It's the little things that kill you
An awful, awful loss today for the Fighting Irish. Despite an offense that was very productive, and a defense that was largely in control, Notre Dame used a combination of penalties, turnovers, poor special teams play, poor tackling, and poor coaching to snatch defeat from jaws of victory.
Keys to the game:
1. Referees were awful. Overturn of the Armando Allen touchdown was horrendous. Ticky-tack call on Armando un-sportsmanlike conduct. Non-calls on Michigan un-sportsmanlike plays. Non-calls on clear pass interference plays.
2. Jonas Gray fumble was costly.
3. Tough day for Nick Tausch. Missed an easy field goal, and his kick-offs were too short all day.
4. Kick-off coverage was lousy. Special teams touchdown allowed was the difference in the game, both on the scoreboard and in momentum.
5. Did the Irish defense EVER put a clean shot on Tate Forcier? I blogged before the game about the importance of keeping contain on Forcier and NOT letting him get to the outside where he could hurt us. When we kept contain, he was held in check. Unfortunately, our defenders were juked out their jocks by Forcier on several plays that made the defense look bad.
6. Charlie Weis' clock management on the last offensive possession was awful. Too much high-risk play calling. Run the ball, throw short high-percentage passes, and work the damn clock!!!!
The only good news coming out of this game is that Michigan is vastly improved from a year ago and will win a lot of games, so a loss this week won't necessarily kill the Irish in the long run -- IF Notre Dame goes on and still wins ten games. NO more margin for error now.
Dammit!!!
14 comments:
#6. should be #1.... but totally agree on your analysis...Weis play calls and not being able work the clock cost the Irish the game...give the Forcier kid some credit ( but really the rest of the MI team was not too much better than Nevada), there is no way we should have lost that game and should have been able to overcome #1-#5...I have had enough of mediocre coaching efforts....this is a good ND team and they should have been able to overcome the bias Big 10 refs. It was coaching and play calling when it counted and it wasn't there when we needed it.
Allen seemed gimpy after his final run, so maybe thats why Chuckles decided to go to the air. I don't blame him for it... If shaq turns sooner, game over.
I would like to thank Charlie Weis for his services and return him to the NFL.
Totally agree..Until we somehow win a close game or two, we will continue to find ways to lose games that we should win...
We have a long,long way to go before we can even imagine winning 10 or more games..
I feel sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fire Polian now. Our special teams play has been suspect for years. Sorry Charlie, better put your house up for sale. Watch out MSU they lost today and have nothing to loose!
One guy. One guy beat Tenuta and our defense. Thats the biggest issue i think. Imagine if Michigan actually threw the ball downfield and had receivers.... they would have put up 50+. You can't blame Charlie. We scored 34 points, missed a FG, and Tate dropped like 3 passes. All that with horrible refs.
This loss is going to hurt for awhile. Poor clock management, dropped passes, over pursuing by our defense... Clausen did show a lot of poise to get us back in the lead late in the game and Allen ran the ball harder than I have ever seen him. It's still early, but we can't afford another lapse or the BCS will have to wait another year.
why is it that Michigan can win with a freshman qb and program termoil in the coaches second year and we can't win in Weis' fifth year with experienced talent? I wish Weis could be a winner, but it's obvious that he can not.
I watched today with great anticipation today to see ND beat scUM today only to see the skunkbears beat a better ND team. Unfortunately they did not step up. A freshman QB should never walk into the endzone. I have lived in MI all my life and I will have to hear more crap from walmart wolverines for another year. ND can not let down against State next week. They need to prove it or Weis is gone.
I may have said today too much in my post but DAMN IT I'm pissed!!
The offense was outstanding. This game is not on Weis. Michigan had plenty of time on that final drive regardless of whether or not Charlie ran the ball. I have no problem with him trusting Jimmy and his receivers to seal the victory. This game is on the special teams and defensive coaching, not Charlie. He put up 34 points and almost 500 yards in the Big House. He can't do everything. The defensive game plan and lack of adjustments was the big difference. OC is right about containing Tait. ND's D played right into his hands with those constant unsuccessful blitzes.
Weis is the reason we have a prolific offense. Lets face it, our offense is why we all have BCS expectations.
Tenuta got schooled by a very capable Rodriguez (even if he is a cheater). What gets me about the officiating is that this is no isolated incident. I know officiating is a difficult job and any team will always think they are being hosed, but this exceeds the bounds of reason. One would almost think the officials despise Weis, and that our opposing coaches know this and seek to take advantage of it.
don't blame the officials, makes you sound like a sore loser!
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