[JohnR34231]

Now less emotional...

We actually played a heck of a game. ND was ranked #7 and will presumably move up tonight and we played them pretty darn even. They did not dominate us anywhere - especially on the line. We had shots to win but we made mistakes and the refs made bad calls but ND at ND is very good, played very tough, and is hard to beat.

With the rapid fan support desperately wanting to beat Stanford (they rushed the field after beating #17 ranked Stanford in OT) College Game Day, national TV, etc. this ND team was not going to quit. I don't think we can impose our will on a defense that is that good in that kind of situation.

Their defense is the best defense we've played and probably will play all year. They have not allowed a TD in several games. But our offense moved the ball, our OL protected Nunes and he moved well. Our OL opened up holes (many times) and Taylor played a heck of a game. It was raining, hard at times, and it was difficult for both sides to catch balls.

Our defense pretty much dominated their offense - an offense which ran for 376 yards (587 yards of total offense) against Miami - except for a couple of drives helped by bad calls or miracle plays.

I like the way our defense is playing and improving. Skov is coming back from a major injury and a year of not playing and still isn't up to where he was. Thomas had the best game of the season and there have been some games where he seemed invisible. And our DBs are getting tested and improving every game.

That's the glass is half full approach to the game and I think, in general, that's fine.

However, to suggest that the performance of our offense was satisfactory is really stretching it.

[JohnR34231]

Now less emotional...

We actually played a heck of a game. ND was ranked #7 and will presumably move up tonight and we played them pretty darn even. They did not dominate us anywhere - especially on the line. We had shots to win but we made mistakes and the refs made bad calls but ND at ND is very good, played very tough, and is hard to beat.

With the rapid fan support desperately wanting to beat Stanford (they rushed the field after beating #17 ranked Stanford in OT) College Game Day, national TV, etc. this ND team was not going to quit. I don't think we can impose our will on a defense that is that good in that kind of situation.

Their defense is the best defense we've played and probably will play all year. They have not allowed a TD in several games. But our offense moved the ball, our OL protected Nunes and he moved well. Our OL opened up holes (many times) and Taylor played a heck of a game. It was raining, hard at times, and it was difficult for both sides to catch balls.

Our defense pretty much dominated their offense - an offense which ran for 376 yards (587 yards of total offense) against Miami - except for a couple of drives helped by bad calls or miracle plays.

I like the way our defense is playing and improving. Skov is coming back from a major injury and a year of not playing and still isn't up to where he was. Thomas had the best game of the season and there have been some games where he seemed invisible. And our DBs are getting tested and improving every game.

That's the glass is half full approach to the game and I think, in general, that's fine.

However, to suggest that the performance of our offense was satisfactory is really stretching it.