By Wally
I’m not condoning alcohol abuse, but I just want the readers to know that I’m sipping my second very potent IPA … it’s going down smooth and enabling me to cope with the ND loss to Michigan. Believe it or not, this brew is called “Raging Bitch” and, at this point, it’s pretty obvious why. I highly recommend it and will be looking for a third in a few minutes. Anyway, my thoughts are running across the entire spectrum of potential feelings that most Irish fans are feeling. First of all, let me set some context: Irish lose 28-24 after taking the lead with just over 3 minutes left at 24-21. ND’s QB, Dayne Crist, missed about 24 minutes of game time in the first half because he couldn’t see out of his right eye for a period of time. This happened after leading ND to an opening drive TD. Denard Robinson, Michigan’s dynamic QB and newly anointed Heisman Trophy front-runner, piled up 502 combined yards. Like most ND vs Michigan tilts, this one was very close: First downs: ND 25 UM 23. Total Yards: ND 534 UM 529. Turnovers: ND 3 UM 0.
Okay, now some thoughts and observations:
— Can we have a Mulligan, so that Crist actually plays the whole game? Clearly, Crist’s mysterious vision problem likely cost the Irish this game. After ND scored on an impressive opening drive and then thwarted UM’s first series with a 3 and out with about 7 minutes gone in the first quarter, Dayne Crist was standing on the sidelines from that point on until the start of the second half. What transpired in the first half after his departure was disastrous for the Irish almost immediately as Tommy Rees threw a quick INT deep in ND territory and UM scored a quick TD. ND’s offense was pathetic after that, with another INT from Montana and several punts. Clearly, ND’s inability to mount any offense just gave Robinson more opportunities. Halftime score was 21-7 Michigan.
— But the halftime score shoulda been 21-10 in Michigan’s favor, but Brian Kelly evidently did not hear me screaming from my Houston pad that he’s got to kick that field goal right before halftime. How many of you Irish fans were also screaming the same thing?? That’s a decision that highly paid coaches should get right … and of course we know that Ara and Lou are kicking the FG and taking the 3 points at that time. Kelly instead made an emotion-based decision to try for a TD from the 3 with 3 seconds left. What on earth made Kelly think Montana might actually make a real clutch pass in that situation??? Afterall, had he made a decent pass on the play before to his wide open WR, the Irish would have scored a TD instead of the WR having to tiptoe on the sideline just to haul it in. Those 3 points were definitely worth grabbing and Kelly *%$*#*% up.
— We’re still mediocre. AGAIN, we lost a game, AT HOME, after securing a 3 point lead with 3 and a half minutes remaining. Evidently, the “Echoes” are still sleeping. The hidden leprachauns are not tripping up opponents in the open field.
— Denard Robinson is a special player … possibly a once-in-a decade type. ND was geared to stop him, they knew he was gonna be the focus on almost every play, and yet they couldn’t stop him. 502 yards later, he’s sipping from the victory cup.
— It really sucks that Michigan, with it’s own crappy performance the last 2 seasons and it’s own set of issues and controversy with the NCAA, has beaten us the least two seasons, including today. They are actually ahead of ND on the “road to recovery” and that is extremely disappointing.
— Michigan made NO MISTAKES today, except for some missed FGs. But the point is this: no lost fumbles or INTs. Meanwhile, the Irish had 3 costly turnovers, one which led directly to 7 points for UM. Why did UM receivers catch just about every ball, but ND WRs like Floyd were only catching 60%???
— Where is Michael Floyd??? Supposedly ND’s stud receiver, he was pretty much invisible today. To make matters worse, he dropped a key third down pass in the 4th quarter. This comes on the heels of a game-changing fumble last week vs Purdue. Michael … please get your head out of your butt ASAP.
— Dayne Crist is still inexperienced and lacking savvy. He’s obviously talented and absolutely critical to ND’s success, but the fact that he struggled for much of the 4th quarter and ended the game with a pass that landed in the 3rd row of the endzone bleachers reveals a lot. That last pass was about 15 yards too long. Dane … get a clue on what the situation calls for!!!!
— Michigan is a one-man team. It’s all about Denard. Still, they beat us at home today and I’m really tired of seeing us lose winnable games at home. ND could not make one key play in the last 3 mins to stop UM. Geee … where have we seen this before????
— Just got my 3rd Raging Bitch. Life is getting better.
— ND is indeed a Top 25 team, but they better #$%#$& win next week at Michigan State. Am I confident that they will? Heck no. But this is where BK needs to earn his paycheck and become spin-doctor-shrink extraordinaire. Make it happen, Brian. You don’t want to start 1-2.
— Did you see that Virginia Tech lost to George Mason or some other dead statesman? That’s quite pathetic and really doesn’t help Boise State’s resume. Get over it, VT, and start playing like the team you really are. I haven’t seen this degree of lack of pride since …. well, last season for ND. Ha!
— Please share your thoughts on ND’s seaosn thus far. For the record, I kept texting my brother who was at the game: “We shoulda kicked that FG at the end of the first half.” I think it was quite OBVIOUS … and so Brian Kelly is now officially on probation for contributing directly to an Irish defeat. BK … get head out of butt. You and Floyd need to attend same class.
— I still cannot believe we let Robinson get more yards than he got vs UConn. He’s got to be the Heismann front-runner at this point. BUT, is Michigan really a Top 10 team??? I don’t think so and that may end up killing his candidacy. Or is he good enough alone to propel UM to a great season??? That last thought makes me just want to puke. You know, I HATE the Skunkbears. Did I mention that before??
— Have a good week ahead. Go Bears and Texans!!!
Have to kick that FG. Was that, like, a pride thing for Kelly? I’m smart enough to score from here? How mant rush yards did the Irish have? It seemed like they totally got away from the run yesterday and MIchigan just sat back and waited for the pass.
James Madison beating VT – wow!
You have to kick the field goal especially considering you don’t have your starting QB in the game.
Not trying to change the subject, Wally, but a few other things from yesterday:
Why does Georgia’s coach still have a job? Is it me, or has that program been slowly getting worse each year? They’re always “loaded” but do nothing with it. Now they’ve lost to South Carolina.
Congrats to former UB coach Turner Gill getting his first win at Kansas against a top-25 team.
How are Boise and TCU so good every year? I know this doesn’t matter when you hit the field, but what do their recruiting classes rank each year? Amazing to me…
Reynell – I agree with you on the Georgia Bulldogs, although they are currently ranked #22. Might be getting the benefit of the doubt for playing in the SEC.
I will say that Mark Richt has had his hands full – with the suspension of several key offenders players from the NCAA investigation. An injury has also cost the Bulldogs their top RB. No excuses, but it might explain why they looked a little lacking yesterday.
Of course – South Carolina could be that good as well.
Rey —
Re: the Georgia question …. it’s almost like Richt has incriminating photos of the university president or someone there so badly wants him to succeed. Or both. But he hasn’t been getting the job done, and I couldn’t agree with you more. He’s definitely on the HOT SEAT.
Boise and TCU seem to get players who are pretty talented, lots of 3 star guys, that the BIG BOYS don’t want. And some 2 star guys with great attitudes. Anyway, these players have a chip on their shoulder, they want to show the big programs they made a mistake and they typically stay for 4 years. That, plus I’m sure the coaching staffs for both teams are doing a terrific job. Just in watching their games, they appear very disciplined and they execute well. Plus they are physically and mentally tough.
Pete? Where are you? IrishNation needs some words of wisdom.
The new polls are out now. As predictable as the sun coming up in the morning … Notre Dame dropped like a rock after it’s gut-wrenching loss to Michigan. The anti-ND bias is evident once again, as the Irish’s last minute loss to a pretty good team pushed them COMPLETELY OUT OF THE AP poll. They were ~#32 before the game, now not even listed. Similar bot not quite as drastic results in the Coach’s Poll. Meanwhile, UM has elevated to #20 and #22 respectively. I just need to ask … does a 4 point last-minute loss to the team with the leading Heisman candidate while playing half the game without your starting QB justify getting completely axed? Why is Florida State at #31 after looking like total dogmeat vs Oklahoma? Penn State’s still in the Top 25 after scoring a whole 3 points at Bama. Why the double standard?
Still, we all realize the Irish need to win at Michigan State this upcoming weekend, and that certainly won’t be easy. The Spartans are now essentially occupying the poll position ND had before the Michigan game. ND has a front-loaded schedule and it doesn’t get any easier in the near term. Stanford, BC and Pitt are next up. Welcome to ND, Brian Kelly. Hope you’re really good at head games, cuz you’re gonna need to psyche this team up!!
Ok – – I finally am back after a self-imposed meltdown due to another loss to Michigan and the BK decision to go for a TD rather than take the FG prior to halftime. I would totally expect this from Weis but I thought we spent a small fortune on a new coach who is paid another small fortune to make the right call. On the last Michigan drive why oh why do we sit back in some “prevent” defense and let them march down the field and score their ONLY points of the 2nd half?
I have so much to say on the game but hey I would love to talk about Georgia. This is Arkansas’s next opponent and folks here think we have a pretty good Heisman candidate in our QB Ryan Mallett. We ND fans have a bad memory of Mallett of when as a freshman he led Michigan to a win over ND and our freshman QB Jimmy Clausen. Big kid, good arm, loaded WR’s. Should be a good game to watch next week on ESPN. My oldest daughter is a sophomore at Arkansas so give me a little slack as I cheer for the Hogs. Woo Pig Sooie!
Russ —
Good to have a half Irish-half Razorback fan here on the bench … gives us much needed regional perspective as we tend to be heavily weighted to the upper right corner of the country.
Maybe I missed it, but I haven’t yet read where BK may have addressed the question: “Why the hell didn’t you take the 3 points before halftime????”.
I remember Mallett at Michigan … obviously recruited by the prior regime to be the next strong-armed pocket passer, but tghen came RichRod and the new offense.
Putting things in perspective a bit … I predicted on this site that ND would likely suffer 5 defeats this year. Certainly, the Michigan game was one of the several “toss-up” games, so when taking a step back, I’m certainly not shocked at the outcome. Disappointed and frustrated? Yes. We need to move on … and the Irish need to LOOK FORWARD Saturday and what it takes to beat a pretty talented Michigan State squad on it’s home turf. I’ve said it before and will again … anything less than 5 defeats THIS YEAR, is a bonus.
Russ – Welcome to the Pine!
Busy weekend (at ND). Sorry I’m so late. The end-of-the-half decision notwithstanding (and I actually agreed with coach), I took several positives from the game. First and foremost, Kelly kept his team in the game all the way; no easy task given the disastrous first half. Second, we shut down Robinson for much of the second half. It was unfortunate that he broke loose when he did, but it was bound to happen some time in 30 minutes of football. Finally, Michigan is much better than I expected. I believe that at season’s end we will be appreciating the fact that we lost a close game to one of the higher ranked teams in the country. I am still a Brian Kelly fan, and have resigned myself to fan-only status. I no longer will critique the coaches, and am ND true blue (and gold), win or lose. I haven’t been that way in a looong time!
Thanks, Pete! There were indeed some positives as you point out, and I’m still a BK fan, too. But in “my precinct”, he’s still on probation … which he can get out of with a win Saturday vs Michigan State 😉
I think you are in the majority (by far) and I am just looking at things with a blind love.
I think Kelly had to go for the TD at the end of the 2nd quarter. He didn’t know Crist was going to be available in the 2nd half. Nate Montana was not even talented enough to be a starter at his High School or Pasadena City College. If his last name was any state other than Montana he wouldn’t even be at ND, and he wouldn’t even be suiting up to play football.
I think Kelly could have come up with a better play call than what he did. Had he picked up those 3 yards, the last drive by Mich would have been meaningless.
This is by far the best tackling team in 5 years. They don’t make stupid mistakes. This team is in a much better position to win games under Kelly than with Weis. Kelly is getting much more production out of his talent than Fatso ever did.
Boog —
Great to hear from ya again here on the Pine! Anyway, don’t ya think Montana actually looked better than Rees? Not that either looked “good” … don’t get me wrong. I think Kelly thought the same thing … that’s why Montana played quite a bit more than Rees. But, Rees is a freshman who’s been on campus a whole month whereas Montana is really a junior transfer who’s older and probably more mature.
Certainly, everyone knew that this year, Clausen leaving early and forced the talented but developing Crist into the starting role, and that would leave ND exposed at the backup QB position. And unfortunately, that achilles heel became painfully evident a lot sooner in the form of the first half nightmare vs Michigan. To Kelly’s credit, he’s taking the blame for not having the backups better-prepared. UnWeis would’ve probably blamed the kids.
Other note …. I’m going to the Texas A&M game Saturday which is being played at the same time as the ND vs Michigan State game. Highly unlikely I will have a game recap posted, let alone a timely one. Sooooo, if anyone out there wants to take the lead this weekend, please have at it. (Casey … did I just hear you volunteering?) 😉
Anyway, my first A&M game! Very excited to get a brand new CFB experience at a tradition-rich venue. Too bad they’re playing one of those Florida directional cupcakes … but excited nonetheless. I will be seeing some HUGE game at College Station in Oct-Nov. And next the weekend, 9/25, I will be at the Oregon State vs Boise State game on the smurf turf.