Back from Pittsburgh and a spectacular victory for the Irish in their opener. What a difference a coach makes. While Ty blew an 11 point fourth quarter lead to Air Force, Weis lead the Irish to an impressive 35-13 half time lead that they would not reliquish. My thoughts on the game:
Play Calling: For the first time in many years, it wa difficult to guess what play was going to be run. It was a good mix of run and pass.
Offense: A nice balanced attack. Quinn looked good and recovered well from that early INT. Walker hit the 100 yd mark. I expected more, but Quinn and Powers-Neal each ran for 40+. And in typical Patriot fashion, 7 different players caught passes. Notre Dame had 6 possesions in the first and scored 5 TD and had 1 pick. I'll take those types of numbers all year.
Defense: The defense gave up 323 yards, had 2 turnovers and sacked the QB 5 times. However, they did not seem to be getting a great pass rush. The IRish got burned deep once for a TD, but seemed to be holding PIttsburgh highly rated passing attack to the underneath passes and then making sure tackles.
Special Teams: Zbikowski had 1 punt return for 23 yards and Hoskins had a nice 24 yard kick return. We didn't get to see much of the special teams play in the first half. Our punting and kick offs need some work.
Next Week: A tough matchup as the Irish go ont he road to play Michigan. This is a team they can beat. If the offense clicks like it did last week, and the defense can step it up a bit, this could be an Irish victory. Pressure on the QB and some stepped up DB play will be key.
