IBG: Avoiding Letdowns and Not Looking Ahead Edition

As Notre Dame looks to improve to 6-0 on the season and set up an epic matchup with #1 ranked Florida State, the Irish Blogger Gathering examines what the Irish must do to avoid looking ahead and writes some poetry.  Yup, you heard that right, Subway Domer made us write poetry.

Here was my question for the group: It’s now been two games since the OL was completely reshuffled. One game was a against a blitz happy team and another was against the #1 ranked defense in the country. So far the results have been mixed with OK pass protection but not stellar run blocking. Have these two games given the new look line great experience and we’ll see the benefits moving forward or have the two challenging experiences not given them the time to settle into their new roles and do you think the line will get better than what we’ve seen?

Ryan from Her Loyal Sons: This is the second week in a row which Golson has had some struggles with protecting the ball both in the air and on the ground. As he is arguably the heart of the ND offense, are you worried about the struggles? Do you think he’ll be fine? Or is your temperature somewhere else on the scale?

I’d say I am a little concerned at this point just because of the nature of the turnovers – they’ve been careless turnovers and not necessarily great plays by the defense.  His first fumble against Syracuse should never happen.  The pick 6 against Cuse?  Not the kind of play a senior should be making.  The fumble against Stanford?  Same deal.

What does have been a little encouraged though is that on Golson’s long run against Stanford he made a concerted effort to covered up the football as he ran downfield with two arms wrapped around the ball so it’s clear that ball security is sinking in after his flurry of turnovers the last two weeks.  If Golson takes care of the ball this week I will feel much better about Notre Dame’s chances down the stretch, but if we have another two turnover or more performance I’m going to be much more worried than I am now.

Mike from NDNation: No shortage of commentary about the inclement weather last Saturday. Not counting that game, what’s the worst weather in which you’ve ever watched a Notre Dame football game live?

Tough call here because I was at the Syracuse game in 2008 with frigid temps and a foot of snow on the ground but honestly, I loved the weather that day.  In fact, other than the outcome that was some of the most fun I’ve had tailgating and in a stadium weather wise.  You know, right up until the terrible ending.

I guess I would have to say the 2009 Washington game because of all the rain that I wasn’t really prepared for.  My cell phone at the time was an unfortunate casualty of the elements that day, but at least the outcome of the game was a heck of a lot better than Syracuse game in 2008.

Aaron from ND Blog: Last week’s win over Stanford was an ugly one – dropped passes, fumbles, etc … – but it was still a victory. Going into the UNC game at 5-0 and in the top-5 in the coaches poll with #1 Florida State awaiting the Irish the week after, what three things does Notre Dame need to do this week to ensure they don’t look ahead to a possible showdown in Tallahassee?

1.  Protect the football.  This one goes without saying but the last two weeks there have WAY too many turnovers.  UNC’s only chance in this game is for Notre Dame to turn the ball over a lot.  If Notre Dame does that they should be able to avoid looking ahead easily.

2. Don’t get cute.  I don’t think Brian Kelly would do it, but there could be temptation to “save” some things for Florida State.  Forget about it.  While this team is 5-0, there is a lot of work it needs yet for it to make a series playoff run.

3. Dominate the line of scrimmage.  This will be the 3rd week of the reshuffled offensive line and to date we haven’t seen great results.  With a weak opponent in town this offensive line has to start imposing its will on an opponent.

Josh from Subway Domer: Hello poets. Hello wannabe hipsters- here is your chance to step up to the mic at your favorite coffee house and let your creativity shine. I need 2 haikus from you. One about last weeks incredible victory, and one about this weeks game against North Carolina. I’ll sit down and listen [grabs cup of ridiculously weird coffee blend].

Ok here goes nothing:

What a victory
Another South Bend thriller
This time there’s no doubt

Unbeaten we are
A let down we must avoid
Unbeaten we stay