Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/616353
FAN FORUM DARE TO BE GREAT! In your last edition, someone sug- gested we're better off at 10-2 than getting pounded in the playoffs. Would the Nation of Israel been bet- ter off if David ran from Goliath? Would the Irish Nation be better off if Billy Conn ducked Joe Louis, or if we ducked Army in 1913? Damn con- tentment. Dare the impossible! That's the real Notre Dame. William J. O'Connor Hammond, Ind. CLOCK WATCHING While one can point to numerous shortcomings — i.e., poor tackling on third-and-long, missed assignments in the secondary and an inability to score touchdowns while settling for field goals — the most egregious was Brian Kelly's lack of communication to his quarterback during the final drive at Stanford. There were several times DeShone Kizer had the ball snapped with 10 to 12 seconds left on the clock. Leaving 30 seconds for Stanford to get in field range was fatal. Our defense had trouble stopping them most of the night. The face- mask penalty was unfortunate and the soft coverage on the 27-yard pass play was avoidable. It could have been a mute point if Kelly had man- aged the clock better in the final two minutes. Even with a win I don't believe the Irish would have cracked the top four … but it's very hard to accept losses that could have been prevented. Thank you to the entire team, espe- cially the seniors, on an exciting sea- son. Best of luck in the Fiesta Bowl. I'm confident the team will represent Our Lady's university with distinction and honor. Greg Fox Laguna Woods, Calif. RED ZONE = TWILIGHT ZONE It's a strange twist of fate to have major injuries to your starters and the bench warmers do something drastic — they make your team better. Such was the case with this year 's Irish. Everett Golson transfers to FSU, Ma- lik Zaire breaks an ankle — and in comes DeShone Kizer, the best quar- terback at Notre Dame since the Holtz era. Tarean Folston went out with a bad knee — and C.J. Prosise turned into a monster, racking up huge yardage. Then he goes out and Josh Adams rips up yards and shows freakish speed. Wait until he grows up! Hats off to Coach Harry Hiestand for building a line that opened holes for these guys and protecting on the pass. But the defense, it's kind of like a ze- bra: Are those white stripes or black? BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007 Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com