The Official Notre Dame Football Thread

[padman59]

A lot is going to ride on Crist and whether Diaco can get the defense up to par. I'd love to see the Irish finally be able to tackle and stop the run this season. It's been quite some time since the defense has been good.

I'm also interested to see how Theo Riddick is going to do at receiver. I'd like to see him evolve into another Golden Tate with his background.

 

[Irish]

Thank god someone created this thread.

Im gonna post my impressions from the spring game first.

-Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray will replace AA by atleast midseason.
-Shaq and Deion Walker will get lost in the WR shuffle.
-The defense still has issues tackling.
-I have 100% confidence in Crist.


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I have a ND rivals account and read up on practice every day, I will post some news I found interesting. Ill go position by position, or close to it.

QB- Crist's knee looks fine. I think Rees will be the backup and Nate 3rd string. Massa and Hendrix will redshirt with Massa ahead of him. I honestly believe Crist will be better QB and leader than Clausen/Quinn.

RB- Ive been a Cierre Wood fan since he committed. The spring game I fell in love. Very explosive, can go to the house at any moment. Jonas will probably be 2nd behind AA but I still believe Gray and Wood will surpass AA. Allen has been a huge disappointment in my eyes even though he is like 500 yards away from being 10th all time ND rusher.

WR- Starters will be Floyd/Kamara/TJ Jones. Theo will be influencial, also Goodman will (that may just be the Rivals writers talking since they love the guy). Jackson/Smith wont see game time unless its a blowout, but i even doubt it there. Shaq and Deion will probably get lost in the shuffle and will need to impress to play next year.

TE- Rudolph will probably be recognized as the best TE in the nation by year end and will leave. Ragone and Eifert will do ok when asked. Eifert will probably take over if Kyle leaves unless Alex Welch is the turth.

OL- Supposed to be much nastier from the new coaching staff. I need to see more to make any promises. Cave will start over Wenger at C.

DE- Ethan. Ian. KLM. That line is screaming NFL if they play to potential. The backups seem to be playing ok. But it will mostly focus on these guys. Nix will redshirt.

OLB- Filer will take Brian Smith's spot. Smith in my mind gets overrated cause he talks, he is a terrible tackler. Fleming is the best pass rusher on the team.

MLB- Te'o. McDonald will start beside him, with cameos from maybe Smith if he gets demoted. Also watch out for Prince Shembo.

CB- Walls will cover guys well. Gray will hit guys well. Blanton will handle the rest. They say Lo Wood looks good. Besides that at CB we are thin with WR Barry Gallup Jr at the 5th spot.

S- This position I am scared about. Harrison Smith looked bad at safety last year. Slaughter has never played it. Zeke Motta is still young, I like him though. Dan McCarthy probably isnt ready. Thats a lot of uncertainty for a weak defense last year.

K/P- I really dont care as long as this year they make kicks. Usually they havent recently.

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I am high on a lot of young guys or unproven guys, Wood/TJ Jones/Eifert/Shembo/Filer, and worried about guys who have seen a lot of time, Kamara/B.Smith/H.Smith.

Im excited either way.

 

[Sportsbuck]

I played against Prince Shembo for 3 straight years, kid never lived up to the hype. He's a pretty quiet dude, he was the most sought after prospect at most of the combines we hit up but he didn't say much, but on the field against him he struggled. He got manhandled by our offensive line (He played weakside end in HS) and never really had an impact.

We played him in basketball too and he wasn't too great, but you could definately see his athleticism and his size.

 

[Irish]

So far out of camp they say they like what they see out of Shembo. He says he really looks up to Manti, which could only help.

It really has to say how thin our LBs are. In the one on one drills between OL and DE/LBs, Chris Stewart pancaked every single guy he went up against except Manti who held his ground.

At middle its either McDonald, Paskorz, Shembo, or Posluzney. McDonald is the most experienced but not that good, Paskorz just switched to LB this year, and Posluzney doesnt have the body yet to take on D1 lineman. Shembo is young and unproven but like Sportsbuck said he has athleticism and size. Which might be all he needs to jump these guys for that 2nd MLB spot.

 

[Irish]

Shaq Evans, buried on the depth chart behind TJ Jones/Riddick, is rumored to transfer before the season. Rumor so far is Oregon is grabbing him.

Too bad.

 

[padman59]

Unfortunate to hear, but if there's one position that Weis stocked up while he was there, it's the receiver position. Best of luck to Evans if he does transfer.

 

[Bear Pand]

You really have pictures of ugly Purdue girls in your sig? Don't get me wrong Purdue has nasty women in general but I'm sure Purdue women > ND women.

Anyway good luck this week.

 

good luck recovering from the loss

 

[FirstTimer]

Sucks to hear about Shaq Evans possibly transferring.

He fell out of favor with Charlie Weis and I don't think Brian Kelly was ever all that happy with him. I'm assuming it has a lot to do with attitude issues and possibly some work ethic concerns.

Honestly if he at least sticks around through this season I have no doubt he'd pass Kamara at some point on the depth chart and see time. Then, with his skill set, if he's willing to work, I'd be willing to bet that he's the #1 or #2 WR next season along with Riddick and/or Tai-ler Jones. (I'm assuming Floyd leaves early for the draft)

Evans skill set is perfect for this offense and a WR corps next year of Jones, Evans, and Riddick would be beastly.

 

[Pitty]

Baldwin'd.

 

[NAHSTE]

Is it true that this thread only needs to get to 9 posts and Rush will automatically sticky it?

 

[ram29jackson]

........what I dont get is how a coach can talk to a network about the timing of their commercial breaks with the teams play style as an excuse....?

 

[Sportsbuck]

........what I dont get is how a coach can talk to a network about the timing of their commercial breaks with the teams play style as an excuse....?

It's pretty much just some BS that ESPN or some network is going to use down the road as part of some story... ND has faced no huddle spreads before, NBC has had teams like the Colts and the Bills (when they tried to run the no huddle) so they know how to handle it.

It'll just be some filler in a story if ND has success. Like, in typical ESPN fashion: "Brian Kelly's offense is so fast in its no huddle, and so effective, that they made NBC change the timing of their commercial breaks around!"

 

[FirstTimer]

........what I dont get is how a coach can talk to a network about the timing of their commercial breaks with the teams play style as an excuse....?

It's pretty much just some BS that ESPN or some network is going to use down the road as part of some story... ND has faced no huddle spreads before, NBC has had teams like the Colts and the Bills (when they tried to run the no huddle) so they know how to handle it.

It'll just be some filler in a story if ND has success. Like, in typical ESPN fashion: "Brian Kelly's offense is so fast in its no huddle, and so effective, that they made NBC change the timing of their commercial breaks around!"

This.

It's a basic discussion that happened but the media took and ran with. It's really not that big of a deal to anyone at Notre Dame. Just a slow news week or so before the season starts so it becomes a "story".

 

[Maize]

I expect a good season for Notre Dame and I hope they make a decent bowl. Looking at the schedule, there is no reason they shouldn't win 8 games. I can see potential losses to: Michigan, Pittsburgh, USC, Utah, and Stanford or Michigan State. Every other game is a win. But with only three true road games, I could see a 10 win season. The talent is there, depends on how the Quarterback plays.

 

[ram29jackson]

I expect a good season for Notre Dame and I hope they make a decent bowl. Looking at the schedule, there is no reason they shouldn't win 8 games. I can see potential losses to: Michigan, Pittsburgh, USC, Utah, and Stanford or Michigan State. Every other game is a win. But with only three true road games, I could see a 10 win season. The talent is there, depends on how the Quarterback plays.

8 games? Than whats to get excited about? Notre Dame wont be Notre Dame again until they go undefeated or lose just one game in a season.

The fact is, I enjoy rooting against Notre Dame. but I prefer them being an elite team as they have been through most of their History.

 

[Maize]

After going 6-6 last year with Clausen under center; I think a new Quarterback, Coach, and scheme with 8 wins would be exciting. Shows the team is heading in the right direction.

 

[NAHSTE]

8 games is a lot considering it's only 1 win from a BCS bowl.

 

[FirstTimer]

I was excited about last season and was sure we'd win 10+ games. This year I won't make any predictions so I won't be disappointed. It could be a good year as long as Crist stays healthy and the defense can kind of cover the receivers.

This. People keep asking me how many games ND will win or how I think they will do. I have no idea. Look at the schedule and 8 wins is a real possibility. Then again so is 6-6. Last year that team's only losses should have been to Pitt and Navy. Those are the only two teams that really outplayed them the entire game overall. They went 6-6.

I just want to see improvement out of this team and see them moving towards the something great that we all thought they were moving towards before the 2008 and 2009 seasons.(The two most frustrating seasons of my Notre Dame fandom.

 

[Cody]

ND Will Be In a BCS Game mark my words

 

[Maize]

ND Will Be In a BCS Game mark my words

I'll remember to be smug and bump this thread five months from now. I could see Gator Bowl...