| Notre Dame vs. Duke - 11.17.07 | ||
| Quarterback | C- | This is the best QB play we've seen from ND in several games. Part of Clausen's success lies with the fact that he saw better protection and had more open receivers. But beyond that, he scrambled away from several tackles during the game, making plays. His arm strength also seems to be improving. He had a couple passes that were plenty powerful, but he still has room for improvement here. JC's accuracy and usually safe throws continue to be his strong suit. His field vision and indecisiveness continue to be his weaknesses. Zibby was fun to watch at QB in the 4th. |
| Runningbacks | B | Runningback play was one of the few pleasures to watch in the game. We finally got to see Hughes play more than a couple downs, and he did not disappoint. This guy runs hard, shows heart and effort, and gets results. I'm a fan. Allen's play wasn't as strong. He seemed to stutter too much in his carries, not getting the yards I would have hoped. Helping pick up blitzes still is a problem for the unit, however. |
| Receivers | D | Grimes had more than one dropped pass in the first half, and Carlson and Parris also had drops. They deserve credit for getting open more often than in the past, but it would have been embarrassing if they weren't getting open against Duke's DB's, who were slower and much shorter than our receivers on average. Kamara did well, but he did have about 6 inches on his guy. Blocking downfield by receivers is a weakness. This is why 15 yard pickups don't turn into break-away TD's for us. |
| O-Line | D- | A couple false starts in the first half hurt the offense. Picking up blitzes continues to baffle the line. Clausen should never have had to scramble as much as he did. That said, the line put up some decent run blocking in the second half. But given their dramatic weight advantage, this should have been the case. |
| D-Line | C | Laws had an excellent game, as usual. Without Kuntz at nose, Duke was able to get a few runs up the middle, but nothing dramatic. The line got some pressure on Duke's QB, but I'd still like to see more. |
| Linebackers | B- | I don't have much to say about the linebackers. Contain by the OLBs didn't seem to be a problem, but the unit didn't seem to be challenged much this game. |
| DB's | C | Coverage was solid throughout the game, but then again, Duke's receiving core was less than intimidating. Walls disappointed me at times in this game. He either got sucked in out of position or didn't physically compete like he should. |
| Special Teams | F | Walker missed a fieldgoal. Our kick return game was non-existent. Zibby refused to call fair catches on multiple occasions and got lucky that Duke's players don't know how to hit. We squibbed a lot of our kickoffs for some reason. The only positive is that our coverage didn't break. |
| Coaching | D | Offensive: Weis' overall play calling seemed a bit more diverse than the past few games, but maybe that's just because we could do more against Duke. He finally gave Hughes a significant number of carries, and he didn't forget about Carlson as he did a few times in the past. However, Weis still thinks the stupid swing out pass might work, even though it has been a disaster all season. As you can tell, I'm really getting tired of that play. Finally, I'm getting sick of Weis going for it on 4th and long. There are a few rare situations where such a move might be appropriate. But this game was not one of them. ND's defense was completely shutting down Duke, and we could have pinned them deep and gained field position--something our offense struggles to do, even against Duke. Defensive: It's hard to complain when a defense only gives up one score. But I just don't feel we were tested at all by Duke's offense, and I see no reason that the defense would have magically improved this week. |
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