that as always, sparty is going to play hard and their d plays fast. as usual, it looked like they knew what was coming especially on outside runs by nd. sparty ran sideline to sideline fast and swarmed - nd got very little on the edge with a couple of exceptions.
they also seemed to hold up just fine on the DL including the DEs that many on here have been making fun of. there weren't many/if any gaping holes up the middle that nd just ran through all game. nd had to earn every yard. adams busted out for a long one, and nd executed extremely well on some of the red zone runs. they also played to Wimbush's strengths in the passing game (bubble screens accounted for probably 25-30% of his 14 completions), but he makes things happen with his legs and extended drives with a few great passes. i believe he completed 14/20 (70%). as for running against sparty, nd gashed them a couple of times but were mostly held in check.
on offense they looked like they've looked for the past 10 years. man ball with some misdirection stuff, but now they have a true dual threat. lewerke is a threat period, but nd put very little pressure on him. they execute the screen very well so we'll have to be very disciplined. nd was content to rush four, blitzed seldomly and seemed to play zone. this played into sparty's hands because sparty wants to eat the clock and methodically drive the field.
sparty was so effective at taking what nd gave them that they had an 8:33 drive. holy cow. now here's the fun part. they put that stellar drive together after giving up ND's fifth touchdown to go down 35-10 in the 3rd quarter. so down 25 points with 18:25 to play, mork and co. go on an 8:33 snooze down the field only to fall short after getting a 1st and goal inside the 5. stuff stuff stuff incomplete. mork was mad, and after getting the ball with 3:25 left in the 3rd quarter, they gave nd the ball back with under 10 minutes to go in the game with nothing to show for it. hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
nd had to be chuckling and actually called the right d there needless to say - don't give them anything big, but let them have the underneath stuff all day. worked to perfection as i said, mork just kept chewing away to the tune of 8:33 while down 25. nd deserves the credit for not giving lewerke any real options deep (or so it appeared).
oh and mork's need to "never quit" or whatever it is he's doing leaving his starters in there down three TDs with under two minutes left trying to score almost cost him lewerke. lewerke took a bad hit (called roughing) on the knee that wobbled him. looked like a classic lost for the season type of hit to the knee. he's very fortunate but that would have been all on mork and his "pride comes before the fall but not me i'm not too proud" bs
needless to say, we don't play that style of d, but who knows how we'll respond to man ball. i have to give mork-sparty credit for always seeming to cobble together a decent OL - they weren't overwhelmed by nd and execute their running assignments well. he's been through how many O-coordinators and yet this never falters. WTF with our Fing OL issues already. it's inFingexcusable at this point.
so bottom line is that sparty will have tricks up their sleeves to deal with our aggression (e.g., screens, the stuff purdue did in the first half), and they'll run the ball at us and see what gives. and they'll run lewerke or he'll take off when the pocket collapses etc. we'll have to be very disciplined with him because he can definitely create.
i like the offense we saw with o'korn against their d. i do think we're going to experience frustration with our OL unless "improvement week" yields miraculous results. i don't see us running well straight at them, i just don't.
but i see us winning barring a collapse on either side of the ball (or both of course).
sorry so long, and please don't come in this thread with "sparty is hot garbage" unless that's what you truly see after having actually watched an entire game. had they not shot themselves with the turnovers, that game would have been a slugfest down to the wire.
they will test our corners with fades and back shoulder stuff all day too, and lewerke can make those passes - time will tell if their receivers are up for it, but stewart looks the part (another mork 3* diamond in the rough).
oh and lastly, they still look and play like they are juiced
they also seemed to hold up just fine on the DL including the DEs that many on here have been making fun of. there weren't many/if any gaping holes up the middle that nd just ran through all game. nd had to earn every yard. adams busted out for a long one, and nd executed extremely well on some of the red zone runs. they also played to Wimbush's strengths in the passing game (bubble screens accounted for probably 25-30% of his 14 completions), but he makes things happen with his legs and extended drives with a few great passes. i believe he completed 14/20 (70%). as for running against sparty, nd gashed them a couple of times but were mostly held in check.
on offense they looked like they've looked for the past 10 years. man ball with some misdirection stuff, but now they have a true dual threat. lewerke is a threat period, but nd put very little pressure on him. they execute the screen very well so we'll have to be very disciplined. nd was content to rush four, blitzed seldomly and seemed to play zone. this played into sparty's hands because sparty wants to eat the clock and methodically drive the field.
sparty was so effective at taking what nd gave them that they had an 8:33 drive. holy cow. now here's the fun part. they put that stellar drive together after giving up ND's fifth touchdown to go down 35-10 in the 3rd quarter. so down 25 points with 18:25 to play, mork and co. go on an 8:33 snooze down the field only to fall short after getting a 1st and goal inside the 5. stuff stuff stuff incomplete. mork was mad, and after getting the ball with 3:25 left in the 3rd quarter, they gave nd the ball back with under 10 minutes to go in the game with nothing to show for it. hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
nd had to be chuckling and actually called the right d there needless to say - don't give them anything big, but let them have the underneath stuff all day. worked to perfection as i said, mork just kept chewing away to the tune of 8:33 while down 25. nd deserves the credit for not giving lewerke any real options deep (or so it appeared).
oh and mork's need to "never quit" or whatever it is he's doing leaving his starters in there down three TDs with under two minutes left trying to score almost cost him lewerke. lewerke took a bad hit (called roughing) on the knee that wobbled him. looked like a classic lost for the season type of hit to the knee. he's very fortunate but that would have been all on mork and his "pride comes before the fall but not me i'm not too proud" bs
needless to say, we don't play that style of d, but who knows how we'll respond to man ball. i have to give mork-sparty credit for always seeming to cobble together a decent OL - they weren't overwhelmed by nd and execute their running assignments well. he's been through how many O-coordinators and yet this never falters. WTF with our Fing OL issues already. it's inFingexcusable at this point.
so bottom line is that sparty will have tricks up their sleeves to deal with our aggression (e.g., screens, the stuff purdue did in the first half), and they'll run the ball at us and see what gives. and they'll run lewerke or he'll take off when the pocket collapses etc. we'll have to be very disciplined with him because he can definitely create.
i like the offense we saw with o'korn against their d. i do think we're going to experience frustration with our OL unless "improvement week" yields miraculous results. i don't see us running well straight at them, i just don't.
but i see us winning barring a collapse on either side of the ball (or both of course).
sorry so long, and please don't come in this thread with "sparty is hot garbage" unless that's what you truly see after having actually watched an entire game. had they not shot themselves with the turnovers, that game would have been a slugfest down to the wire.
they will test our corners with fades and back shoulder stuff all day too, and lewerke can make those passes - time will tell if their receivers are up for it, but stewart looks the part (another mork 3* diamond in the rough).
oh and lastly, they still look and play like they are juiced
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