Bleacher Report - Articles by Andrew Hunn - clashmoremike.com

2009 Notre Dame Blue-Gold Game Reactions

Andrew Hunn - clashmoremike.com — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:52:54 -0400

The 2009 Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium threatened to turn into a snooze-fest for the fans and it appeared, for a significant number of those in attendance, that this ended up being the case.

As numerous publications and pundits cautioned before the game, it can be futile to infer too much about the status of a team following a spring scrimmage, but surely there must be some meaningful analysis that can occur after a game like this.

Contrary to public and press reaction to the game, several valuable insights can be gleaned from the scoring nightmare and unusual play-calling that was evident at Saturday’s spring capstone event.

Offense

To the expectations of those who have waited—patiently or otherwise—for Notre Dame to develop any semblance of an effective ground game, never mind “smash-mouth football,” Charlie pulled out all the stops, giving the ball to Armando Allen, Robert Hughes, or Jonas Gray a total of 53 times.

To new coach Tony Alford’s credit, it appears as though his talented corps of running backs have significantly improved their field-vision and have begun playing with more grit and determination to ferret-out running lanes and grab an extra one or two yards at the end of the play.

In short, there genuinely is a lot to be pleased about regarding the technique and behavior of the running backs yesterday. However, there are still a few lumps in the proverbial gravy.

Firstly, there is some merit to the idea that what Weis wanted fans, press, and future opponents alike to take away from the Blue-Gold game was a renewed potency and change of character from last year’s anemic Irish ground game, regardless of whether the rushing attack has actually made a significant leap in production.

And secondly, it was readily apparent that the defense was tiring rapidly in the second half and that this resulted in much of the running game’s overall success that occurred late in the game—as testified to by Armando Allen’s offensive MVP honors despite having the worst overall rushing statistics on the day (MVP ballots from media were due with a full ten minutes left in the game).

Conversely, while reactions to the passing game’s impotency cite the unusual format and purpose of Saturday’s scrimmage as the primary cause, there is little reason that plausible game-like conditions, contrived or not, should result in such a poor showing from the vaunted Irish passing attack.

An alternate possibility is that Clausen and Crist were hamstrung by imbalanced play-calling and by the general unavailability of their top-flight receivers—Tate split time between the game and Frank Eck Stadium, Floyd had only one catch, and Allen was used sparingly as an option in the passing game.

Defense

One of the bright spots for this year’s team appears to be the pronounced mobility and aggression of the young defensive line. Ethan Johnson had a huge game, recording six tackles including a two-handed sack and the line as a unit recorded three sacks with numerous hurries.

This positive however, must be weighed against the relative inability of the Irish front four to stop the run—Zeke Motta and his linebacking brethren were a busy bunch—and the apparent relative success of the offensive line’s zone-stretch scheme in opening holes for Hughes and company.

It is crucial that this year’s line be able to record the occasional sack and pressure relentlessly without over-pursuing and allowing opposing backs to enter the secondary.

The secondary also ended up notching a productive performance with their stifling coverage of the Irish receivers. Robert Blanton returned a Clausen interception for a touchdown, Harrison Smith registered six tackles (two for a loss), and also of note was Darrin Walls’ six-tackle performance—he’s a welcome option returning at cornerback.

All in all, the defense did a remarkable job of showing off it’s new quickness up front and experience in the secondary. I’m looking forward to seeing this unit hit the field in the fall.

Special Teams

Beyond Armando Allen’s nice return of 29 yards and one average Golden Tate effort, there weren’t many punts and absolutely zero kickoffs to give fans an idea as to whether the relatively non-explosive return unit expects to rectify the situation in 2009.

The jury also continued its deliberations in regards to the kicking game—Brandon Walker was able to convert a 48-yard field goal that had just enough leg on it to clear the crossbar, but he also badly shanked one of a handful of otherwise solid PATs off the left upright.

It appeared as though the game was a microcosm of last year’s inconsistently average special teams. Hopefully progress has been made which wasn’t evident in the Blue-Gold showing.

Summary

Without overextending to draw strained conclusions from the 80th annual spring contest, it is readily apparent that the Irish are making steady progress in their goal to rectify the most glaring weaknesses in last year’s personnel and coaching.

It is also equally obvious that they have much more ground to cover before the fall opener against Nevada if they hope to enter the BCS picture this season. Weis’ own words from the press conference following the game are as accurate as anyone can muster:

“I think we’ve improved in a lot of areas, but we have a long way to go to be a real good football team. At least potentially you could see the elements are in place to be a real good football team, but we have a lot of work to do.”

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Notre Dame's Kickers: Kicked to the Curb

Andrew Hunn - clashmoremike.com — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:37:01 -0400

The Notre Dame kicking game the past two years, featuring the first two kickers that Charlie Weis has recruited, has had one signature trait: inconsistency. And we’re not talking about your typical college gamble on a 40+ yard field goal attempt either.

This inconsistency is marked by the sound of every Notre Dame fan in the country collectively biting their fingernails whenever a fourth down inside the opponent’s 30 yard line or a kickoff approaches.

But the most puzzling component of this personnel failure is that not only has this happened under some of the greatest recruiting classes that Notre Dame has ever secured, but that these are scholarship kickers.

Both Brandon Walker and Ryan Burkhart are proving to be the weak link in a rebounding young Irish team that can ill afford to leave points on the field. Already we have seen the inability to pin opponents inside the twenty on kickoffs and lack of production in field goal situations contributing to an often-misfiring offensive unit.

As this season stretches on, the unreliability of the Notre Dame kicking game will continue to jeopardize close games and place undo stress upon a young offense that at times has struggled with mental errors.

Brandon Walker is latest Weis-era placekicker that has featured such mostly-dependable legs as D.J. Fitzpatrick and Carl Gioia however, unlike those blue-collar kickers of the past, Walker has continually struggled with accuracy in key situations. Although he has the leg strength to get the ball through the uprights on field goals of 40+ yards, all too often those attempts are wide to either side of the upright.

Last season Walker was a merely adequate piece of a completely underachieving whole, converting six of twelve field goals and 22 of 23 extra points. One can’t help but think that the reason the kicking game didn’t come under greater scrutiny last season is that everyone was busy watching the Irish crash and burn on a weekly basis through most of the year: the sound of the wheels falling off the placekicking unit was drowned out by the wailing and gnashing of teeth directed at the abysmal offensive effort.

Walker’s erratic kicking has been even more evident this season he is currently two for twelve on fields goals through four games. While it’s undeniable that he has been slumping lately and I definitely don’t want to kick a man when he’s down—especially a college athlete—there are some conclusions we can draw from his play thus far.

Namely, that Walker is out of his league placekicking at one of the most visible college sports programs in the country. He wasn’t very highly touted coming out of high school (he was actually more highly ranked as a punter) and hasn’t adapted well to the increased pressure of the college game.

As bad as the placekicking situation might appear, there is another area on Notre Dame special teams that is under performing as much or more.

As I spent the majority of my teen years living in the town right next to Wakarusa, IN and graduated from the same high school as Ryan Burkhart, I had a startling sense of pride that a bona fide Notre Dame recruit was from my neighborhood.

However, Burkhart has been perhaps the most disappointing scholarship player for his past three years at Notre Dame. His incendiary leg, which was widely praised coming out of high school after going seven for eight on 40+ yard field goals his junior year and managing to connect on a 53-yarder in the opening game of his senior campaign, earned him a spot as the only kicker named to the Indiana Top 50 all-state team in 2005.

Unfortunately, this same leg has been absolutely anemic since he arrived on campus. So weak in fact, that he didn’t see the field in his sophomore year.

After taking over for Bobby Renkes in the fourth game of the 2006 season against Michigan State, Burkhart performed admirably as a true freshman and completed the season as Notre Dame’s kickoff specialist. Mysteriously, Burkhart was withheld from action in his second year at Notre Dame, presumably due to unimpressive kickoffs on the practice field.

Unfortunately, it appears as though Burkhart was held out with good reason as his kickoffs this year have, more often than not, been missing the mark. There has been little to no evidence on the field of that formerly-impressive leg as Notre Dame is continually faced with opponents fielding the ball at around their own 10 yard line. This is an unacceptable result for a kicker at a big-time school.

Where do we go from here? Firstly, both Walker and Burkhart need to establish some—any—kind of consistency possible. If 30-yard field goals and kickoffs to the opposing five yard line are all that we can expect, let’s at least start to see some kind of regularity so we know what we can and cannot reasonably count on in game situations. I would consider this season a win for Walker if he were able to claw back to the .500 average on field goals from last year.

Likewise, if Burkhart were able to show that he can dependably send the ball to the five yard line with an occasional touchback, I would breathe a bit easier for a considerable portion of the game each Saturday. The last thing the team needs this season is more inconsistency and adversity on the offensive side of the football to battle through.

Secondly, Charlie Weis (and Rob Ianello for that matter) needs to put some honest-to-Touchdown-Jesus effort into recruiting a top-flight kicker. How hard a sell can it possibly be to a blue-chip high school kicker to commit to one of the year’s best recruiting classes, play in front of the entire nation every Saturday, get an Ivy league caliber education, and start immediately?

I’d be hard-pressed to think of a better situation for a two or three-star kicking recruit. It’s readily apparent that something needs to be done this recruiting season and that we can ill afford to hang the future of the Irish kicking game on the feet of walk-ons or unrecruited scholarship players.

Note: article photo courtesy of numstead.