On Second Thought

Their bark is worse than their bite. That is my take on the Miami Hurricanes as well as the game as a whole.  At the beginning of the season, I had Miami circled as a win with great confidence.  As the Hurricanes improved to 4-1, many people began to feel this was going to be a better team and a better game than originally thought.   In their first game, Miami won 41-32 against a bad Boston College team.  Sure, Morris passed for 566 yards while Miami scored 44 points last week, but that was against a mediocre North Carolina team.  The week before, Morris passed for 436 yards on the way to scoring 42 in an overtime win against a below average Georgia Tech team.   Although that is a total of 127 points in those three games, they also surrendered a total of 105 points in those same contests.  Yes, in their third game of the year the Hurricanes won 38-10, but that was against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats of the MEAC.  Against their only ranked opponent, Kansas State, Miami was beaten like they stole something, 52-13.

It has been presented as an intriguing matchup with the Irish having a weak offense (at least on the scoreboard) going up against a suspect Miami defense.   On the other side, it’s been sold as Miami’s high flying, high scoring offense against Notre Dame’s stifling defense.  Something’s gotta give, right?  After flip flopping back and forth as to what kind of team Miami is and as to what kind of game it is going to be, I’ve decided the Irish will be victorious by two touchdowns (maybe more).  This is the opportunity for Golson and the offense to have their breakout game, for Kelly to open up the throttle a little and see what this offense can do.  Let’s get Eifert a 100-yard game with a couple of scores, and unleash our three-headed monster backfield while proving the O-line is as good as we were promised.

Official Talking Irish Prediction:   I’ll expect (wish for) three running backs with 100-yard games, Golson with 300 yards passing and 100 yards rushing with multiple touchdowns.  Brian Kelly and Chuck Martin will make some calls I don’t like or agree with and I’ll be disappointed and upset with penalties and missed opportunities.   But in the end the Irish will prevail.

Redshirt or not to Redshirt

Through four games, we have seen a number of true freshmen play and make contributions to the team.  There are still others that have not and may be red-shirted to preserve a year of eligibility.  I know it can be frustrating for a young man who has been a big fish in a little pond his whole life to be sent to the scout team, but it can pay big dividends down the road.  Taking a year to learn the systems (not only for football but for college life) and to work with the likes of Paul Longo on strength and conditioning have worked out quite well for several Irish players.  As the season rolls on, Coach Kelly and his staff will have to decide which players get on the field and which to save for future seasons. 

A lot goes into these decisions.  First and foremost is whether or not the player is ready.  The coaching staff needs to feel confident that the player is not only physically ready (no none wants to see anyone hurt), but also mentally mature enough to play at the collegiate level.   I hear from almost every freshman that the game is so much faster at the college level.  Let’s face it - in high school, you may go up against a handful of Division 1 players during your career, but when you step onto the campus of a big time program like Notre Dame, you’re going up against guys who were all-conference this or all- conference that in high school every day in practice. 

Another thing to take into consideration is if there is a need for that athlete to play.  If a team is already three deep at a position with talented upperclassmen, how much playing time is a freshman going to get?  Of course, injuries always come into play when making this decision and that is the one factor you cannot foresee.  Let’s take a look at some of the players that Kelly will have to make that decision about.

A good place to start is super recruit Gunner Kiel who at 6’4” 210 lbs., has the size of an NFL quarterback right now.  We realized from the beginning that there was little chance Kiel would see the field this year.  He would have had to have had one of, if not the best spring any early enrollee ever had.  There are just too many guys with at least some collegiate experience in front of him on the depth chart.  He would have had to be the clear cut starter coming onto the fall.  It will be interesting to see how everything shakes out for Gunner in South Bend over the next couple of years with Rees having another year of eligibility, Hendrix still having two years, Golson with three, and not to mention Malik Zaire coming in next year.

I’m sure that running back William Malone may also feel a bit discouraged and frustrated by not being on the depth chart, but he can rest assured that his time will come.  Although no one has emerged as the leader at the position, there are currently several players sharing time with some success.  The 5’10 211 lb. freshman from Ohio can use this year to make sure he is fully recovered from an ankle injury that kept him out of half of his senior season in high school, learn the offense and begin raking up yards in 2013.

At 6’5” 299 lbs. (and I know he’ taller and after a few months with Longo he’s added weight), it would be hard for a  college coach to keep a player like Jarron Jones  off the field, but most coaches don’t have the depth and talent along the defensive line like Kelly has. The reasoning here is simple - we don’t need him - this year.  With a good wingspan complementing his height, Jones has a great frame for an offensive tackle.  Coming out of Western New York where Jones did not have the opportunity to match up against top notch talent on a regular basis, and he needs to use this year to do so.

I realize that Amir Carlisle is technically a sophomore, but he can qualify to redshirt this year.  Much like Malone, we already have a crowded backfield and he is also coming back after an injury.  There is a good chance Kelly will not play Carlisle and keep him around another year.  Along those same linesm Chase Hounshell has not played yet this year because he has been banged up, and there is talk of redshirting him this season as they do not need another defensive end right now.