[TriangleTree]

whether we were lucky or not.  

Had a chance to be at the game on Saturday and have been smiling since. 

A few observations from the stands:

To my eyes and to many ND fans around me, we looked the better team on Saturday, luck had little to do with it.

Outstanding plays when needed won this game (Tremayne's 3rd down catch late in the game, Magnum Farrar's diving pass brake-up to Mayer on 3rd down during ND last drive, Heron's sack on the last drive, 4th and goal stop in Q1, etc.)

The box score shows they had more turnovers than we did, but two failed 4th down conversions (one that should have been granted on a no-call penalty) and a weird blocked punt are effective turnovers. Again, little was handed to us by way of luck.

I don't care what the box score says about Filkins YPR, he had a monster game and frustrated ND fans to no end. He just didn't break any long runs and those forward pitches don't count as runs, but our running game was very solid on Saturday. 

Bonner's TFL where he caught up the running back from behind made jaws drop, I bet it was more impressive live than on TV.

Mike Wilson is Elite, him and Mayer were the best offensive athletes on that field. I am so sad to hear about his injury, I really hope the news is not as bad as speculated.

Talking to ND fans before the game who were asking about our season, I mentioned that we actually have very good talent at many positions but that we have significant gaps particularly in the lines, in no small part due to youth, inexperience, and injuries. We just haven't had the makings of a full team. I told them it would become apparent early on that their dominant line play would decide the game in their favor. How wrong was I?!?

Great to see Karty getting well deserved recognition. He should play on Sundays.

The ND QB play wasn't great, but our defense had a lot to do with making him look bad. DB/Safety/linebacker pass defense was as good as I've seen from us in a long time. There were two plays we were truly beaten, one which resulted in the touchdown with Wilkerson defending (who had an otherwise outstanding game), and one in the 1H on the other endzone where the QB overthrew his receiver by a couple of feet. Our defense looked the part and was the real deal, really impressed on how they contained Mayer.

McKee never threw a bomb to stretch the field. I suspect we didn't anticipate our OL to hold up as well as it did. I wish we would have tried at least one or two, but can't complain with McKee staying clean. Did they record a single sack?

I generally liked our play calling, even the last drive. The punt is a no-brainer to me. I did take some issue with the run on third down and 7 or 8 on the last drive, but I don't think it was ridiculous given the way the game was going. This is how I think of the tradeoff: Run for a 10% chance of getting the first down and kneeling to win, 90% chance of giving them the ball back inside their 20 with 2 minutes and no time outs (which materialized), vs. 40% chance of first down and winning, 50% chance of incomplete pass and giving them the ball back inside their 20 with one time out, 10% of other weird stuff happening. I think the latter is the better call, but there is a clear tradeoff.  

I was SOOO happy to see McKee defer when he won the toss. That's two games in a row for Shaw now. I think we have started much stronger as a result. I hope this is here to stay.

What a place to watch a game. Atmosphere is insane, also within the visiting fans section. I often wonder about the future of college football and have been inching closer to accepting it's time to move on, but that was a good reminder about how great the college football experience can be.  I have felt that way at Stanford in the past, different atmosphere but still outstanding experience. I hope those days come back.

Still smiling

[TriangleTree]

whether we were lucky or not.  

Had a chance to be at the game on Saturday and have been smiling since. 

A few observations from the stands:

To my eyes and to many ND fans around me, we looked the better team on Saturday, luck had little to do with it.

Outstanding plays when needed won this game (Tremayne's 3rd down catch late in the game, Magnum Farrar's diving pass brake-up to Mayer on 3rd down during ND last drive, Heron's sack on the last drive, 4th and goal stop in Q1, etc.)

The box score shows they had more turnovers than we did, but two failed 4th down conversions (one that should have been granted on a no-call penalty) and a weird blocked punt are effective turnovers. Again, little was handed to us by way of luck.

I don't care what the box score says about Filkins YPR, he had a monster game and frustrated ND fans to no end. He just didn't break any long runs and those forward pitches don't count as runs, but our running game was very solid on Saturday. 

Bonner's TFL where he caught up the running back from behind made jaws drop, I bet it was more impressive live than on TV.

Mike Wilson is Elite, him and Mayer were the best offensive athletes on that field. I am so sad to hear about his injury, I really hope the news is not as bad as speculated.

Talking to ND fans before the game who were asking about our season, I mentioned that we actually have very good talent at many positions but that we have significant gaps particularly in the lines, in no small part due to youth, inexperience, and injuries. We just haven't had the makings of a full team. I told them it would become apparent early on that their dominant line play would decide the game in their favor. How wrong was I?!?

Great to see Karty getting well deserved recognition. He should play on Sundays.

The ND QB play wasn't great, but our defense had a lot to do with making him look bad. DB/Safety/linebacker pass defense was as good as I've seen from us in a long time. There were two plays we were truly beaten, one which resulted in the touchdown with Wilkerson defending (who had an otherwise outstanding game), and one in the 1H on the other endzone where the QB overthrew his receiver by a couple of feet. Our defense looked the part and was the real deal, really impressed on how they contained Mayer.

McKee never threw a bomb to stretch the field. I suspect we didn't anticipate our OL to hold up as well as it did. I wish we would have tried at least one or two, but can't complain with McKee staying clean. Did they record a single sack?

I generally liked our play calling, even the last drive. The punt is a no-brainer to me. I did take some issue with the run on third down and 7 or 8 on the last drive, but I don't think it was ridiculous given the way the game was going. This is how I think of the tradeoff: Run for a 10% chance of getting the first down and kneeling to win, 90% chance of giving them the ball back inside their 20 with 2 minutes and no time outs (which materialized), vs. 40% chance of first down and winning, 50% chance of incomplete pass and giving them the ball back inside their 20 with one time out, 10% of other weird stuff happening. I think the latter is the better call, but there is a clear tradeoff.  

I was SOOO happy to see McKee defer when he won the toss. That's two games in a row for Shaw now. I think we have started much stronger as a result. I hope this is here to stay.

What a place to watch a game. Atmosphere is insane, also within the visiting fans section. I often wonder about the future of college football and have been inching closer to accepting it's time to move on, but that was a good reminder about how great the college football experience can be.  I have felt that way at Stanford in the past, different atmosphere but still outstanding experience. I hope those days come back.

Still smiling