We have over three months before practice starts for the
2014 season and over four months until Her Loyal Sons take the field for their
first game against Rice. If we are lucky
there may be some insight to player development when they are spending their time
with Strength and Conditioning Coach Paul Longo (the only Irish Staff allowed
to have structured workouts with the players via NCAA rules). Until then there will be speculation,
following of players on twitter, praying they keep their heads on straight so I
hope the Blue and Gold Game gave you enough to keep you satisfied for the next
few months.
The week after the Spring Scrimmage I have watched the game
several times looking for any nuggets that I can focus on until practice
starts. Of course the reality is most of
these spring games are really the final practice of the spring at best that
have been hyped up by college athletic and marketing department s and of course
rabid fans thirsty for collegiate football outside of the fall months.
First and foremost the most important thing that should be
taken away from the game is there were no injuries. Even though the quarterbacks are
untouchable, there are no kickoffs and
all punts are fair catches anytime players take the field especially with any
kind of contact injuries are a risk. Of
course these rules are set in place by design to prevent injuries. It is a compromise that shorts us on insight
to kick returns and coverage, an area the Irish have been weak in seasons
past. It also limits the opportunity to
evaluate the true scrambling ability of our quarterbacks.
In the months to come Talking Irish will reflect back to the
Blue and Gold Game to break down players and schemes while spinning speculation
as to what the fall may hold for Notre Dame Football fans. For now let's take a big picture look at what
we can take away from the scrimmage which wrapped up spring practice.
Overall it was a good scrimmage with no big surprises good
or bad. Without a doubt freshman (will
be a sophomore for the 2014 season) wide receiver Corey Robinson was the most
impressive player on the day. There did
not seem to be a ball thrown that he could not catch. What is most exciting thing about Robinson is
that he is only going to be a sophomore, he is still learning the game and
looking at his father he may get even taller, making him a very dangerous
offensive weapon.
If Robinson was the most impressive the most surprising was Malik
Zaire. What made Zaire's play surprising
was how it was matched up against the play of Everett Golson. Malik has shown he is confident and not
planning on backing up Golson this season with his statements , “Without a doubt. There will only
be one guy starting on Aug. 30th against Rice at Notre Dame Stadium, there will
only be one guy out on the field, and I believe that will be me” in the Blue and Gold he gave validity
to those remarks.
Over the next several weeks Talking Irish will be reviewing the
Blue and Gold Game (as it is all we have for several months) and breaking down
players, coaches and plays.
