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ND postmortem

Unfortunately I haven't been privy to rewatching the game, but I came away with some overall impressions that were positive as it applies to the rest of the season:

Wide receiver and receiver corps can officially be stamped as preseason question mark to an in season weapon. Lacy makes a huge difference and hopefully he can take on more load; the benefactor of his presence might be Chris Bell more than Brooks because Bell really is a third receiver and limited in his routes; on the crossing routes and go routes very good, on routes that require him to be quick out of breaks, not really his skill set. I come away from every game thinking the tight ends are underused for their skill; Jamari Johnson just looks like he is out of central casting as a pro tight end. All of that with Shough's abilities leaves me really excited for the rest of the year; he made some great throws against the best secondary we'll see this year.

Running back is a mixed bag but Isaac Brown just keeps showing us something different; KBrown is a good combination of physical and burst. Chaney leaves me a little vexed because he doesn't have their gears.

All of that said, the right side of our Offensive line (and Nygra at center) is a noticeable dropoff from last year. We got a little more on the ground than I thought we'd have, but Shough is taking too many hits.

...and defensively the bad is the secondary and that rates as a shock for me. It looks like Hutchinson and Neal are pared as safeties when they are in the game and we got caught with a really good route concept on the TD in the 1st quarter and that was the personnel on for the breakdown against Ga Tech. It looked like it was Hutchinson in the hole as a deep safety in three deep coverage and they flooded the backside with go routes and deep posts freeing up the seam route; quality scouting by Notre Dame but a breakdown nonetheless because Hutchinson needed more depth. Hutchinson made a great game saving tackle on Notre Dame's last touchdown only to have them score on the screen pass. Griffin and McDonald look like the better tackling group. Corner has become a borderline mess. As it applies to SMU and into the Miami game that is a very serious concern.

...but man did the linebackers look great Saturday. The Stanquan Clark I have been lauding as a potential all-ACC caliber LB showed up Saturday and so did Antonio Watts. And so by the way did Brock Travelsted; that was a huge FG and a huge lift at a critical point in the game.

It wasn't the officiating folks, it was really bad game management

I'm glad Matt McGavic used the line "coping mechanism" in describing hand wringing over officiating. The call with Lacy was awful which is unfortunate because it lends itself to the whole remaining narrative of it being a poorly officiated game--my only remaining complaint is that Clark should have been ejected for what was called an unsportsmanlike conduct--especially in the context of Jamari Johnson's blindside blocking penalty in the fourth quarter. I don't care if Bell walked off the field and pissed on Clark's family members in the stands beforehand or even spit on him as some Notre Dame scribes have alleged. My complaint as it applies to the coping mechanism is I'm not so convinced on all of the spots and the one posted on Twitter over and over as "evidence" is a joke. The spot where the official took the football from the sideline to the spot on the left hash to have another official step in and correct it was because the official who moved it DID have the spot wrong. That's not a conspiracy folks, that was a corrected mistake and I didn't think Chaney was remotely close to getting the first down. I am of the mindset that if Chris Bell turns his 6"2, 220 pound frame upfield instead of angling to the sideline and trying to outrun a faster DB we're not pissing and moaning about the spot. And that's not even to mention the recipe for folly that ensued on 4th down where Brohm and the staff went into a brain lock thinking there was going to be a measurement. That whole sequence of events to me was horrifying because in a high pressure, high intensity situation Jeff looked like he was on Tilt more than in control of all the variables. I don't have a problem with the playcall of an option pitch on 4th and 1 into the shortside, I have a problem with it being Chaney who is a North/South exclusive runner and Jeff confessed as much postgame. The Browns were much better personnel fits for that play.

The "spots" on the the game's last drive were also vexing because of the same end of the half mismanagement. We got the ball back on our final drive at the 2:44 mark. 1st down run for 5 to midfield, next snap at the 2:21 mark run for 3 yards to the Notre Dame 47 and this is where I am equally as critical of Jeff as at the end of the first half...we had a two minute warning timeout and no remaining timeouts pocketed which is why the run on 2nd down I thought was dumb, dumb, dumb. Passing gave you more upside. Incompletion stops the clock and sets you up with 3rd and 5 and you can do that coming out of a huddle, completion more yardage, a clock stoppage for the 1st down and an extra play before the two minute warning. The whole sequence suggested to me in retrospect that Jeff didn't want to give Notre Dame any time to get off a long field goal if and when we scored. Honestly, I think we were probably going to go for two if we scored the touchdown on that drive but we'll never know. If I'm being honest I would have played for OT because I think defensively we had figured out Notre Dame's attack midway through the second quarter and virtually dominated to the point of the breakdown at the 9:00 mark of the 4th quarter.

...and again, that isn't officiating folks. Frankly, Jeff choked on the bit.
It was both. A combination of suspect play calling and one sided officiating. If you're here to tell us after watching that game, the refs didnt hurt Louisville far more than ND, you're just in denial.

Yes, we should have won anyway without our mistakes and Brohms dumb play calls on 4th down, but without the assistance of the refs, ND would not have had the lead in the 4th quarter.

I watched the game again this morning and anyone who says the officiating wasn't one way just isn't seeing straight.

The SEC and Big Ten want 4 Auto Bids

This is what I brought up the other day when I said Notre Dame really has no benefit to take less money to join the ACC.

I’ve said this is going to be their next move, they’re going to make it where they own the playoff and have much more money.

That would mean 8 SEC & Big Ten teams get a bid. Leaving 4 spots. Would think then the ACC and Big 12 champ would be an auto bid. I’m not sure about the G4 in this case. Would be much harder for the ACC to get 2 bids.

And for those to say what can we do to fight it? There’s nothing we can do, the SEC and Big Ten have all the power. This is why Clemson and FSU are fighting to leave. It’s why Notre Dame holds a bigger bargaining chip with our league, the brands sadly hold some weight to fans because they wouldn’t consider a playoff legit if a few certain brands are left out.

A super Big 12 is the life raft. We need to be ready.

It wasn't the officiating folks, it was really bad game management

I'm glad Matt McGavic used the line "coping mechanism" in describing hand wringing over officiating. The call with Lacy was awful which is unfortunate because it lends itself to the whole remaining narrative of it being a poorly officiated game--my only remaining complaint is that Clark should have been ejected for what was called an unsportsmanlike conduct--especially in the context of Jamari Johnson's blindside blocking penalty in the fourth quarter. I don't care if Bell walked off the field and pissed on Clark's family members in the stands beforehand or even spit on him as some Notre Dame scribes have alleged. My complaint as it applies to the coping mechanism is I'm not so convinced on all of the spots and the one posted on Twitter over and over as "evidence" is a joke. The spot where the official took the football from the sideline to the spot on the left hash to have another official step in and correct it was because the official who moved it DID have the spot wrong. That's not a conspiracy folks, that was a corrected mistake and I didn't think Chaney was remotely close to getting the first down. I am of the mindset that if Chris Bell turns his 6"2, 220 pound frame upfield instead of angling to the sideline and trying to outrun a faster DB we're not pissing and moaning about the spot. And that's not even to mention the recipe for folly that ensued on 4th down where Brohm and the staff went into a brain lock thinking there was going to be a measurement. That whole sequence of events to me was horrifying because in a high pressure, high intensity situation Jeff looked like he was on Tilt more than in control of all the variables. I don't have a problem with the playcall of an option pitch on 4th and 1 into the shortside, I have a problem with it being Chaney who is a North/South exclusive runner and Jeff confessed as much postgame. The Browns were much better personnel fits for that play.

The "spots" on the the game's last drive were also vexing because of the same end of the half mismanagement. We got the ball back on our final drive at the 2:44 mark. 1st down run for 5 to midfield, next snap at the 2:21 mark run for 3 yards to the Notre Dame 47 and this is where I am equally as critical of Jeff as at the end of the first half...we had a two minute warning timeout and no remaining timeouts pocketed which is why the run on 2nd down I thought was dumb, dumb, dumb. Passing gave you more upside. Incompletion stops the clock and sets you up with 3rd and 5 and you can do that coming out of a huddle, completion more yardage, a clock stoppage for the 1st down and an extra play before the two minute warning. The whole sequence suggested to me in retrospect that Jeff didn't want to give Notre Dame any time to get off a long field goal if and when we scored. Honestly, I think we were probably going to go for two if we scored the touchdown on that drive but we'll never know. If I'm being honest I would have played for OT because I think defensively we had figured out Notre Dame's attack midway through the second quarter and virtually dominated to the point of the breakdown at the 9:00 mark of the 4th quarter.

...and again, that isn't officiating folks. Frankly, Jeff choked on the bit.

Brohm's Louisville Record @ Home and Away From Home

This is not criticism. Just plain facts:

Brohm's Louisville Record playing at HOME: 9-1 (Only loss was Kentucky)

Brohm's Louisville Record playing away from home: 4-4 (Losses were to Pitt, Florida State, Southern Cal, Notre Dame)

This season, the Cards have 3 Home and 5 Away games remaining. Plus undoubtedly 1 Bowl game to be played AWAY.

The rest here is speculation and commentary:

Using just past as prologue, based solely on how they play based on venue, it would seem the Cards should be expected to win 2 of the 3 remaining Home games, and 3 of the "5+Bowl" Away games.

Final record, including Bowl game will likely be 8-5. It's a reasonable assumption that Cards will not play in the ACC Champ game.

The Cards should have beaten Notre Dame on Saturday, and Kentucky last season.

Tyler Shough is the real deal.
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