Quite a week. A rivalry that’s not a rivalry brought out some original storytellers, and added even more focus to a football game that looks like it could be a great one. We’ll break down some match-ups that are worth watching as we lead up to the game, but now’s the time for our weekly Irish Blogger Gathering.
I had the chance to ask Notre Dame’s new resident blogger, Aaron Horvath, some questions about the big game under the lights. I answered some questions from NDTex over at HerLoyalSons.com. Frank over at UHND joined the IBG as well, so things are getting crazy.
For more IBG, check out the following updates:
Subway Domer
NDNation
Her Loyal Sons
UHND.com
Strong and True
Let’s get down to my pressing questions. Give your answers below in the comments:
1) So much of the talk this week has been about things that don’t matter. Let’s talk about some things that actually do. For Notre Dame to exit Ann Arbor victorious on Saturday night, name the one thing that both the offense and defense MUST DO?
To leave Michigan victorious on Saturday (or early Sunday morning) the Irish must do a few things well.
First off, on the offensive side of the ball, the Irish must develop the running game early. I think this goes without saying and there hasn’t really been any games in which we have seen Chuck Martin as the offensive coordinator that the Irish haven’t attempted to run the ball early. You may retort that against Temple we didn’t, but you need to remember that the Irish did run the ball and gash the Owls in the early downs before throwing over the top to DaVaris Daniels for the two early scores.
On defense I am going to channel my inner Kory Minor for the key to winning this contest – BIG PLAYS. Kory says that in any big game, the team that makes the big plays (game changers) is the team that will give themselves the best opportunity to win. We didn’t see any big plays from the defensive this past week outside of one sack from Stephon Tuitt, but from watching the game, it didn’t seem like the scheme defensive coordinator Bob Diaco put together was focused around creating pressure. Look for that to change this Saturday.
2) Last season, Notre Dame managed to force Denard Robinson into a career worst game by bottling him up in the pocket. (Up until that point he had become one of the all-time historic villains in Irish football lore.) Last weekend, Connor Reilly(?!?) shredded the Irish defense by scrambling his way to chain-moving first downs. What does the defense need to do to slow down Devin Gardner?
Between the opening weekend win against Temple and this weekend many things will change in the defensive scheme. First off, the Temple game really reminded me of the Nevada season opener a few seasons back that Notre Dame won 35-0. The scoreboard looks like the defense played lights out, but in reality they were gashed for some yardage at times and allowed the Wolfpack to drive down the field.
The Temple game was very similar.
One thing I expect to change is the pressure being brought by the linebacking corps. Additionally, watching the Temple game, it seemed like the secondary was playing a lot of shell/umbrella coverage, keeping the receivers in front and being happy with Temple nickel and dime’ing them down the field.
In short, look for more man coverage from the secondary with a cover two look over the top with safeties and the outside backers responsible for coverage in the secondary.
3) Ever fiber of my being wants to stop talking about this rivalry, so don’t answer what this rivalry means to a guy that didn’t attend Notre Dame. Instead, tell me about a mismatch that the Irish need to exploit on Saturday night.
What rivalry? From my point of view the biggest rivalry between the state of Indiana and Michigan is from the “gum-throwing game” between the Indiana Hoosiers and Michigan … With the Hoosiers down 36-33, they were driving with around a minute left, then this happened… Watch the video, I am still livid to this day.
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(KA Note: You know that Indiana football fans take things seriously when the best video Aaron could find looks like this. But that was a terrible call.)
Now that I just took a few minutes to throw koosh balls at plate-glass windows I feel much better …
The mismatch that Notre Dame must exploit is up front. All season long this will probably be a common theme for every Notre Dame football game. Honestly it comes down to the point of attack and if Louis Nix can take two Wolverines with him on every player that will open up lanes for ‘backers to either blitz or get to the running back. Michigan’s all-american tackle will probably minimize the impact of the defensive end on his side, so the rest of the line will need to step up.
