Can you fix "tempo"?

Okay, it's been a long, painful week of introspection and depression. We got our asses handed to us by Georgia Tech. Congratulations to the Yellow Jackets and Coach Gailey for having his team better prepared to play on Saturday. As Irish fans, we can only wish them well. If Georgia Tech wins the ACC and goes to a BCS bowl game it might make the Irish look just a little less pathetic than we feel right now. Just a little.

But we have to go on the road this week and play a Nittany Lions squad that believes they are all that and a bag of chips. They were already feeling pretty good about themselves before they hung 59 points on sacrificial lamb Florida International University. I think I've made my feelings about such scheduling pretty clear already, so we'll have to move past that.

The one arguably good thing that came out of Saturday's debacle is that Coach Weis is done being cute with the quarterback situation. If Demetrius Jones and/or the offensive line had played better on Saturday, we might still be living through the long national nightmare of a continuing quarterback controversy. Watching all three of his quarterbacks under fire convinced Charlie Weis (if he didn't know it already) that the future is now for the Irish quarterback of the future, Jimmy Clausen. One can only hope that the public announcement of the starting QB and a return to an offensive style that the players are more familiar with will contribute to team stability and confidence heading into Happy Valley. I take some solace in the fact that, as bad as last Saturday was, both Evan Sharpley and Clausen showed some ability to move the ball through the air when we were in a passing mode on offense. And when the ball was in the air, the Irish receivers surprised me in a couple of ways. First, they were open! Second, they did a good job catching the ball.

But will Clausen have the time he needs to deliver the ball down the field? As I wrote last Saturday, the Irish offensive line was badly outplayed by Georgia Tech. Watching the game at home, it seemed that our guys were having a very difficult time figuring out their assignment. It seemed to me they were completely confused about who they were supposed to block, thus allowing Tech defenders numerous free runs into the Notre Dame backfield. In talking about the loss, Coach Weis had a different take. It wasn't that our guys didn't know what to do, it was a "tempo" problem.

“It isn’t just the players playing each other, it’s handing the speed of the game. You can simulate it in practice the best you can, but obviously they did a much better job than we did of handling the speed of the game. They controlled the tempo with their defense versus our offense.”

And again -

“I thought the speed of the game, especially the offensive front against their defensive front, we were playing at two different tempos.”

What does that mean? Is that like "Well, Mr. and Mrs. Domer, it's not that little Johnny can't read. He actually reads very well. It's just that he reads at a slower tempo than the other children."

Oh, is that all?

And, more importantly, can you fix a "tempo" problem? Because if we don't fix our "tempo" problem I have a very strong feeling that this could be an issue down the road. Like this week in Happy Valley. Or in Pasadena. Or when the Trojans come calling.

This "tempo" issue has been discussed before here at OC Domer. Following the fan appreciation day practice in August I posted my thoughts on what we learned (or didn't learn) from that public practice. Included in my ramblings was the following:

It seemed to me that the line play was only going about 80% speed. Very little real smash-mouth going on. That, and the poor overall quality of the video posted at UND.com (too small, too grainy) makes it very difficult to evaluate line play. So I won't try.

Much has been made of the coaches requiring the defense to "run" a lap around the field when they lined up with only ten men on one play, as though the coaches were really cracking the whip. I was disappointed in how most of the guys dogged it on the lap. They pace was very slow, and many of the guys cut the corners in the end zones. I know the guys are fatigued after a week of camp, but maybe the reason USC and LSU run laps around us on game day is that we don't really "run" our laps at practice. Practice slow and play slow. Maybe I'm being unfair and too harsh, but that "lap" bothered me.

So maybe we've had a tempo problem for a while. If so, I am really disappointed. Living in Southern California, I am subjected to a rather steady stream of USC coverage. I've built up some immunity to it and no longer break out in hives. One common, recurring theme from those who visit Trojans' practices is that they are impressed by the high tempo of USC practices. If I know that one of the distinguishing characteristics of the current top program in the country is their high-tempo practices, surely that word has gotten out to the coaching community. Why wouldn't we (Notre Dame) be trying to emulate that? And if we are trying, why isn't it translating to Saturdays? Is it because we're coaching it wrong? Or is it because our guys are just too slow to play at that higher tempo? I sure hope it's the former, because coaching techniques can be fixed. If it's the latter, we're in serious trouble, because you can't teach speed.

It's commonly said that teams will improve the most between their first and second games. I hope that's more true of the Irish than Penn State. In my pre-season expectations post I felt that the Irish matched up pretty well with Penn State, strength on strength, weakness on weakness. I still feel that way, although one of the strengths I was counting for Notre Dame was an offensive line that would "have it's way" with PSU's defensive front. I certainly don't expect that anymore. I expect to see a Notre Dame team that has dramatically improved from week 1 to week 2, but that still has a way to go. We compete, and we return to respectability, but we lose by a touchdown.

Offensive Line Offensive in Loss to Georgia Tech

A week ago I posted my general expectations for Notre Dame's 2007 football season. With regard to the offensive line I wrote, in part:

We don't have Brady Quinn at quarterback any more. We don't have Darius Walker, who could see disaster coming through the line and side-step it like a matador. We have three inexperienced quarterbacks who will need time to throw the ball. If they aren't given time, we will see interceptions, fumbles, and sacks. We have largely inexperienced running backs who will need actual holes to run through. If those holes aren't there, we'll see negative-yardage runs and fumbles in the backfield.

In short, Notre Dame's fortunes this year are riding on the offensive line. We have to be able to reliably run the ball for 4 yards or more on first and second downs. We can't be in third-and-long situations. Third and long means an all-out pass rush, with young running backs trying to pick up the blitzers, and a young QB throwing the ball down field to young receivers trying to find a soft spot in the nickel or dime zone defense. That is not a high percentage situation. We have to be able to mix pass and run as we choose to, not have it dictated to us by the down-and-distance situation. On short yardage, we don't want our young QBs running the sneak. We want to give the ball to TT, or Schwapp, or Aldridge, or Hughes and know that we can get two yards. Obviously, in the passing game, the QB will need more time to throw than Brady Quinn had last year. If the offensive line can control the line of scrimmage, if the Irish can run the ball with authority rather than finesse, then I think we can have a very good year.

But John Latina had better make sure his resume is current. Because if the O-line fails to produce this year, he will be next year's Rick Minter.

In looking at our chances in this game against Georgia Tech, I wrote:

On offense, the Irish will have to be able to run the ball early and often. GT defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta is an evil genius of the blitz and will feast on our young quarterbacks if we get ourselves into "must pass" situations. If we can mix pass/run on our own terms, and not on Tenuta's terms I think we win it. As I wrote yesterday, it all comes down to how our offensive line plays. If we can control the line of scrimmage and neutralize Tech's blitzing schemes with an effective power running game, we'll be successful.

Well, I was right and I was wrong. I was absolutely 100% correct about how important the play of our offensive line was going to be in this game. I was 100% wrong in my expectation that the young offensive line would get the job done. They did not. Georgia Tech's defensive scheme had our offensive linemen thoroughly confused most of the time, and when our guys did have their assignments correct, they were generally beaten one-on-one. There were a couple of drives when the offense showed glimpses of being able win at the point of attack, but for the most part the Yellow Jacket defense played the entire game in the Irish backfield, making it very difficult for the quarterbacks and running backs to make plays. We're lucky to get out of the game without any of the QBs being carried off on a stretcher.

The defense was largely bend-but-don't-break, giving up yards (especially in the power running game) but not giving up the big play, and showing heart in the red zone. The offense just let them down today.

During the game I jotted some notes on my impressions of Notre Dame's play. I'll set them out here, without the benefit of reviewing the tape or checking the stat sheet. As Coach Weis likes to say "I can only go by what I see." By tomorrow I will no doubt have more perspective, but these are my thoughts right now.

First Half

Anthony Vernaglia made the start at outside linebacker. I wrote in the Spring about Anthony's somewhat disappointing career so far. I also wrote that if Corwin Brown could turn Vernaglia into a productive football player it would be a very good early sign that he is going to be heck of a coach for Notre Dame. After one game, AV looks to be a good fit in the 3-4. He was flying around and made some good plays. I didn't notice any egregious errors. Congratulations to him on making the starting lineup and having a good game.

As I mentioned above, the defense in the 1st half was very much bend but don't break. They were giving up chunks of rushing yards, but the pass defense was pretty solid. The defense was, as expected, more aggressive and featured more varied blitzes.

Offensive line did not play well. Pass blocking (including blitz pick-up) was deplorable. Run blocking was non-existent early, showed moments of success later in the half.

Travis Thomas is the starting running back, but he is NOT the man. Aldridge and Allen are the guys.

The kick return game is exciting. Armando Allen was a step away from breaking a big one a couple of times.

Demetrius Jones has good wheels, but it is clear to me that Coach Weis has very little confidence in him as a passer. It was fun to watch the West Virginia wrinkles that Weis put in for Jones (with some success) but you have to stretch the field and threaten the defense with the pass once in a while or they load up the line of scrimmage and you have no chance. Jones only attempted three passes (one complete for 4 yards). I wrote on Wednesday that starting Jones at QB was the Riverboat Gambler play, that it would be "outhouse or castle" as Coach Weis likes to put it. Well, the Riverboat Gambler lost today, and it was definitely "outhouse" instead of "castle." I understand starting Jones behind an over matched offensive line so that he can avoid some of the pressure. But why not roll him out and throw the ball down the field? Why start him if you don't have confidence that he can be multi-dimensional?

Sharpley can play QB for this team. He made good decisions, was very cool under pressure, threw the ball well, and is very tough. Loved it when he picked up the fumble (without putting a knee down) and completed the pass near the goal line. Very savvy. But the O-line needs to protect him. Watching him get pounded explained why Jones got the start. It wasn't about the quarterbacks, it was about Georgia Tech's aggressive defense and our porous offensive line.

Geoff Price did not punt today as well as he is capable of, and it hurt us. He needs to settle down (which he did later).

The defense showed me some real heart by holding GT to field goal attempts throughout the first half. Good sign for the future.

Justin Brown's personal foul and ejection showed very poor judgment on his part. You don't like to see that from a senior, and the timing was really poor. If we get the ball there we're still very much in the game.

I liked the Notre Dame commercials at half-time. "What would you fight for? We're the Fighting Irish." Glad to see the administration embracing our Fighting Irish heritage rather than distancing the University from it.

Second Half

We kicked the ball into the end zone! From the 30! Yippee! Hope we see a lot more of that.

Georgia Tech running back Tashard Choice was faster than Maurice Crum to the edge. I'm not sure what the scheme is that has inside linebacker Crum responsible for outside contain, but he wasn't fast enough for that assignment today. Choice ran right by him to the outside for big gains several times, including a 44-yard run.

Travis Thomas is NOT the guy. (STAT Check: He carried 7 times for -8 (that's negative 8) yards.)

Our offensive linemen are laying on the ground while the QB is getting sacked. They're going low and the defenders are simply jumping over them.

Junior Jabbie made an appearance at running back, apparently because he knows how to pass protect (blitz pick up) better than the other backs. He had no carries.

The Irish defense was able to get GT into 3rd-and-long pretty regularly, and generally held. (GT was 4 of 13 converting on third down).

The Irish run defense was pretty good on "pursuit" plays, but they had a lot of trouble stopping the power runs off tackle.

Our offensive guards had a very tough time picking up the right defender to block. Again and again they were double-or-triple teaming a blocked defender (usually to their inside) as an unblocked rusher went right past them to the outside.

At 8:46 left in the 4th Qtr, here comes Jimmy Clausen. I guess that answers those who predicted a redshirt year for JC. He throws a long ball incomplete past DJ Hord, and his arm did not fall off his body.

At 7:49 of the 4th Qtr, we wave the white flag and punt on 4th and 2. We start emptying the benches and playing our depth.

The defensive backs played a solid game. Coverage generally very good, no big pass plays. I really thought David Bruton looked good. But, GT quarterback Bennett missed several opportunities to gash us.

Clausen's arm may not be 100%, but his passes looked as lively as Sharpley's throws. The long out-pattern to Wil Yeatman (10 yards) looked especially zippy.

Clausen looked calm and composed out there, except for the one play when he forgot to put his mouthpiece in. The play when he rolled out to his right buying time before stepping out of bounds showed real maturity.

Final score: Georgia Tech 33, Notre Dame 3.

Final Thoughts

The defense looks like it will be good enough to win games if the offense can hold up it's end of the bargain. Clearly Sharpley outplayed Jones at QB. But Clausen looked good as well. If Sharpley and Clausen are essentially even, why not put Jimmy in there and get the quarterback of the future the reps he'll need to lead the Irish to championships? He looked very calm and generally in command, and I think he has a stronger arm. We're fine at RB with Aldridge and Allen, and the receiving corps looked pretty good, with the youngsters (Parris and Kamara) coming on strong.

Next week I think we'll see a more "normal" Irish offense, with a different starter at QB. We won't waste a full half with just a handful of pass attempts. Although Penn State doesn't figure to blitz and stunt on defense as much as the Yellow Jackets, you have to expect them to do it more than normal until our O-line shows we can counter it. And if Coach Weis and Coach Latina can't get those guys working better as a unit in a hurry it's going to be a long eight weeks until the bye week.