so since discussions have went so well, i d like to give a little breakdown of ND from my perspective, sometimes i ll give opinions on who has the advantage, as in ND's run defense vs. SU run offense, but i honestly haven't watched enough SU to give good opinions on that, so i will just break down ND and see what you guys think, some of this may be repeated from previous posts. I hope its informative!
So here we go:
Offense:
This really has been an interesting offense, they are 10-0, 4-0 under one QB and 6-0 under the other. I really enjoy watching BW play, but IB is clearly the better option, and its not even close. If Brandon has to play... he is a really strong runner and has a great arm, but he struggles with his decision making and accuracy. In his 2 years starting for ND he has faced some really really good defenses, i think last year there were 6 or 7 that were top 40 or something, with a couple in the top 10. Whats interesting is, that no matter who he faces, he is a 50% passer. He was against a great defense like georgia and a weak one like Ball State, it just seems to be who he is in this offense. His favorite target is Chris Fink. He seems to be a little slow on the read option, i think he takes it a little to close to the line to make a good decision. If he is able to be a successful on a few running plays, he always seems to throw better. I think they limited his running against FSU due to the injury to Book, and that threw him out of sync in the 2nd half. He is a great person and has the support of the team. If Book is able to play, be prepared to cover every possible receiver on the field, because he distributes he very well. He has a quick release and usually makes the right call. He is more elusive than you would think, but i wouldn't expect him to break an 80 yarder, unless it is just a complete breakdown on the defense. He can avoid pressure and throws nice on the run. The first couple games, almost every throw seemed to be in the 4-6 yard range, he is stretching that now and i think that makes him a little more dangerous. Struggles on the deep balls, but he will still take those chances to keep you honest.
Blitzing and bringing guys up doesn't seem to faze him at all, but struggles when guys he is expecting to rush drop back.
We have a trio of running backs that you will see, in order of number of carries you will have Dexter Williams, Jafar Armstrong, and Tony jones Jr. Dex is the speedster and is becoming more of an all around back. He has made huge improvements this year, i think if he had one more year, he really could be something special, i think he just took too long to get his head straight. He will have 2 or 3 plays where he just kind of runs in the O line without any vision, but then have 2 or 3 runs where he is explosive. Armstrong is the one i love to watch. He has a great combo of speed and power. He was a WR, so he is still improving at the position. whats nice is, if its late in the game and people are getting tired, you can throw in Armstrong and he can start gaining 6 yards a carry. He makes nice cuts. Jones is a nice back, can surprise you on some runs, but i wouldn't expect him to get more then 5-6 carries in this game.
The WR's and TEs are a mixed bag. Chris Finke is your Wes Welker kind of player. Former walk on, plays 100% all the time, alot of crossing routes, seems to run the routes very well, decent speed and pretty good hands. Does well on the jump balls too. Hes the kind of guy you throw to if you need a first down to win the game. On the outside, Miles Boykin is the big weapon. He has good range, height (6-4) and pretty good hands. He is always good for the spectacular catch, but i personally question is dedication to the route to make 8-10 catches every game. He has 8 against virginia tech and 11 against stanford, but in the other 8 games, he only tops 5 once. Chase claypool is a pretty fun receiver to watch. I feel like he is the closest thing we have to an NFL receiver, just watching the way he plays. Hes physical and good size (6-4). I think that physicality is something lacking in this WR group, but Claypool has it. he came from a highschool in canada, so i think at times he is still struggling with the way the game is played here. He seems to have a solid average of 10-13 yards per catch. Has shown a lot of great plays in blocking and special teams (gunner positions). Michael Young and Kevin Austin are two young guys that show really great speed and potential, but doubt either one gets more then a catch or 2 in this game. Alize Mack and Cole Kmet making up a bulk of our TE play. Cole is solid and reliable. I think at times he is forgotten about by defenses, despite being 6-6. Alize (6-5) is alot like Boykin, will make special plays, but struggles with the consistency to make the easy ones over and over again. I think this group is starting to stabilize a little bit, they just need to keep improving in the physicality department and consistency.
The O-line has been problematic this year, some games they have really stepped it up and played well, other times have really struggled with a Dlineman who have speed. After replacing the 2 from last year, we lost our next best to injury this year in week 5, so its been a little bit of musical chairs to find the right group. I would like to believe they have found it, but hard to tell. FSU is not a very good team, but they do have a good run defense and ND rushed for 365 yards. I believe this will be the difference in this game, if they are improved and found their 5, ND should win this game, maybe by a couple scores. If they haven't, it could be a 1 score game in the 4th quarter.
Special Teams:
Special teams should have been a great strength this year, but have turned into a liability. We have 2 senior kickers with huge legs. Just Yoon for Field goals and tyler newsome (aka joe dirt) for punts. Newsome has been pretty solid, Yoon has been ok. This is a kid that has made 60+ yarders in practice easily. We have had multiple kicks go out of bounds (Doerer handles those duties usually), 2 kicks returned for TDs, just sloppy stuff. The only reason the michigan game was close was because of poor special teams. Ultimately, i like Newsome to flip a field if needed and i would field moderately comfortable if Yoon had to kick a game winner, but over all, special teams have been disappointing this year. I think they need to let go of their coach, Brian Polian. Special teams have been bad since Kelly arrived. Finke has provided a little spark in the punt return game, but nothing dangerous. Kick returns are average at best.
Coaching:
I think that ND has a pretty good staff. I have always been a little split on BK. i think he is a really good coach and ND nation should be thankful for all he has done for ND. The field improvements, recruitment, facilities, everything. ND was in the dumpster and he brought them back. He has put a lot of players in the NFL and that has attracted a lot of attention. Prior to this year, i wondered if he was just burnt out from dealing with everything ND pushes on him and considered the idea that maybe it was time to part ways. Give him and ND a breath of fresh air. He has obviously done a great job this year. I know BK gets a lot of crap, but in 9 years, he has had numerous coaches leave for other positions, most of them getting promotions and a lot of players transfer for more playing time and leave for the NFL, and out of all those people, only 1 has ever said anything negative about him. I find it hard to believe in this day when every person has a voice on twitter, if he was that hard to work with and that bad to play for, that there wouldn't be more people expressing bad opinions of him. But so far, nothing, outside of ND fans who don't know crap. And most of the reason he keeps losing coaches is because he can't get ND to put up the $$ to keep him. Thats what is odd about ND, he is the head coach at a big university, but he doesn't run the show. Its not like he gets whatever he wants, he has to fight the university for stuff and they make the final call.
X Factors:
I think we are past the point in the season where i am concerned about ND taking a team lightly, and even so, i don't think SU would be that team. I believe they are close enough to 12-0 that they will stay foced (believe/hope haha). As talked about before, ND doesn't necessarily have an elite player, but they have a lot of really good players and the team unity seems stronger then ever before. If with the QB flips, the teams are buying into both. I think they will come in respecting SU. there could be a little bit of distraction with the location and uniforms and all that. They have traveled 2 of the last 3 weeks and that is a big concern. California for Navy, Illinois for northwestern and now NY for SU (just to finish up with USC back in Cal). a handful of guys are playing with some injuries, but only 2 stand out - Book and Drue Tranquill (MLB). If both are good to go, i can't think of any other new injuries that would effect the game.
Defense: Well i think 9,200 words is enough for now, ill break down the defense later!
