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Irish manufacture depth in 2012

Theo Riddick

Senior Theo Riddick scored one of Notre Dame's two touchdowns in its championship loss to Alabama last Monday.

Notre Dame gave itself a fighting chance in 2012 by making the most of a versatile group of athletes.

Dan Murphy

    • Biggest thing nobody talked about was the amount of time the defense was off the field because of ND's time of possession advantage during the reg. season. This made up for the lack of developed depth. The early consecutive 3 and outs in the bowl game caused the defense to be out there too much.

      flanker

    • flanker said...

      Biggest thing nobody talked about was the amount of time the defense was off the field because of ND's time of possession advantage during the reg. season. This made up for the lack of developed depth. The early consecutive 3 and outs in the bowl game caused the defense to be out there too much.

      Agreed, thanks flanker.
      This artcile paints a picture that isn't quite true. Alabama definitely had more depth and size at some positions, agreed. However, this synopsis indicates that ND had no chance of winning from the start, and did not deserve to be in the fight.
      I strongly disagree, Dan, as I think many that know football would agree with me (including Urban Meyer based on his assessment that it was more about execution, prep, and attention to detail than anything in Miami). Notre Dame could have competed with that team given the right prep, scheme, adaptation, and of course if all of the playerd showed up on the big stage. None of which came to fruition. Depth was an issue, however, it was not THE determining factor.

      marcusbking

    • The game was over three seconds into the second quarter( if not sooner). How is that a question of depth. I agree with the other posters it is a lack of preparation and discipline. We ran into the perfect storm on that day and I think any of the other 120 teams would have suffered a similar fate. We had a great season and learned where we need to be. We will increase our depth and we will grow from this and become a better team

      irish tommy

    • It's the difference between a NC team,and an up and coming team. Three years from now, we'll be as good. As they say Rome wasn't built in a day.
      .

      tcboxer

    • This ND team barely beat Purdue, Pitt, and BYU all at home. While Alabama destroyed every mediocre team they played. There should be less focus on Alabama and more focus on how ND can play consistent football on offense, defense, and special teams.

      Depth doesn't explain why this team is at the bottom for returning punts for two years running or why they are so poor in the red zone.

      The Undertaker

    • I totally agree about the lack of focus and poor preparation but there was also no doubt about the depth issue.Future recruiting classes can help solve the depth issue.The loss of some key players to injury hurt our depth chart.Two who come to mind our Austin Collingsworth and Jamoris Slaughter.

      frase

    • Great article Dan. This points out one of the ways that Kelly is trying to maximize the talent in Notre Dame Football given some of the challenges it faces.

      Irish Cedar

    • irish tommy said...

      The game was over three seconds into the second quarter( if not sooner). How is that a question of depth. I agree with the other posters it is a lack of preparation and discipline. We ran into the perfect storm on that day and I think any of the other 120 teams would have suffered a similar fate. We had a great season and learned where we need to be. We will increase our depth and we will grow from this and become a better team

      I think the point of "question of depth" goes into the preparation aspect.

      Due to lack of depth at certain positions, the staff was a bit concerned about scrimmaging 1s vs 1s in the practices leading up to the bowl game. That certainly hurt ND's performance and with more depth, maybe the staff would've prepared differently (or heck, they probably would've just said screw it and done more scrimmaging if they knew the result).

      There's no need to call out individual players as they are all great young men who represent the University well, but there are way too many kids on the roster that just aren't BCS level talent - that affects a team's play and preparation because that's who the team practices against on a daily basis.

      You need competition at each position - you need your scout team to be as athletic and physical as possible to test and improve your starters.

      You need each position to have enough depth to where you truly have no fear of injury, and the "next man in" philosophy works.

      We're not there yet, but we're getting there, and it will continue to show in the years to come.

      mramire9 ●

    • Actually all we need is some hogmolls up front. Coach K did expect for players like Matt James RIP along with Heggarty Prestwood and a couple of other guys along the offensive and defensive line to have been contributing major roles, which in turn would've made us more stout against Bamas defensive front and offensive front. Furthermore, i for one am the first to admit who needs A-Lynch but then again who really needs A-lynch right guys?! Not that the outcome would've been different but it would've certainly made for a DAMN BETTER game!!!

      This post has been edited 2 times, most recently by dabus3636 on 1/14/2013 at 11:17 AM

      dabus3636

    • And size does really matter folks! Which is exactly what she said!!

      This post was edited by dabus3636 on 1/13/2013 at 8:12 PM

      dabus3636

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      65too

    • We need to consistently recruit top of the line classes to makec sure we have a roster of top notch talent across the board. Keep recruiting and keep developing over a consistent period of time.

      edd1066

    • Although the D Line could have been more effective I think the glaring weakness was in the line-backing core. The D line won and lost some battles which happened more or less in all 13 games this season. The Linebackers consistently could not clean up ball carriers at the second level letting the backs get to the third level relatively untouched. And in the passing game Alabama's tight ends and slots were just toying w/ Fox, Calabrese, & Teo the entire game

      This post was edited by Mpper10 on 1/14/2013 at 9:01 AM

      Mpper10

    • Agree with a lot of the points:
      1. lack of depth hurts on many levels, talent and preparation.
      2. total disregard for the special teams has hurt the team. Look at how Holtz was able to win some big games with great special teams play.
      3. I could not help but think about the D-Line with Lynch on it vs. Alabama; certainly more formidable.

      Having said all of that, it is a credit to the staff and team that they reached the championship game as they were able to maximize what they had. Now, more attention needs to be paid to all phases of the game and continuing to bring in a lot of depth along both lines.
      At this point, the only area we have not loaded up in this year's recruiting class is D-Line. Would love to see Eddie V. jump on board.

      Luther D

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      2daniel6

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