skill position playmakers, either. They are going to put a lot on Patterson’s shoulders when he’s probably closer to an average FBS starter than an All-Big Ten-type of player.
So who replaces MTA? I think next on the depth chart is Dew-Treadway but that doesn’t always mean he’d be the next to fill ind long-term. Ademiloa got some time. Was he actually the backup? We’re pretty thin there and can’t wear out Tillery so we need someone to step up badly.
Today, Kelly said it’ll be Jayson and MDT with Bonner doing some cross training too.
I thought Chip Long called a terrific game, especially in the first half. It’ll be exciting to see more from some of the skill guys once we’re not playing a loaded defense. But overall our coaching staff ran circles around Harbaugh.
Oooh I am shiny-new-thing jonesing for some Kmet down the seam.
Yeah, Kmet is kind of the main guy I had in mind with the comment. Have to believe big things are coming from him after a quiet evening against Michigan.
Does anyone else feel that NBC zooms in on players/coaches for far too long after plays rather than showing replays or the players getting ready to snap the ball? I constantly find myself yelling at the screen to show us the play rather than showing a happy/distraught/pissed reaction. Really grinds my gears.
Yeah, the close-ups rarely are for any reason at all. NBC should be doing much, much better…but i gave up on them making real improvements 25 years ago.
Great write-up. A few additional points I think worth mentioning:
1) Jaden beat me to this above, but, wow, there was a massive and noticeable coaching disparity. I could not have been more wrong about this going into it. Chip Long called a fantastic game, indeed, but the disparity was much greater on the other side of the ball. Michigan’s clock management in the second half was just awful, and if I were a Michigan fan I’d be furious. Down two touchdowns, they were in absolutely zero hurry and consistently took at least 30 seconds with the clock running. Their first drive of the fourth quarter: 14 plays, 52 yards, 6:49(!). Down 14! In the fourth quarter! Oh, and they scored zero points that drive. Andy Reid thinks that clock management was terrible.
2) From my angle in the stadium, it seemed like Troy Pride was blanketing whoever he was covering all game. Not sure if/how that shows up in the box score, but man did he look good to me when I was watching him. I would be interested in hearing others’ thoughts, though, as I missed commentary in the stadium and might have been too pissed off by a good Michigan play to notice it happened over Pride.
3) Relatedly, that was the best in-stadium atmosphere since 2005 USC for me (was not there for 2012 Stanford). I understand not wanting the jumbotron for aesthetic reasons, and when they initially announced it I was kinda eh on it, but I am 100% on-board with it now. They really do use it tastefully, and the video package where they referenced the 1988 noise delay, followed by a “let’s do it again!” was perfectly timed and people went absolutely bonkers after that.
4) There was a Devin Bush hit immediately after the targeting ejection that looked really bad in the stadium from my angle; he probably should have been ejected too. They replayed it in the stadium and people were pretty unhappy, but I don’t know if that made the NBC broadcast.
5) I am very happy that next week should be less stressful.
For #2, I thought Pride was pretty good. My takeaway from the CBs was the Love was giving huge cushions off the snaps and that led to a bunch of completions on short routes. Not sure if they were just respecting the speed of Peoples-Jones and just paying attention to not get beat deep (perhaps as a support for the safeties too to keep it all in front of Love). But I did find it curious that the #1 guy in Love was giving a very generous start in man coverage and they never really seemed to adjust or press much. Not the end of the world, but that was my main thought on the CB play more than Pride’s play. The only big pass Michigan got (first play of 2nd half) was a 52 yarder to Collins where Love was 7 yards off the line, got run clean past without any resistance and had no safety help at all from Elliott who perhaps by design was not very deep and defending under.
On #4, I fired up the DVR, the very next play after the Mack hit/UM ejection it was a run left for Armstrong. Bush did pop him really hard, might have even lowered his helmet a bit but the contact was to the chest/torso of Armstrong and the force did send him backwards hard. NBC did not show a replay, and it was sort of a wide angle look at it, but near as I could tell that didn’t look like an ejection to me. Maybe there was a better angle, it was a wicked collision but looked low enough to not be predatory, just a heavy lick.
Really if anything the big Studstill hit later in the game to come up and pop the turning UM tight end looked pretty high and he went down hard too. Given the climate in 2018 football I was kind of surprised that didn’t draw the instant reaction of a flag. IMO if there was any questionable hit they let slide on the night it was that one by Studstill.
Elliott was the safety for that bone crushing hit, FYI.
Thank you, I stand corrected on that.
Totally agree with #3, best stadium atmosphere in years. I think the green out was effective because it showed ND fans weren’t selling out to scUM, unlike some prior big games (e.g. Georgia).
I was a bit pessimistic going into the season because of how Wimbush finished last year. With Kelly’s quotes about 2 QBs I didn’t know where his head was at. I was firmly in the camp of wanting Wimbush as QB1 because he gives us the best upside. I’m very happy with how he played yesterday against the best defense we will see all year and if he remains that poised all year. I think it can be a really fun season.
I’m seeing some ND fans on ND sites that are not happy and think Book should’ve played more yesterday. Those people are very low information people.
3 snaps, 2 TDs for Book. He’s too good.
😏
@THE STATS DON’T LIE WHY DOESN’T KELLY PLAY BOOK MORE, THIS SHOWS HE IS ALLERGIC TO WINNING!@
(Sadly, this comment is completely not sarcastic at places on the internet. What a wild time to be alive)
“Their offense is such a complex mess of different schemes that it’s hard to see them really picking up steam any time soon”
I think this is an interesting and perceptive comment. When you’ve got Harbaugh, Pep Hamilton, Ed Warriner, and Jim McElwain, but apparently no named OC–a quick google showed all sorts of Michigan articles from the summer saying Harbaugh hadn’t named an OC, by which I assume they mean one person to call plays–you’re going to get a mishmash. Hope it continues against everyone besides tOSU.
It almost sounds like VanGorder running an offense!
“The long bus ride home “. I love the title Eric.
After spending the offseason being the resident pessimist, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised on Saturday night. As you noted, E, I would have liked to have seen more creativity and a finisher mentality on offense in the second half. However, I was really impressed with Wimbush’s pocket presence. He’s not going to make all the throws, but he can keep the offense ahead of the chains and is really dangerous when things break down.
ND’s defense was fun to watch and I think the DL was the best unit on the field all night. Sure, Michigan’s offense stinks and their OL is the weak link of the team, but ND did what they were supposed to do, if not more, on defense.
I think the best part for me is this was a game that clearly showed BK and staff outcoach Jim Harbaugh and staff. They formed a gameplan that both catered to ND’s roster’s strengths and also used Michigan’s defensive aggressiveness against them. It’s a lot easier to see 10 wins now than it was a week ago. Now onto Ball (so hard) State!
Mack’s catch was amazing. Even w/o the targeting hit it was a highly impressive catch, and then he hung on despite having his bell absolutely rung! Also, if I recall it was made for a first down (on 3rd down) and kept us alive to finish that drive with a TD. I have no idea if it was a one time thing or sign or things to come, but that catch was huge.
I was also really surprised to see him back in the game in the 2nd half after that hit. Glad he was alright!
Click read more to see this in paragraph form. Great performance overall. I was pleased. As always, the question remains to how good Michigan is, but I’ll definitely be happy with how we did. I’ve seen a lot of commentary on both sides about Wimbush – internet discussion ranges from “Wimbush is greatly improved – Natty here we come!!!1!” to “same old shit, different season. Wimbush still can’t throw”. So I rewatched the game with an eye to his 10 recorded incomplete passes, as well as a couple of other key passes. Here’s what I found. First incomplete: ~30 yard sideline route to Claypool. Badly underthrown and lucky not to be picked off. Great individual effort by the receiver playing DB. 2nd: This looked like a route miscommunication. The ball fell in between Boykin and Claypool, neither of whom were in a good spot to catch the ball. But it was safe, nowhere near being picked off, and would have been a good throw if someone had been there to catch it. 3rd: Crossing pass to Boykin. I only got one look at this on the speed through replay, but it looked like it was catchable, but a little behind. I’d call this one 50/50 on the QB and receiver 4th: Overthrow to Boykin in the back of the endzone. Not in danger of being picked, but too high and too long to be catchable. This one was cancelled out by the roughing the passer penalty on Winovich, but if not for that personal foul, we would have been settling for a FG here 5th: Underthrown screen to Davis. This one was an example of Bad Wimbush from last year. Had the screen set up nicely but really bad short pass. Michigan defender made a diving effort at an INT. 6th: Another overthrow to Boykin deep down the right hash. This would have been six if he’d put it on the money. Definitely a developing pattern of missing on the long throws… 7th: This is the beginning of the second half. This was the pick. It was terribly thrown, but it looked like he was getting hit as the ball came out. No one was really in a position to make a play on this ball except for the Michigan defender. Also, as called out by announcers during telecast, poor effort by the receiver to bring him down, and a 20 yard return ensued. 8th: This is the first of two fairly unremarkable throws. This on was underthrown, the next one will be overthrown. They were both about 25-30 yards downfield. He had receivers in his face both times. It looked like he rushed his throwing motion to get it out before being hit. Neither were in danger of being picked. 9th: see above 10th: This was the Mack drop. It was a perfect pass, right into the breadbasket. He just flat dropped it. Not BW’s fault at all. This is the only true, 100% receiver’s fault, drop of the… Read more »
On 6, I got the impression at the time that he was feeling pressure and essentially threw it away. It also seemed to me that was one pass that he really put some heat on it. That’s what made me think he was throwing it away.
Nice breakdown!
Thanks. I wanted to put some video clips of each play but 1) that seems more like full article content and 2) I had no idea how to do it
Liked the dissection of the misses and I get why it was done, but let’s also point out that for the imperfections Wimbush was also 6 for his first 9 for 112 and a TD after 1 quarter, guiding the team to a 14-0 lead early. The biggest play, the 43 yard TD was somewhat lucky since it was an underthrown ball, but it was still the proper read- Finke had one guy near him and beaten him deep. If that ball’s thrown 5 yards deeper (big ask since it was like a 50+ yard in the air throw) it’s just a great QB play. As it was, it still worked. 1-2 yards underthrown and it’s broken up or picked off.
For the “Qb’s never develop or improve under Kelly” crowd, early success with the scripted plays that Wimbush executed well has to mean something. This kid NEVER would have performed this well 12 months ago vs Georgia in a similar type of defense/night game. Wimbush showed more than I was expecting, to be honest, and I was probably one of the more open-minded and hopeful fans around. He’s still a 55% passer, not hyping him up as an All American, but that’s better than a 49% one from last year.
He can pickup a 3rd and 18 without even using his arm, that’s special. All in all the challenge is just going to be finding ways to get him in good spots without getting too beaten up. I loved the option pitch to Jones that picked up 10-11 yards, that was just what I was envisioning all year; get Wimbush to the edge and push a defense and good things will happen.
I absolutely agree with you regarding Wimbush’s performance. I went over the incompletions to give a better understanding of what he was and wasn’t doing well during that game. Honestly, I think it’s encouraging that most of his misses were long, because he was playing with DL in his face all night. If he gets a little more protection, I believe he can put more touch on those throws, and then we’d be looking at a 65% performance.
Let’s hope so. I was impressed by some of his poise to keep his eyes upfield and subtlety move up a step in the pocket when the rush from the outside was bearing down to buy himself a bit more time. He looked a lot more calm and poised than he was against Miami, for instance, which was encouraging. And just worth pointing out to me since there’s no shortage of hollering about QB lack of progression when times are bad.
It will be interesting to see against some of the lesser teams (Ball St, Vandy) what his stats are looking like going into Stanford. Real chance to be above 60%, one would hope, if he executes.
If we see similar issues this Saturday, (either because he makes bad throws while not under pressure or, even worse, because he is under pressure against Ball St) then I will re-assess and have concerns. But, going on the assumption that Michigan is a good defense, or at least a really good defensive line, I feel heartened. I too noticed his poise and keeping his eyes downfield, not trying to scramble every time he got pressured.
In general, I see he has an issue with planting his feet and driving. When he does that, he gets really good results. On a number of the ones you list here he is either throwing wide open with his shoulders facing his target or he’s off his back foot with no power in the throw. There is another item I’d add to your list and it’s a completed pass that was a bad throw. I think it was to Claypool on a screen and he threw it too far ahead. Receiver had to dive for it just to catch the ball with one hand. He tried to bullet pass that when he just needed some touch on it
Didn’t notice that one. Thanks for the comment on the mechanics. I assumed there was something about being rushed and not “throwing right” but I don’t know enough about QB coaching and throwing mechanics to know what he was doing wrong.
I rewatched the game yesterday so I could see it with an analytical eye, rather than an emotional one. I noticed a few other things related to Wimbush’s passing. First, Wimbush was wearing a visor from the second drive on. I’ve never seen him wear a visor, before, so this might have messed with his vision a bit. Also, getting poked in the eye likely bothered him, too.
Regarding Mack’s drop (#10), the defender hit Mack’s hands right before the ball arrived. That most likely messed up the catch, even though it didn’t look like there was a lot of force in the contact. I would think this would qualify as pass interference (not looking for the ball, contacting the receiver before the ball arrives, not making a play on the ball), but since the contact was very subtle it was overlooked.
I don’t think throw #11 (slant to Claypool) was a bad throw. If you rewatch the play, Claypool makes his break, then Finke gets pushed off his route and into Claypool’s path. Claypool needs to pause to get around Finke, and then the pass is too far ahead of Claypool. I think that was a perfectly thrown ball, and if Claypool doesn’t get delayed the play goes for 15 yards easy, maybe more if Claypool can beat the safety. Finke is likely to blame for this one; if he doesn’t get pushed off his route, this is a successful play.
Wimbush also throws off his back foot a lot. That’s likely something we’ll see a lot of this year, as it’s likely too late to break the habit. However, he still seems to have success with it, although it could be hurting his consistency. Wimbush threw the aforementioned passes to Mack and Claypool (incompletions 10 and 11) and Mack’s catch on drive #2 that got Metellus ejected off his back foot. In my opinion, all were beautiful passes. These are just a few of his back-foot throws. I’m sure if we documented all of his throws, there would be quite a few more off his back foot.
What does it open up that the defense always has to be aware of QB draw?
I mean 18+ yards on 3rd and 18 is backbreaking. But Wimbush is so explosive that he is so dangerous on those QB draws.
Does it make the LBers slow to drop or what other benefit is there if you always need to take seriously QB draw?
Their LB, who can really move, was absolutely stuck playing within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage all night. There’s a good chance that short cross to Claypool that resulted in a first down doesn’t happen if a slightly slower QB is in the pocket, because the backer could have been patrolling that area.
Alright, 2 days later, I think we can still be happy but look at some concerns.
Special Teams–just let Yoon kick it out of the endzone and be done with it. Never put Doerer back in unless Yoon has kicked 9 FGs in a game we’re winning by a ton (which…how?) and he needs a rest.
O-line: I’m not too worried, as has been said this is the best DL we’ll face. Others have good pieces, but none of them will be this total package. And we’ve got 2,3 games to gel. Give Hainsey a week to rest, if we need him against Ball State we’re got bigger issues.
Wimbush’s Passing: Again, 2 weeks to work on it. He was enough to win, but he needs to be better. It is a nice luxury when you can call a QB draw on 3rd and 22, though 🙂
Run game: Armstrong had 2 TDs, but was 2.3 yards per rush. Davis didn’t do much. Jones was solid, not spectacular. It’s a theme here, but we need to tighten it up over the next few games.
I’m not ready to change any season predictions yet. Michigan actually looked way worse than I thought they would. But I think I’m going to dismiss the idea that we could play badly enough to lose 5 or 6–I thought it was a remote possibility, but now I don’t think there’s a chance barring major injuries we lose more than 4, and I think it’d take really bad luck to lose more than 3. Stanford looks about the same as I thought after 1 week, USC looks better, and we’ll find out about FSU and VT tonight. Those should be the only scary games. If we lose to Navy this year everyone should be fired immediately. NW, Syracuse, and Wake COULD be pesky, but shouldn’t be more than that. Lots of football to play, let’s make the most of the next two games.
VA Tech seems fast. I’m more worried about them than I was 2 hours ago.
I was banging the drum for Tech all summer, was confused why seemingly everyone around here was dismissing them. They’re young and have some question marks but certainly a top-25 type team. And it’s a very tough place to win a night road game. If Notre Dame does win in Blacksburg that would be one of the best wins of the season, IMO, but that’s no change for me based on what’s happened in their first half tonight.
And, just personally, feel a lot better about chances against Stanford. Love was bottled up and if SDSU had any type of secondary they coulda/woulda/shoulda had a chance at winning that game. USC vs. Tree next week that will definitely be an interesting one to track. If Stanford plays the same way vs ND that they did in week one, that shouldn’t be as scary. Or as scary as Kelly vs. Stanford can be.
I still worry that ND will lose one sort of a trap game that they “shouldn’t” (i.e Northwestern, Wake, Syracuse, Navy) with travel and late season potential concerns.
Well, they lost like 10 starters off their defense to graduation or suspension. They have no depth. So the idea was they wouldn’t have a very VT-like defense this year. But they’re looking good tonight.
ON THE OTHER HAND, I’m drooling at the idea of playing both of these offensive lines.
They will have a very Tech-like defense so long as Bud Foster is scheming it up. Excellent coaching can get around pure talent. They’re not pulling kids out of biology class to play, still have some talent. I don’t see them beating Clemson or anything but the talk they were a 7-5ish team was over-blown.
I agree, I’m just explaining why so many people were down on them going into the year.
Of course, 1 game isn’t enough sample size to know anything. FSU’s O-line looks horribad. It’s probably all a little bit of column A, little of column B, just like our game–our Dline is good, but they ain’t Bama, and playing Michigan’s turnstiles makes them look like All-Americans. That’s not a knock on our guys, Michigan’s O line just sucks.
I agree. Based on this game I’m watching, I’m either a lot less scared about playing FSU, or a lot more scared about playing VaTech. Probably both. Tech’s defense looks fast and agressive, but maybe it’s just weaknesses in FSU’s offense.
Just a phenomenal game that really want even close. Even when they had the ball with 2 minutes and a chance to tie I never felt like they were a threat. Just quiet confidence that I have not felt in a while.
I loved Chip’s aggressive play calling to start the game. Michigan clearly wasn’t expecting that and they paid dearly for it. Leading up all I heard was that Patterson was going to do this and do that. Now Michigan is on the brink of imploding. I saw were Braylon Edwards completely trashed the entire program and even called out a couple of players including Patterson as well as Harbaugh. Apparently this wasn’t the first time he has talked about how bad things are there.
From an officiating standpoint, I thought the crew assigned to this game did a really good job. I’d give them an overall
A- or B+ for this one.
The DPI on Tranquill was terrible for two reasons: A) there was no category of DPI and B) the ball was nowhere near catchable. Terry McAulay was right on the money, throwing that flag is basically just “bailing the receiver out” for running a terrible route.
Saw a missed block below the waist on ND that wasn’t called. This would be one of the new rules for this year that makes all low blocks have to occur between the 10-2 region when the ball leaves the tackle box. Missed call on a big foul, that’s going to get someone a ding(probably the B and the L). I did think I saw another one on ND for a low block beyond 5 yards, but I can understand them passing on it as it looked like the OL who committed it may not have actually made contact with the defender.
Great call on the targeting of Mack. That flag came out instantly and was confirmed by replay.
The Boykin TD that was called back on IDP was a good one. Both McAulay and I were saying the same thing after watching that first replay, “What in the heck??” But after re-winding it and watching the play again, I saw that Kmet was covered by Boykin, so good call. Speaking of that foul, did Kelly ever say who lined up wrong? I just watched that condensed game link in this article and I see that formation a few more times in the game, but we always ran out of it. Did Kmet get the play wrong and he was supposed to stay in and block or did Boykin get the wrong play and was on the line when he was supposed to be off?
I LOVE Terry McAulay in the booth. That is a tremendous addition. He’s a guy who really knows his stuff. Sign me up for a bunch more games with that guy.
It sounds like there were 2 instances where the new low block rule wasn’t called (if I read that correctly). With newer penalties, do refs tend to be a little more lenient with them in the first couple games? Maybe warn coaches/players before calling it strictly later on. Or is it supposed to be full enforcement from day one?
They’re not supposed to, especially with safety fouls like Blocking Below the Waist. The philosophy is “give some leeway on 5 yard fouls, get all the 10 yarders that affect the play and are at the point of attack, and get all the 15 yarders especially the safety fouls.”
Makes sense since it’s specifically geared towards safety