Up until late Sunday you could watch the entire Blue Gold Game at http://www.und.com/ If you go there now however, you'll only get the highlights. Why you ask? Its rather simple actually, Notre Dame most likely didn't want teams to be able to download that and use it for film breakdown. Notre Dame did run 59 running plays and they might want to use some of those again, like say against Nevada. So to ensure that their secrets were not stolen the video have been removed, unfortunately. I would head over to youtube though as there are a few clips that come from a full vid that has yet to make its way on the tube yet.
So, lets address something that you all really want to know about.
The Run Game:
Some people are not convinced that Notre Dame's run game will be improved by what they saw on Saturday. Those people are the blind who did not see anything at all. That said, critics cite a weak front 4, a suspect front 7 as the major factors in the Irish back's ability to run in the Blue Gold Game. I say, nay nay.
On The Line:
- The lineman didn't stay at the line of scrimmage. I point this out because last season, Notre Dame's offensive linemen stay at the line, waiting for the defense to come to them as if they were a net going to catch them. That's great for pass coverage, but that spells doom for a run game as there is a wall of defenders waiting for the back, or heaven forbid, a defensive linemen who didn't get caught in the net and is getting first contact behind the line of scrimmage. This season it looked as if Verducci has Notre Dame actually firing off the line to get to the second level. If the back is right behind the lineman heading to the second level he can get blocks to spring him for great gains. If you look at the highlights, it always seems as if the ND line on run plays is down the field several yards, often still blocking when the backs go down. That's huge and will really show come kick off. Now if only the wide receivers will get the hand of blocking.
- The leverage has improved. Sam Young is a perfect example of this. Last season when Jimmy hiked the ball, Sam would stand almost straight up and look for a defender. Said defender would fire off the line, go low, and end up standing Young straight up, then just go around him. This season against a defensive line who has focused on winning battles against the OL and attacking, almost exclusively, we saw much greater push and offensive linemen keeping defensive guys out of their grill so to speak.
- Timing is better. Last season it seemed as if guys didn't know their own count-almost as if they were as surprised as the defensive line that the ball was hiked. This led to stalemates at the line of scrimmage as defensive linemen got off the ball as fast or faster than the OL and kept them from getting a push to open holes for the running backs.
On The Running Backs:
- The backs look faster. Whether this due to health or excellent coaching and conditioning, I can't tell you. However, I suspect that it is D. All of the
Above. When watching an unedited film on youtube I was shocked at how fast Armando Allen covered those 26 yards he ran. I had saw and broken down the full game previously available online, however, this view was from the sideline and man, I can tell you that the overhead angle doesn't do him justice. - Robert Hughes is a deceptively quick back for his size. He is still about 10-15 lbs shy of being Bettis sized, but he has similarly good feet for his size. He rarely goes down on the first contact as well, which is something you look for on short yards. He can still cover some ground pretty quick for a big guy. I look for Hughes to be very productive this season in the scoring department.
- Jonas Gray is a whole 'nother ball game. He is shifty, but not as shifty as Allen, he is big, but not as big as Hughes (weight wise), and he runs like a little bit of both. Gray has a ton of potential as a back who can gain tough yards or take a hole and run. The good news? He didn't fumble, which seems to be a problem for him. If he gets rid of that one issue Jonas will see lots of PT this season.
- James Aldridge didn't play, but I want to talk about him for a special reason. Allen is said to be the top back, but we don't know where Aldridge falls. Don't count him out at all for one reason. Weis said that he would start at FB in the Nevada game, but in that game he could see more action at tail back than at full back. That tells me that either Aldridge has a package built around him that Weis thinks will be effective against Nevada, or, Aldridge has had a really good spring and is competing for solid PT at tailback. Some people scoff at the notion of Aldridge coming in over any of the previously listed backs, but remember, Aldridge had the big rating, the big numbers, and the out of sight potential. Injuries have been his bane however. This spring though, in the one scrimmage open to public, Aldridge was the hardest running back on the field and the one who gained lots of meaningful yards.
So basically, yes the run game is improved. You can tell for another reason as well. In that early scrimmage, the Notre Dame offense couldn't run all that well, they did ok, but not really good. So those who say that it was against a weak front, it was the same front that kept the offensive run game at bay before. Fast forward and Notre Dame ran all over itself. Even missing a few key DL players, they would not have kept ND backed up that much more and the offensive linemen who sat out where ones who were supposed to contribute heavily to Notre Dame this season.
Defensive Coverage:
I wanted to take a minute and just mention the secondary of Notre Dame. In case you haven't noticed, this group of kids are very very good. Some say the best unit in over 20 years. I know several individuals have been since then, but as a whole I am inclined to agree. Blanton had Floyd covered like a second jersey on more than a few passes, and that as Notre Dame fans have seen is no easy feat. Then Jamoris Slaughter and Darrin Walls were all over Golden Tate and Walker, and Goodman. The passing game was abysmal partially because there was no where to throw the ball too. Remember that stat thrown out during the Hawaii game? In the first half of the season, teams killed Notre Dame with those short dump off passes. However, in the second half of the season, Co-Coordinators Tenuta and Brown moved the corners up tighter to the wide receivers. The result? In the second half of the season Notre Dame was something in like the top 5 in defense against the pass. Thats with the USC, 'Cuse, Pitt games all factored in. That's impressive to me that ND had the talent to do that last season. Darrin Walls was out then, and Blanton was playing as a starter, and Jamoris Slaughter wasn't seeing PT at all. Now walls IS back, Gary Gray is coming back who had a stellar season last season, as well as Raeshon McNeil who is a very solid corner, Slaughter and Blanton will both either compete for starts, or serious PT. That is some serious talent stacked up there. Not to mention Harrison Smith at Free Safety has proven to be a huge success as well as McCarthy at Strong Safety who is one of the teams leading tacklers, one of the hardest hitters, and is good at not being fooled by the offense. All in all, this should be a very fun secondary to watch and will end up being one of the best in the nation by part way through the season. If the defensive line is just slightly better than average, Notre Dame will have a pretty tough defense on the field this season. Who will blitz 80% of the time and if Saturday was any indication, get pressure on the quarterbacks, often. Expect Ethan Johnson to be called alot in every game.
