Clausen has been a leader in the first half and, come Saturday, will need to bring it to even another level
The Irish are just before the actual midway point of the season. The Irish stand 4-1 after 5 games of their 12 game schedule. However, since this was the teams bye week, it feels like it was the actual halfway point. So, in a way, we are at the beginning of the second half of the season come Saturday. Notre Dame needs to start out the second half in a big way. People are starting to talk about the importance of the Irish game against USC. Jimmy Clausen is being mentioned as the potential Heisman front runner by at least two of the leading sports sites, but he will need a huge performance on Saturday to get there. But instead of looking ahead to the big game Saturday (We will get to that some time this week), it’s a good time to look back and hand out grades and some thoughts on the season thus far.
QB
Jimmy has been amazing. He has thrown twelve touchdowns and two picks. More importantly, he has engineered two game winning drives. He also has led three major comebacks, and could have led a third at UM. He has hobbled down the field to lead comebacks against MSU and Purdue and didn’t bat an eye when the team struggled some against UW and helped engineer both a drive to take the lead and a quick score in OT. There is a reason that Clausen is leading a lot of people’s Heisman lists. It’s his high completion percentage and QB rating. So far, Clausen has been living up to those huge expectations from two years ago. Let’s hope he keeps it up. A clear A.
WR
Tate has been playing a lot of Superman... We need him to keep it up
Floyd was on track to be the most dominating receiver in college football this season when he went down with an injury against MSU. Here’s to a healthy recovery… hopefully he is fine for a bowl game, but no reason to rush him too much if he won’t be healthy until next season. On to the healthy receivers – I’m including Rudolph in with the rest of the Irish receivers. Rudolph has been a major receiver in the Irish offense. Since Floyd’s injury, he has been the second most important member of the receiving corp. While he also has to do some major blocking as the TE, he has been able to get down field for long passes and been out in the flat where he has been able to break some other big plays. Golden Tate has been amazing. He has been doing a great job getting open on deep plays, and CW has done a great job finding other ways to get him the ball in space. While he had the dropsies on a few plays, he has been very sure handed the last few games, and he has taken up a lot of the slack that was left when Floyd went down. The rest of the receivers have been coming into their own. Evans, Parris and Kumara have all made some big plays, but none have been consistent enough yet to take some of the pressures off of Tate and Rudolph. Here’s hoping that one or more of them will step it up in the second half. As far as grading out, I’d give the WRs an A- since no third option has stepped up to replace the injured Floyd.
RB
Armando Allen needs to keep on finding holes and keeping on breaking tackles
This should include a quick note on the o-line. The men up front have been much better at protecting Clausen, but they have also helped pave the way for a much improved running game. Armando Allen had a few great games before his injury, and helped establish a real run game against UM and MSU. The team successfully used the Wildcat to have a running game against Purdue, and Robert Hughes helped take a lot of the stress off of Allen’s ankle against UW. Hughes and Allen have given the Irish a real running game, and Charlie’s use of the Wildcat, while at times possibly too cute, has been a beneficial addition to help move the ball on the ground to take some pressure off of the passing game. I’d call it a B+ based off of the fact that it has played more of a supporting role to the passing game.
Defense
McCarthy has been the one bright spot on the defense...
While I may sound glowing about the offense, I am of the opposite opinion of the defense. As of now, I expect Kyle McCarthy to come through as needed at all times. Other than that, I am concerned. There have been signs: Te’o showed some major signs of being a force during the UW game; the goal line stands against UW were HUGE for the outcome, but also for creating some belief that the Irish can stop someone; the team DID shut out Nevada; and there is some young talent that can still play. My hope is that some of these things come together in the second half. But as far as the first half goes, the team is a C- at best, but I’m being nice because it is probably much worse.
Coaching
As an offensive coordinator, I’d give old Chuck an A. He has been right pretty often in his play-calling, he has been creative at getting the ball to his playmakers, and he has done a great job developing Jimmy into a true leader. Now, as a head coach, I worry more. Once in a while CW needs to have a buffer from his OC side to his HC side. I still get angry about his calls on 2nd and 3rd down passes at the end of the game against UM (he could throw on 3rd, fine, but he needed to have an experienced receiver running that timing route, not a freshman in his second game… that’s coaching). I still can’t believe how often the team seems short on timeouts when they are needed… I see some Bob Davie game management there. I also don’t like that he is always the riverboat gambler… Once in a while a team can kick a field goal instead of going for it on 4th down. I’d take the three points some times, especially on the road (even if it was Purdue – remember, we had to come back to win that game, so the 3 points on the first drive might have been useful). I’m also worried about the over blitzing. I was excited about the Irish’s secondary, but they have been left on their own on island’s too much, and now the pass defense has left something to be desired. This scares me, and has been a huge disappointment from the first half. So, I’m giving the offense coaching an A, while the defense gets a C (again, at best because I’m a nice grader), and the head coach gets a B (he is in charge of the defense and he really needs to buffer those OC gambler instincts like a real head coach at some point).
So, are you ready for the USC game yet? Go Irish!
Filed under: Notre Dame
