Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 19, 2018

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 19, 2018 5 FAN FORUM HURRY UP, AND THEN WAIT My wife says I complain and whine too much during Notre Dame games. She was out of town on Northwestern week, so nobody could hear my whin- ing to the point of hoarseness. So I'll whine to Blue & Gold Illustrated. Why do the Irish snap the ball with 20-plus seconds on the play clock late in games when they are trying to pro- tect a lead? I understand tempo, but a few more seconds taken off the play clock would do wonders in the fourth quarter for my blood pressure. The Irish will give up a punt re- turn for the TD or have a FG blocked in the final three games of the sea- son. They are the only special teams breakdowns not achieved this season (two kickoff returns, blocked punt, kickoffs out of bounds at the most inopportune times). Now for BGI. How come coaching is rated in the game preview, but never assessed in the game summary? In the summary of the previous weeks games, a breakdown of the plays participated in by each player for that week is listed. Myron Tago- vailoa-Amosa has been listed in each BGI issue as having played 10 plays (Pitt total). Hasn't he been injured since week one? Is there a chance he plays in the last two games? Okay, I feel a bit better. Time to clean the gutters. Go Irish! Gorman Findley Centre Hall, Pa. Mr. Findlay, against both Navy and Northwestern, the staff felt with 37‑22 and 24‑7 leads (and then 24‑14 and 24‑21), it was not a time to take the foot off the gas pedal. We've seen many times in the past where the coaches would get vilified for "playing not to lose." We did ask head coach Brian Kelly af‑ ter the Northwestern game why he didn't milk more clock once up 24‑14, and his reply was the game was still in a com‑ petitive mode with a two‑score difference. "We needed to put more points on the board," he said. " It's virtually impossible to keep the tempo of your offense and bring the clock all the way down. … You can't change it completely and get both accomplished — that is, take the clock all the way down and run the offense the way you want to run it. "We did take some more time by hold‑ ing the play, by not sending it in right away to eat some clock, but we still needed to score, and that meant we still needed to play at least in a similar tempo." Regarding out "On Paper" game sum‑ mary, it seems more fitting to put the coaching aspect in the pre‑game, whereas in the post‑game we substitute it for two crucial game elements: third‑down con‑ versions and turnovers. There might be right calls made in a game that are just not properly executed. That doesn't al‑ ways mean it was "poorly coached." As for Tagovailoa‑Amosa, all 10 snap counts came in the first game (Michi‑ gan). That's an error on our part. We should have him for only 10 cumulative for the season. Kelly indicated that Tago‑ vailoa‑Amosa could be cleared to practice for the USC game and bowl season. Rather than milking the clock to protect two-score leads in the fourth quarter of recent games, junior quarterback Ian Book and the Irish offense have stayed in "competitive mode." PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Blue & Gold Illustrated / Letters P. O. Box 1007 Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com FROM THE WEBSITE There was some hand-wringing among Notre Dame faithful this winter when head coach Brian Kelly hired longtime associate Jeff Quinn, who had been an analyst on offense since 2015, to replace Harry Hiestand (now with the Chicago Bears) as the offensive line coach. Kelly and Quinn had worked together two decades prior to Kelly getting hired as Notre Dame's head coach in December 2009, while Quinn was selected as head coach at University of Buffalo. Entering the game against Florida State Nov. 10, Kelly and Quinn had won 27 consecutive regular season games together — the last six at Cincinnati in 2008, a 12-0 mark the following season with the Bearcats, and then the 9-0 start this season. The offensive line was going to take a step down this year after losing two top-10 NFL picks in Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey, and suffered another huge setback when captain Alex Bars was lost for the season in game five versus Stanford, but it has held its own overall. Here were some thoughts on BlueandGold.com. UserND83: That certainly isn't exactly a direct cause and effect, but it's a pretty good sign that they are doing something right. I thought it deserved its own thread given a lot of the criticism of them that has been tossed around. 27-0 is hard to do under any circumstances. Chamgel: Patience is needed with Quinn. He's taking a lot of heat, but he's also working with an ex- tremely inexperienced offensive line that has been a revolving door of starting units, and all he's done with it is block for what has been a top-10 offense in the country the past 6 games. Cheta41: God help 'em both if they ever lose a game. Unimaginable. Johnnyh: Anyone who is not considering the revolving door, injuries and losses up front is not being objective. I still think that this unit should be better. BigNDFan80: I do think inexperience is playing a role. Lack of experience and a big step down at O- line coach.

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