Image from: AP Photo/Ezra Shaw
Overall (Grade D-)
The disappointing 2011 season ended with another dud. It was everything that 2011 was, all bundled up into 1 game. While the awful play from T. Rees was somewhat expected, the inability of the head coach to send in plays on time was not surprising and the turnovers were waiting to happen, Brian Kelly’s decision to play Hendrix instead of Crist will go down as the defining moment of the year. This action summarized what B. Kelly stood for and that is himself. He rather save face and be stubborn than give Notre Dame its best chance to win. All his decisions and statements have been made to distance himself from blame. It is always someone’s fault or the player’s fault or my system works or my players are motivated.
All the great coaches have 1 thing in common: pure desire to win, irregardless how it is done. To use all available tools to win 1 game. Who do you think Nick Saban, Urban Meyer or even Les Miles would put in place of Rees? Yep, so would everyone else. Even my better half, who doesn’t know anything about football, knew what the right call was.
Winning a game for Notre Dame is higher than proving a point. Notre Dame pulling a W is a lot higher than putting your players in.
I expected a lot more from B. Kelly as person and as the head coach.
Positives:
- Season ended. Just a disappointing year.
- Mike Floyd and Tyler Eifert. We are going to miss these guys
- A. Lynch and L. Nix. Great motors and effort. Nix was held a lot this game.
Negatives:
- Coaching. Is there any redeemable quality?
- Coaching. This loss in on you
- Coaching. Not playing your QB is a sure way to lose your upperclassmen respect
The Bonehead Call(s) of the Day:
The obvious: Playing Hendrix ahead of Crist
The obvious II: In college football, there is a thing called ‘Play Clock’. It starts winding down to 0, usually a few seconds after the previous play is over. It is important to note that once this ‘Play Clock’ displays 0, the ref will stop the game and assess a delay of game penalty. This is not good. A good way to stop the ref from assessing the penalty is to call a timeout, but the downside is that you might run out of timeouts when you really need them.
The best way to counter this ‘Play Clock’ is to get your team and the play ready to go before the time expires. It is advisable to have the play in with about 15-20 seconds left so that the team has time to set up and ensure that there is enough time for adjustments.
Offense (Grade D):
Tommy Rees (Grade F): Every ND fan was waiting for the time when Tommy would hit the wall. It was a matter of time. No one thought that it would be this ugly. He was lost, and once pressure was constant, he fell off the cliff.
Andrew Hendrix (Grade C): Came in relief. Brought a new dimension. Showed a good arm with ok accuracy. Made some bad decisions, typical for young players. On the other hand, also showed guts and made difficult throws. Displayed a good set of wheels. Maybe Kelly needs to teach all his QBS to step into the pocket. He has good potential.
RBs (Grade C-): The running game was non existent, although Wood ran hard. Stanford did a good job in closing the running. Riddick was not effective either. The field conditions did not help.
O-line (Grade D): Together with SC game, one of the worst performances of year. It reminded me of the Ty Willingham’s years. Multiple false starts, complete confusion, no physicality and blown assignments.
WRs and TEs (Grade C): Another solid performance by the usual suspects. Thank you , #3. ND fans have been spoiled for the last 6 years of great WRs. Who will step up in 2012? ND is in trouble if Eifert leaves.
Defense (Grade D+):
DL (Grade C-): With all the injuries, this was an ok showing. The 1st half was ugly, but they were able to make some adjustments and shut down Stanford for about a quarter.
LBs (Grade D+): Again, I was a bit disappointed. They missed tackles and they looked slow.
DBs (Grade D+): I liked their aggressiveness but at the same time they did not looked good in pass coverage.
Special Teams (Grade D-): Ruffer, cannot miss the chip shot.
Coaching (Grade F—–): What a mess! Just the playcalling fiascos earns an F. Good playcallers think ahead 2 to 3 plays. 1 play sets up the other. I don’t know what Kelly is thinking, maybe is time to give up the play calling duties.
