A few thoughts on Saturday

1) Big game, obviously. They're all big from here on out, but beating Maryland in College Park sure would be a nice one to get in the bank for seeding.
2) The ceiling for this team is still very very high. Like, the last Monday of May high. The floor is still missing the tournament, but a win Saturday probably changes that.
3) It will be very interesting to see how Tillman decides to defend Jeffery. He's drawn a pole in most situations so far this year, and that's allowed the other guys on the field to distribute the scoring very nicely. Does does that continue on Saturday, or does Tillman think he's got someone to matchup with Jeffery at SSDM? If it's the later, can Jeffery take advantage and put on a show on a big stage?
4) Can the second midfield win their matchups? I think this might wind up being the key Saturday. If the Irish are getting scoring from this unit, they're going to win.
5) The Irish are the number one scoring offense in the country through 3 games.
6) Games like this may be why we're seeing Lyght on the wing on FOs. With the two new FOGOs its possible the numbers won't look great on Saturday. But Lyght and Donovan are there to win possessions before the other team sets up on offense.
7) Maryland needs this game. They will be desperate. I still think the Irish are going to win.

Maryland

This weekend was 100% why I didn't care about the polls coming out of GTown. We have lots of fish to fry this season. Are we Long John Silvers or are we an actual chef?

Because it's Maryland, . . .

. . . and with a nod to Cole Porter's At Long Last, Love, I propose restating your final sentence as:

"Is this the good turtle soup, or merely the mock?"

Love it!

I think we perterped them!

Great stuff. Some of my thoughts.

1) Maryland hasn't lost 3 in a row under Tillman which goes back to 2002 or so? I forget but it was more than 20 years. If MD loses this game they could miss the tourney so they will be jacked.

2) Not having seen an actual game this year I'm a bit perplexed by the commentary that Jeffrey was stifled because they put a pole on him. Poles never stopped the Kavanaugh brothers. But perhaps that was because their supporting cast was more feared? I guess I'm somewhat concerned that Jeffrey can be completely shut down offensively by a game plan.

3) Agree completely with your assessment of this team's potential. I have been a naysayer on Angrick on this board for two years. I never felt he offered much on offense to be first team. But if he's having a Jake Taylor like breakout, whoa Nellie. Yago is the real deal and after two years of commentators saying ND's second line could beat most team's first lines, we are seeing it.

4) Our strength of schedule is insane. I wish we had at least two tomato cans in there. Playing Cuse, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina and on and on is a big deal. Only the 2024 Irish were truly good enough to roll through a schedule like that. We could play VERY well and lose 4 games this year.

5) I look forward to seeing Dylan Faison get some reps.

6) Ted Lally will be on the Tewaaraton watch list before his career is over.

Re: Jeffery

My working theory is the coaching staff has been more than happy to let other teams think that they are shutting off Jeffery while the offense learns to play together. He's been more aggressive this year so far, and could have had a couple more goals by now that goalies made nice plays on, but we have didn't have to ask too much of him against Georgetown because we were getting everyone involved.
In the past, if someone tried to take Pat or Chris away, Jake Taylor would go and score 7 goals. Swap out "Jake Taylor" for "Ted Lally, Luke Miller, etc" -- the guys who are getting their first real taste in the offense. Jeffery hasn't been quite as much of a decoy as Pat on one leg in the 2023 championship game, but he's going to get more opportunities to live up to the ACC freshman of the year billing from here on out.