As the Irish prepare for the best defense they’re likely to face this season, the IBG prepares to answer the questions that plague the psyche of Irish fans. As always, my question will appear at the end, and you’ll be able to read my fellow participant’s thoughts at the links within their questions to me.
Frank Vitovich, UHND: After Torii Hunter’s debut and the the return this week of Amir Carlisle, how do you foresee the Notre Dame wide receiving rotation working out this weekend and beyond?
The unknown variable remains DaVaris Daniels. His presence or lack thereof is going to affect a lot of the wide receiver minutes on the edges. If Daniels remains out, obviously minutes will be easier to come by. But regardless, I think Hunter is going to push the starters, and quality backups pressing for playing time almost always makes the unit better.
Regardless, I see Carlisle remaining the primary slot receiver threat. His experience as a back gives him the versatility so valuable in that position, and all other things equal, should keep him at the top of the depth chart there.
Ryan Ritter, Her Loyal Sons: While Stanford’s rushing offense has been struggling this season (ranked 70th nationally), their defense certainly hasn’t (ranked 1st). How do you feel about the Golson-led offense against the Cardinal defensive unit?
The problem with ranking units, especially this early, is unless you’re watching all the games closely, it’s hard to tell with a small sample size and crappy non-conference games how good a defense is. Is the defense good because they’re good or because they haven’t played anyone? When you’ve faced the #52, #72, and #93-ranked offenses, along with an FCS opponent, it may not be that hard to get to #1 defensively.
Notre Dame is ranked 55th offensively, having faced the #9 (Michigan, if you can believe it), #53 (Syracuse), #65 (Purdue), and #109 (Rice) defenses. The Irish seem to have done better against better, so I’m wary but not worried.
Josh Vowles, Subway Domer: The national narrative hasn’t changed much. Notre Dame has played anyone with a pulse, and big bad Stanford is coming to town as the odds on favorite. The only thing that can change this perception is a win over the Cardinal- or would it? Would an Irish victory over Stanford in the eyes of pollsters and the CFB Playoff committee give more credence to the season thus far? Why does any of this even matter if it doesn’t really matter?
I think an Irish win would get the pollsters’ attention. What’s hurting them right now is the perception (probably deserved) that not only have they not played anyone, they haven’t dominated in the last two games as one would expect a championship-level team to do. Rice and Michigan were decisive wins, but both teams have looked absolutely terrible since. Purdue hung around for three quarters, and five turnovers kept the Syracuse game closer than it should have been.
My personal feelings above aside, given the high defensive rating of Stanford, a solid (read: more than one score) win by Notre Dame probably will be enough to dispel a good percentage of the doubts, or at least make them defer-able for another two weeks. I believe something like 21-10 would be enough.
Aaron Horvath, Fighting Irish Athletics: What does it mean to you that Notre Dame was able to overcome 5 turnovers and still thoroughly and soundly defeat an ACC opponent?
It means either the ACC opponent must have been mediocre at best or the win wasn’t nearly as thorough or sound as you describe it. In this case, turns out it’s both.
The defense, as I said earlier this week, had a fantastic game and pretty much shut down Terrel Hunt. But let’s not pretend the Orange were a team of world-beaters. At the same time, outside of the 40 minutes Everett Golson put on a passing clinic, the offense looked pretty shaky. I’ll feel a lot better this weekend if the 40-minute Irish show up.
And now, my little brain teaser:
There seems to be two schools of thought on David Shaw. The first believes he’s surviving on Jim Harbaugh’s leftovers and Stanford will soon revert to form once they’re gone. The second thinks he’s an apple sitting not far from the trunk of the tree and Stanford can continue their strong play under his tutelage. To which school do you belong, and why?
The Piper says:
Shaw can coach, and he will keep his team in the top 3/4 of the Pac12 year in and year out. That said, I don’t like how much of a cry baby he is.
Shaw regarding their last visit to ND – “just before our last field goal down there, we had a third and 2 and there was a whistle that came from the crowd. That’s why our guys stopped playing. It was verified. It was heard. The play did not stop…That one hurt. The whistle came from the crowd. I don’t know what can be done about it. I’ve heard from many people that it’s happened here a few times….” Thats just not true. All 11 of his players played the game to completion and only complained after they were stopped for a 7yd loss. It’s called video evidence.
If we limit mistakes, and create field position off of special teams, we’ll be fine.
I think the pressure will be on our guys
bocceman2 says:
He appears to able to recruit as well as Harbaugh based his last two classes. I do not think he is as good a head coach. A Harbaugh coached team would not have missed 7 scoring opportunities against USC,
Aaron says:
Which ND team is going to show up vs. Stanford….the one who dominated Rice and that team Up North or the ND team that showed up against Purdue and Syracuse!?! Either way this will define our season!
flirish says:
The real question for this game is along Aaron’s lines. Which team shows up. Is it the team with newe and improved special teams or the team with aveage to below average special teams. The team with a few five star running backs or the team that cant run. The team that can pressure the QB or the team that cant. Is it the team that can score quickly or the team with the worst looking two minute drill in college football (last week). Are we doing to be poised or use a time out on the first drive.
the point is that we often dont play to our potential but if we do we can win this game. After five years I expect the preparation to be outstanding from Kelly. I think this is one area of huge disappointment for me over the past four years–prepation and execution especially early in the game
Go Irish
BinCA says:
I watched the USC v. Stanford game and saw two teams that looked beatable by our squad this year. I see our defense making some big plays against Hogan this weekend and our offense playing a sharper game than they did against the Orange. Last week’s game almost felt like a gimmick fest against a less talented squad, as we simply kept throwing little screen passes and letting our more skilled athletes go one on one on the edges. I think Kelly rolls out some more complicated plays if we find ourselves in need of some extra fire power this weekend against Stanford.
With respect to Shaw, he is a great coach for Stanford. Decent guy, not the best game manager, great recruiter for their situation, but not quite in the top echelon of college coaches. He certainly should NOT jump to the NFL if he has any clue what’s good for him. With him at the helm, Stanford will maintain its attitude and team standards along with remaining in the hunt for a Pac12 title every year. They will certainly go to a bowl game each year with him there.