Ugh. It’s Hangover time. Usually after a loss like that, it takes me a while to pull the will out of my ass, and sit down to write something up. This time, however, I felt like I had a ton to say and wanted to get it put together right away. Unfortunately, my personal scheduling saw otherwise.
The new format that I have installed to do the Hangovers is not the most suitable way to discuss a game like this, but I will give it a go. A podcast will be recorded later tonight/tomorrow morning to fill in the blanks and expand on my overall experience at Notre Dame on Saturday.
On to the Hangover…
The Top 5
1. We might as well talk about the “Stadium Experience” right away. How could I not? It was one of the things I concentrated the most on leading up to the game. It was my mistake- and Notre Dame’s apparently.
The atmosphere was “electric.” That is the word that has been most commonly identified with the night, and it is fitting in a lot of different ways. Having been to a lot of Notre Dame home games in my life, I have become accustomed to a certain way that things are done on gameday. It was kind of funny to talk to other people about the day itself, and how we would all refer to the hour of the day as “really 12:30” when it was in fact 4:30. We were all just trying to ease our way into this event. I got to my seat with about 38 minutes to go before kickoff. That’s pretty early for me, but I think a lot of people were thinking the same, as the stadium looked fuller than normal that soon before the kickoff.
The ushers in my section (15) were better than the norm. No issues with them in any way, and in fact, we had ZERO issues with anyone around us either. Bonus.
The music needed better direction. I was worried that the music would drown out the band, and from my section it did. USC’s band, however, is still playing the same two songs in my head right now. I’ll break down the song selection more in the podcast, but in the words of some random message board poster; it was amateur hour.
Overall, the crowd was loud, active, and willing. That is something I can not say about almost every other game at ND that i have ever been to. Nice job.
2. The problems were self evident early. Notre Dame suffered from a combination of players being “jacked-up” and the team playing flat. It’s a rare occasion when a football team can accomplish both, and it can kill you. Players were missing blocks, tackles, routes, and just about everything else. Some, such as Manti Te’o, admitted to being to “up” for this game. That can cause poor play, and once that poor play spills over to others, it starts to look like the team was rusty and flat.
This also caused a mistake in coaching. Notre Dame went down 14-0 so quickly after two, 3 and outs from our offense, and two scoring drives in response from USC, that I think Coach Kelly got a little too impatient. This impatience looked like it fed him throughout the game. How else do we explain the near abandonment of the running game, trying to run a speed option with Tommy Rees, and in no way trying to stretch the field within the passing game?
Gray finished the game with 4 carries for 38 yards and a TD while Wood finished with 5 carries for 5 yards. 9 carries is not nearly enough between the two. Not even close. It allowed USC to get that mental edge over Notre Dame by thinking they were “too physical” for the Irish. We used the same tactic in a similar game against Michigan State this year in which we won 31-13. I am normally not a “run the damn ball,” kind of a guy, but I felt like we could have used more attempts in a game like that.
3. There is still a lack of developed depth on defense. This is an issue that Kelly and his staff are working on, and have been improving. Saturday was just a game that exposed ND for that lack of depth.
Ethan Johnson was out due to injury. Aaron Lynch stepped in to start in EJ’s place. As good as Lynch is, he is still nowhere near the level of EJ in his overall skillset. You could see the difference Saturday. Now, with KLM likely out for the season, we are guaranteed at least one frosh DE on the field- if not two at a time right next to a redshirt freshman NT. We will see some growing pains, and some spectacular plays over the course of the next 5 games. The silver lining is that these freshman will now be veterans as sophomores next year.
Motta’s injury was another blow to the Irish defense. Although I have been a little cold on Motta’s play this year, I liked Slaughter staying on the field as the nickel in those situations. With Motta out, we saw a lot more of Lo Wood. Although you can make the same argument for Wood as we do with the DL, there is just too much of a dropoff. Wood is not a bad player, but I can see why the staff has been slow-playing his playing time. He needs time. Time we didn’t have.
4. Three losses. Three losses that can be tracked by turnovers and penalties. NEWSFLASH: That’s how football usually plays out. The team that makes the fewer mistakes (turnovers and penalties) will win the football game. This is all too true for the Irish as we can trace a 14 point loss and turn it into a 3 point win. A 17 point swing on the edge of two plays. A personal foul penalty that kept a USC drive alive to score a field goal, and a fumble on the goaline that resulted in a scoop and score for USC. As shitty as Notre Dame played, those two plays sealed their fate. There could be another couple examples in the hypothetical answer, but there you go. A game of inches, indeed.
5. USC’s first down production was amazing. I offer you no stats, but you don’t need them. You saw the game. SC was getting either 4-6 yards on first down, or moving the chains with one play. When it is 2nd and 4 or 5, you have your whole playbook at your disposal. For as big of a dolt as Lane Kiffin is, he is a very good play caller. When you put a very good play caller into a position that he was in, it seems like only good things will happen. Drives. Drives that equal points.
Headbutts
- George Atkinson III. How quickly is one problem solved? Merely by a signature on National signing day from a kid that is as fast as the wind. Atkinson ran back his second kick return for a touchdown this season. If you are getting mentioned in the same breath as Allen Rossum or Raghib Ismail as a returner, then you are doing something right.
- Tyler Eifert continues his Mackey Award campaign. Although there were no TD’s, Eifert was the leading reciever and the go to guy for Rees.
Swift Kick To The Nuts
- Kiffin & Gallipo. You would think that these two were lovers the way they seemingly talk shit together. I have nothing more to say other than, fuck those assholes.
- Dayne Crist. For whatever reason, this really good kid gets himself into some shitty spots. Sorry bud, that fumble was too costly.
I’ll have more in an upcoming podcast. Please, please just take this loss as a loss. One that slipped away without a bunch of lube. Do not make this a “program destiny changer.” It isn’t. It’s a setback within a rebuilding process that takes longer than a year and a half to complete. If you think otherwise, I will only think of you as… a douchebag.
