Rapid Reaction Immediately Following Notre Dame’s 59-33 Win Over The Air Force Academy
Posted by Steve Herring on October 8, 2011
(Thanks to @UND_com for the above photo apparently taken outside the stadium today.)
Rapid Reaction:
I had this weird feeling in my subconscious late in the third quarter and it got stronger as I started scanning over game stats and Air Force punched in a few late scores in. It finally hit me about 3 minutes before the game ended:
I felt guilty.
Why? Well after a start to the season that saw every weird play, ball bounce, penalty, and call by a referee seemingly go against the Irish it was odd to be sitting on the other side of the fence. For all intents and purposes Air Force went toe-to-toe with Notre Dame for much of the first half and, much like our game against South Florida, had little to show for it on the scoreboard…actually they had much less to show for it. That TD catch by Floyd could easily been called out with little argument from fans or coaches and it must be noted that it occurred on 3rd down and long.
We deserved it though, right? I shouldn’t feel guilty because Jamoris Slaughter FORCED those turnovers all by himself and we deserved a chance to capitalize.
Tommy Rees and the Notre Dame offense were so prolific and efficient that I hardly noticed when ND took a 21+ point lead – it felt like they were going to score 100 points this afternoon. Air Force wasn’t going to keep up, but it could have been a lot more interesting.
Great team win and the offense should certainly have walk a little taller in the locker room after being the ones who bailed the other side out from a rather poor day at the office.
Notes:
- You want a great laugh? If you were recording the NBC broadcast pull up Andrew Hendrix’s 78 yard “non-TD” run. There is a close-up of him getting up and in the background is the referee making the call at the 0.001 yard line with a huge grin on his face that is absolutely classic. I’ll try to screen-grab later.
- Check the box score- Air Force actually outgained Notre Dame 565-560 and racked up 364 rushing yards…Let’s save the Diaco/Option talk for a further review on Monday.
- I like TJ Jones…but I really like Roby Toma and it was great to see him get in the end zone and play well.
- I’m sure Riddick has walked off the field recently thinking “I’d love to get some touches here fellas.” He was force-fed the ball early and often and responded with a great game, maybe his best ever.
- Hendrix looked great. Does this make it better or worse this offseason?
- Chase Hounshell became the 5th Notre Dame freshman defender over 6’5” to get significant snaps. He looked MASSIVE and I don’t know who looks more physically imposing between Hounshell, Tuitt, Lynch, and Niklas. These four 18 year olds may come together and form the biggest and tallest defensive line in NCAA history.
- Jamoris Slaughter – UNREAL game by him. Two absolutely fantastic turnovers only he can take credit for. Way to be!
- My game score prediction was way off, BUT in my Preview I wrote “Jonas Gray gets 2 TDs and Floyd gets 1.” I’m the MAN!
Looking Ahead
After the BYE week USC heads into town. If you missed the out-of-town scoreboard, then two teams that took the Trojans to the wire, Minnesota and Arizona, were soundly beaten this week by heavyweights (ahem) Oregon State and Purdue. No, not a different Purdue – the same Purdue that Notre Dame just waxed 7 days ago. Sooooo…..
Let the “We’re gonna lay 50+ on Lame Kiffin and officially swing this rivalry back in our favor!!!” Hype officially begin.
Great Win & Go Irish!
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Wondering if there are still any Rees doubters out there. And, no, Hendrix gaining 111 yards does not create a QB controversy.
Mike W
Thanks for the comments Mike. Your previous ones had been marked as spam because of the link, but you should be ok moving forward.
I don’t think there’s a QB controversey at all, I just like what the change of pace presents to opponents more than I originally thought that I would.
Thanks. I agree about the change of pace. It will give USC a difficult time of planning next week. They only caught a glimpse of a “2nd” offense that they WILL face (if Kelly has his way). Also, for those who know Kelly, he likes to shuffle the QBs when he has 2 or more that can handle his offense. This is going to get interesting the rest of the year.
Agreed. It’s not that USC hasn’t faced an athletic QB, but that a struggling defense has more to think about. I’m looking forward to seeing them this Thursday night.
Thanks for checking out the blog.
Great post.
I think TJ Jones is the most underutilized asset on the offense. Good/very good hands, tough, fast. Would love to see him get the ball on a reverse sometime.
BTW, a nit: The phrase is “for all intents and purposes”; not “…intensive …”. Just helping out where I can HB and want to make sure you’re ready for prime time when the call comes.
Good call. I didn’t do much review of this post. I also like TJ Jones, I just have a soft spot for Toma as he was written off before arriving as a “means to an ends” in regards to Te’o's recruitment and I love seeing his hard work pay off in the end zone. Jones has shown some flashes obviously and is only a sophomore.
You think I could make “prime time”? That would be pretty cool, but I remain satisfied with trying to improve my analysis and understanding of the team. Thanks for the heads up.
Whil I’m at it, one more ND nit: Is it just me or is Harrison Smith always one and a half steps late on every coverage assignment?
If he can’t keep up with USAF receivers, he’ll get destroyed by USC. I guarantee Barkley liked what he saw yesterday.
I can tell by multiple comments made by you that Harrison Smith’s play continually rubs you the wrong way. I detailed in my preview of the defense is apparent deficiencies in the deep passing game and vs. play action. He counters that with solid run support and when teams are in obvious passing situations he can be an elite safety.
I guess I didn’t catch him out of position as much yesterday as you did. I’ll be rewatching the game tonight and I’ll be sure to look for it.
Enjoyable day. It appears Kelly really does know what he is doing! I am getting the feeling this team/program is at the jumping off point. They will take the leap and not look back. There is a nice level of confidence building. Even Bruce Heggie got in the game!
No question that the offense has turned the corner and that should be scary for a USC team that hasn’t stopped anybody this season. Kelly always preaches continuity and that remained on display during the game. I struggle to re-call a game with so many aspects of the offense clicking at the same time. Amazing to watch.
I’m hoping to get some more SC insight from friends of mine as I grew up in the area, maybe even post an e-mail exchange or something of the like.
I didn’t catch Heggie as one of the guys in. I couldn’t believe the size of Hounshell though. He looked bigger than any of the other freshman who’ve made an impact and that’s really saying something
Heggie played center when the replacements where put in. Every Thursday Eric Hansen of the SB Tribune has a fan chat. The running gag with the fans is Bruce Heggie….”I hear Heggie will return punts”, “Heggie is is the goal line backfield”. Hansen mentioned in his game wrap up that Heggie got in at center. He’s reputed to be a great kid and the students love him. It’s becoming a cult thing.
Even with Rees’ play improving and being 8-1 as a stater, I Crist did or said something during USF to elevate Rees. Kelly has mentioned at least 4 or 5 times in his pressers or post practice reports about the guys that love to play the game. Last time he said talked about it someone asked doesnt every one recruited at ND love to play. He responded “you would be suprised, some guys are playing because there are 80,000 watching, some guys because of expectations………” He puts Rees in the love the game category. “He’d show up and play if the stands were empty”
At any rate it’s clear Kelly has expectations of not only the results but how they are achieved. I think that attitude will be what makes this something special. Much was made of his RKG’s statement. Becuase his background was Div II and Cincy it was thought he was referring to overachievers…..the 2 star kids that become 4 stars on the stage. I now think he meant the guys that show up, work hard and love to play. It’s clear he will go for the talent, Tuitt, Lynch and the rest of the class but he always mentions Harrison Smith as one of the guys who love to play. He also has said many times that Harriosn Smith is a highlight reel this year. I think the kid gets blamed for the brakdowns of others and puts himself around or in the play to make it look like his miss.
One of the after-effects of starting this site is that I’ve gone from devouring everything written about Notre Dame Football to simply watching and re-watching on my own in an effort to formulate my own opinions and ideas and not inadvertantly steal anything another write has said. I typically catch up on other people’s ND stuff on Wed-Thurs, but I don’t get involved in fan-chats and the like I know Heggie’s recruitment was baffling to fans and my favorite headline “Heggie Hears a “Who?”" had me rolling, so it’s no surprise he’s a fan favorite on the message boards that I’m not on anymore.
There is something to be said about Kelly’s “RKG” statement, but it’s countered by some of the comments he made about Prince Shembo in the pre-season that pointed that he “wasn’t in typical OLB frame”, which I found beyond ridiculous for a guy that’s 6’1” with 4.5 speed. He’s barely below average in the NFL, and we’re hearing nonsense about how Kelly prefers massive OLB’s like the ones he’s recruited thus far. Let’s hope he doesn’t miss on the next Clay Matthews, who’s a RKG AND below 6’3”, because he’s enamored with his ability to recruit massive players at ND.
I can see the Rees “love of the game” being true, but I don’t not see that in Crist. Crist has even become one of the guys who relays plays in from the sideline in the red/pink hats which, to me, is noticeably cool.
I don’t discount Harrison Smith in any way- he’s ultra aggressive and like a lot of safeties this costs him occasionally. I really need to re-watch and see what I missed.
Harrison Smith looks to me like a very aggressive tackler.
Just once though, I’d like to see him break up a pass instead of running into the picture after the receiver he’s assigned to has caught the pass for a 14 yard gain.
Think I’m smoking something? Check the tape.
Yes, it was USAF, and yes, they were up big almost from the opening bell. But this is an area of danger.
Smith’s inability to cover will cost them at some point.
About to sit down and see what you’re seeing nudeman. FYI hoping to do some different stuff the next two weeks for USC as I’m a SoCal native with a lot of friends who are big fans. Stay tuned.
The nudester will be watching.
Growing up in Chicago, at one point in time – long before cable existed – there was nothing better than USC week. Hard to say if I looked more forward to the game itself or the shots of the USC cheerleaders.
For this teenager’s trip through the hormone raging late teens and early 20s, they ranked right up there with Catwoman (Julie Newmar version), Bardot, Dyan Canon, and any version of Playboy.
BTW, I saw Canon recently on some talk show. Positively frightening. Botox and scalpel at its very worst.
Don2u74
1. I am unaware of Heggie and all that surrounds him; recruiting was mentioned as a head scratcher. Can you explain?
2. I agree on something having happened off the field re: Crist. Him getting yanked after 30 min remains the most puzzling move of the year.
3. HBSports: Maybe I’m slow today, but what is “RKG”?
4. Don, I think you’re quick to excuse Harrison Smith. Aside from the INTs in the Miami game last year, the guy is always a step late when they throw to his man. Always. I don’t mean to beat on the kid because to be elected Captain he’s obviously adding some value somewhere (he is a pretty hard hitter), but there appears to be no anticipation, no ball hawking element to his play.
Heggie was one of the last, if not the last, player added to Brian Kelly’s first recruiting class. He apparently had ZERO I-A offers from anywhere else and was a zero star recruit. Like Don, I had also read numerous articles of him being well liked, and the back story on his recruitment got a lot more press than is typical for a player of his stature. After starting out at DE, he’s either the 3rd or 4th Center on the roster.
RKG is a term Kelly has been using incessantly since his first press conference regarding “Right Kind of Guy”, in other words “Notre Dame” men of quality and character combined with football acumen.
I can confirm you might be the most bullish Notre Dame fan on Harrison Smith. He currently leads the team with 7 Pass Break-Ups, more than double anyone else.
I agree he’s missed assignments, but between the 5 DBs getting 98% of the playing time, I’ve seen much more frustrating play out of Gary Gray and Zeke Motta, who will take Smith’s role full time in 2012.
Perhaps a simple typo on your part but I am anything BUT “bullish” on Smith. Saying I am “bullish” is the same as saying I am very high on his play.
Au contraire, mon frere: I am “bearish” (bull and bear are stock market terms, as you prob know).
I am not going to incessantly rant on him as he impresses me as a high character guy who hits hard and obviously is respected by his teammates. He’s been elected a Captain. I just think he is below average in coverage. You say he has 7 breakups, and I’ll take your word for that. But my memory is fairly hazy when it comes to seeing him ever in tight one on one coverage and deflecting a pass. Ever.
But usually when I train my sights on someone like I have with him, they prove me wrong (see “Rees, Tommy”). So maybe there are good things coming.
Not even a typo, I think I had in my head that it could be applied in two different ways. The first, yours which is the only correct way, and second in meaning “aggressive in manner”. This is untrue and you’ve caught be twice within one web page.
As far as his break-ups it’s pulled directly from UND.com’s recently updated stat page and I got the Jonas Gray stat from their online media guide. How did you old timers write about sports in your day without all these amazing tools and resources.
I don’t read as much ND things as I used to due to the time I’m investing in this site, but I haven’t read as much frustration with Smith anywhere else. Usually it’s pointing at Gray’s terrible season playing the ball in the air or Motta who seems to encompass more of the things you see in Smith when I watch the games. Motta is late to the ball all the time and takes terrible angles way too often. That’s what I see at least.
HB had it right re Heggie. I mentioned earlier there is a fan chat Thursday at the South Bend Trib. The running gag is Heggie………”he was spotted selling hot dogs”. He is reputed to be a great kid and the coaches like him.
The Smith numbers are not a suprise. I think free safety play is tough to judge without a full field view. Sometimes late may mean the safety is making up for another’s miss. I certainly cant tell but I listen to every presser and post practice report Kelly and the position coaches do and to a man they are all high on Smith.
It’s been a long time since I have felt so good going into a USC game.