Notre Dame will not be a cake walk . . .

[Jerry the Jacket]

. . . like I originally thought. Their defense is good and showed an ability to penetrate which can create havoc for any offense especially ours. Our offensive line better eat a lot beans and cornbread between now and then. Our D line will be challenged as well by ND's offensive line.

We will have to hang in there and slug it out with them. I still like our chances but believe we will absolutely have to wear them out and win it at the end. I think our offense is slightly better than theirs and hopefully our defense will play up to their full potential. Butker will probably be the difference.

Go Jackets!

 

[yerjacket]

GT will have to play clean. Need the DLine to really step up. ABack blocking will be what makes or breaks game. ND will not have the same defensive set up as Alcorn State. Haven't seen anyone that shallow in the middle of the field in a long time.

 

[Ibeeballin]

All that from a 4-8/ 5-7 Texas team? We still don't know anymore than we did before the game?

 

[cuttysark]

The Irish looked good but Texas is not a very good football team right now. They played two true freshman on the offensive line; they have no offensive scheme; and on defense they had one player who competed all night long. These are not the Darryl Royal Longhorns.

The Domer's QB will present some challenges for the GT defense and they have a very big offensive line. I'll give up some passing yardage as long as Roof shuts down the run and contains their QB on the edge. Notre Dame lost their starting RB with a knee injury and have freshman playing behind him.

Notre Dame's defensive strength is their blitz package and pursuit. The triple option is designed to neutralize that aspect of any defense. This is a perfect situation for our B-Backs and Justin Thomas on the edge. The Texas QB was 6' 4" 250 Lbs. and presented an easy target to tackle in the open field when he was flushed out of the pocket which was the situation all game long. He had zero support up front.

Looking forward to seeing this one in person. The Yellow Jackets present a very difficult concept for the Van Gorder defense and I'll take CPJ as a game day coach and play caller over Kelly. It will be a tough challenge and we'll see how well we can run the football. If GT can run for at least 280 on the ground and complete a few passes downfield, then they can win in South Bend.

 

[swampsting]

Notre Dame has some talent. Texas has very little.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Butker may make the difference but only if Tech's defense gives him that opportunity.

I think this will be a game that begins to demonstrate whether the defense has progressed enough to give the team a shot at back-to-back great seasons. Looking at the schedule, I suspect the team needs the D to force some combination of 3 and outs or takeaways to the tune of 5-6 a game at a minimum.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I don't think ND is any better than last year's Georgia team, and, aside from two atrocious referee calls, we pretty much stuffed them and held our own on defense.

 

[RamblinCharger]

Notre dame looked really good tonight. Yes, I know Texas is hurting for talent right now, but they aren't FCS bad. They have a competent defense for the most part. You can just tell when a team is playing crisp and clean all around, and Notre Dame looked good in all aspects tonight. It will be a high scoring game if I had to guess. We'll need to contain the QB and we'll need to win the turnover battle, but I think we can win. We need to get better this week and play our starters for a longer period of time against Tulane.

 

[DC Bee]

I think we'll get another reading of ND next week against UVa & Tah-Noo-Tah. GT will roll against Tulane so we'll still wonder about the GT D a bit.

But both Herbie & Corso now say GT will beat ND so that's pretty much a lock.

 

[orientalnc]

Did anyone on this board think the ND game would be a cakewalk? In South Bend? If so, you have been drinking far more than your share of the preseason Koolaid.

 

[DC Bee]

Did anyone on this board think the ND game would be a cakewalk? In South Bend? If so, you have been drinking far more than your share of the preseason Koolaid.

I'll bet that most of us think that ND is perennially over-rated. My current "guesstimate" would be they are in the 20-35 range of rankings.

 

[BuzzStone]

It will be one of 3 games on our schedule that I am worried about. But after watching each team play yesterday I see that we are the only team that appeared ready on opening day. I think the fact our subs got in so much playing time will be very helpful in the weeks to come. FSU had starters playing into the 4th quarter and ND did as well. I am not to sure about UGA as I couldn't bring myself to watch it. We will need our 2nd string and 3rd string to play up against these 3 teams but they are all very winnable. FSU is very young and they made a lot of mistakes. ND looked solid for the most part, they are not a TOP 5 school but will be a challenge. I look forward to seeing our guys step up.

 

[Boomergump]

Never thought ND would be a cake walk.

What we can't do in this situation is look at the final score only and the name of the team they played against and draw sweeping conclusions. That game yesterday was its own form of a perfect storm. First of all, TEX is atrocious on offense. When you are that bad on a single side of the ball, things can get out of hand on the scoreboard. No good defense will be good when they are out there all day and I'm not sure TEX is a good defense to start with. Second of all, the TEX offense allowed the ND defense to play the way they are comfortable. They brought pressure and flew all over the place. That will get you killed against us. If you want to be "aggressive minded" against us on defense, about the most you can do is blitz and A gap with a LB. That is the beauty of what we do. We take most D's totally out of what they like to do.

Look, we could get beat in South Bend. It wouldn't surprise me, but I guarantee you that our game will have a totally different flavor than the one you watched last night. We are pretty good at what we do. Let's see how Notre Dunce handles things when they have a much harder time getting off the field on defense, and there is tons of pressure every time they get the ball because they may not see it again for a while.

I am excited for the challenge. I have always expected it to be a challenge. Nothing has changed in my eyes.

 

[danny daniel]

Our O will stand up against ND but our D has to play well. We have to scheme to stop the run, it is difficult to get a pass rush, the QB can scramble and he has really good arm strength and accuracy on long throws. Stopping ND will be the challenge and our hope is to get turnovers or make some third down stops to enable us to outscore them. This game will be THE test for just how good we are.

 

[texasjacket]

This ND team is not ant better than FSU, Clemson or ugag teams from last year. We were competitive in all of those.

 

[slugboy]

They appear to be a legit number 11, if not a top 10 team.

 

[DC Bee]

They appear to be a legit number 11, if not a top 10 team.

I disagree and think Boomer's comment above really is the most appropriate response this comment, Slugie. I suggest reading it.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

Notre Dame has some talent. Texas has very little.

How did that happen, anyway? It would be like the mutts having the third or fourth best recruiting class in Georgia for four or five years running. I know the rise of A & M and poaching from other schools hurt some, and CCS threw several off the team, but this is the University of Texas we're talking about. But you are right, they looked very mediocre talent-wise.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

I think we'll get another reading of ND next week against UVa & Tah-Noo-Tah. GT will roll against Tulane so we'll still wonder about the GT D a bit.

But both Herbie & Corso now say GT will beat ND so that's pretty much a lock.

NOT SO FAST, MY FRIEND.

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

To say Texas is devoid of talent is to spit in the face of the national recruiting rating services (like you were Paul Johnson or somebody). They are perennially a top 10 rated recruiting team. They have an all world coach in Charlie Strong and as much or more institutional and monetary resources of any Division One football program in the world. They obviously are not a very good football team but they are not chopped liver. Perhaps they have lost their way.

My point is, they are not Alcorn State or Ohio State but probably somewhere in the middle and ND is a lot closer to the top of the heap, so we best prepare for their best shot and make sure we give them ours or it will be a long sad day for us in South Bend. I personally had thought ND was way over rated like they normally are, something to the attune of UGA, but it appears they have the bonafides in 2015.

Go Jackets!