RSS Feed
Johnny IrishNot Ready to Jump Ship … Yet.Sun, 11/4/07 Swab the decks. Seasickness has NEVER hit me this hard. In fact, I just lost my lunch. Twice. But I’m not ready to jump off this ship. Or throw its captain overboard. Not yet. It’s one thing to be 1-8 at Notre Dame. (Actually, it’s a million things, and only one of them good.) But it’s another thing entirely to lose to academy teams. Especially when you’ve had an extra week to prepare for them. And when said academy team has lost to you an NCAA-record 43 straight times? And has allowed 148 points over its previous three games? Well, there’s no way you can lose to a team like that. Yet somehow, someway, this Notre Dame team found a way to lose this game. Found a way to lose 46-44 to Navy in triple overtime. Found a way to come up short against an overmatched opponent with absolutely no defense and a completely one-dimensional offense. Found a way to give (or is it gift?) the Midshipmen just their 10th win in 81 tries against the Irish. Found a way to write the words “Navy beats Notre Dame” for the first time since 1963. Look, I realize The Streak was bound to end sometime. And if it had to end, I say let it end during this most awful of awful seasons. Let’s get every all-time worst and negative program first out of system this season. Let’s exorcise every single demon and start fresh again next year, with a team chock full of talent AND game experience. Besides, if Nebraska can get scorched for 76 points by Kansas, USC can lose to Stanford, Big East teams can take turns residing in the Top 10 and Miami’s quarterback can complete ONE pass in a game, then obviously ANYTHING can and will happen during Bizarro Season. That being said, this didn’t have to happen. And, frankly, this shouldn’t have happened. A LITTLE CLARITY HERE: Before I say what I’m going to say here, let me make two things perfectly clear. One, I’m a Notre Dame fan. I bleed Blue & Gold. Always have. Always will. And when they plant my Irish arse in the ground, they’ll do so in a Blue & Gold coffin. With the Notre Dame Fight Song playing in the background. Two, I do NOT think Coach Weis should be fired. Well, not yet. Much of the focus around this disgusting, deflating loss could fall on the final two game-breaking catches they allowed to a 5-foot-6, 168-pound RUNNING BACK. One, a 25-yard grab to open the third overtime. The other, a two-point conversion snare to give the Middies a daunting 46-38 lead. All that, of course, after Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Whateverthe-Hellhisnameis had completed all of FOUR passes up until that point. And then there were the final, bitter moments. The lost opportunities that sealed the deal, as the Irish failed not once, but twice to convert a two-point conversion of their own with everything on the line. But those aren’t the real reasons Notre Dame lost this history-making, back-breaking game. So what are the real reasons, you ask? The kicking game. And the coaching. Especially the coaching. BackPost new commentMan, I'm sorry, but we gotta have you log in. That's so we don't get spammed. Appreciate your understanding. Don't have an account?
Sign Up
|
|
|
Comments
learning to be a Head coach
I will stick with the present head coach in the early games of 2008--but this year His team should be in great physical shape-not like this year--also is think there should be a little(LOT) more team work than there was this year.
The Ship
What a lot of guys who coach do is get caught up in game strategy and all that goes with it. But, it all comes down to fundamentals. This ship is sinking and both ends (offense and defense) are going down together. If we don't stop the engines and get to a greater and more consistent emphasis on fundamentals, the ship will hit the rocks and shatter. Who will see the light?
On Target Aaron!
We commented in an earlier blog about CW's inability to prepare for a game given the time - ie. 8 mos for BOTH GT games, a month for BOTH bowl games, & a week for Navy. As we mentioned, NOTHING changes offensively, or if something does change [the attempt with DJ to run some spread option] it is done poorly which indicates poor preparation. CW apparently does NOT know HOW to get a team ready for a game. Take a coach's word for it...I KNOW the team is NOT prepared as well as it could be. Our talent [& we have a lot of it] is NOT featured to its best advantage.
Regarding talent, [& I will go out on a limb here], I am NOT convinced that JC is the QB that CW & everyone thinks he is. Yes, I realize that he is coming off a surgery; he is a rookie, etc. However, he is NOT the talent that everyone thinks. He does NOT have the GAME presence...I know, what does THAT mean? When you have played or coached, you understand what that is when you see a QB in a game situation...Brady Quinn, John David Booty, Vince Young, Matt Ryan, David Brohm...they just have that air about themselves, that INBORN confidence in their abilities that is bred from the knowledge that they HAVE ability & that ability is NOT proven to THEM by win-loss records but by the knowledge that they have called upon it and it was there...the intelligence, game savy, cool-under-fire, ability to make plays where there are none, or the confidence that its only lost when the final horn sounds. Peyton Manning has it; Eli Manning does NOT...ever notice that? JC will never be the QB CW and everyone thinks he will; Dyne Crist however WILL BE. That's my pronouncement as a former coach.
JC and I don't mean Jesus....
Question: Did any of the Clausens have IT? Right on, I didn't think so.
Mike
Well said Aaron, well
Well said Aaron, well said.
Some very depressing times.
How about those De La Salle Spartans?!!