Fake punt inside your own 40 in the first quarter? Questionable call. There's "aggressive" and there's "stupid". There's also "questionable". This call was "questionable". A bold move like this is dubbed "genius" when it works and "idiocy" when it doesn't. In truth, this was a "risky"/"questionable" call made in the first quarter.....the only time a fake punt inside your own 35 is ever really remotely rational in my mind. Given the overall picture, one in which ND's defense could not stop LSU, perhaps this failed manuever made no significant impact on the game. Although, Notre Dame's defense was clearly better in the first half than it was in the second. With this in mind, it is possible playing it safe may have changed the complection of the game entirely?

The Irish defense was so porous in the second half that their offense wasn't afforded the opportunity to commit to running the ball.....something that looked promising in the first half.

I really wanted them to win last night. NO ONE was giving them a shot. This is partly understandable but also partly rooted in the media's anti-ND bias. Writing this blog is bringing up old emotions I didn't want to revisit:(

It seemed like every play from scrimmage for LSU went for at least 10 yards in the second half. The ND defense was already spent and it showed.

When LSU receivers were open in the ND secondary, they weren't just get open, they ran undetected 30 to 50 yards away from the nearest defensive back. While Jemarcus Russell is an undeniable talent (can throw 40 yds from his ass, 60 from his knees, and 80 standing), he's developmentally no where near Brady Quinn right now. Let's be serious: Against ND's secondary he wasn't exactly being asked to thread the needle.

I couldn't stand how I kept hearing how much more talented LSU was than Notre Dame. That's bullshit. Defensively, yeah. Doesn't take an ESPN analyst to point that out. Offensively????? Gimme a break. With a better defense, The Irish would have been in that game until the very end. I know, "coulda shoulda, woulda." I'm just trying to make a point here.

Terry Bradshaw sounded drunk half of the time. The other half he provided good insight from a former QB's perspective on reads and audibled patterns and the communication, or lack thereof, between quarterback and wide receiver. Provided he knew what he was talking about (that's kinda anyone's guess because while he seemed drunk, he's still a hall of fame quarterback), Brady Quinn is an extremely polished quarterback and there were two hands full of dropped passes and miscues that are aptly blamed on wide receivers. S emardzja was hit in the head with a fade in the end zone for Christ's sake. McKnight had a bunch of drops. There was also a play where he didn't read the cornerback's blitz, Quinn did, and consequently Rhema hadn't even turned his head when Quinn's pass went sailing past it.
I only remember olson catching the ball once.

Against superior teams (ND's 3 losses this year) they began to look really lost- from a play calling standpoint- once it was established that they were not going to be able to impose their wills on the opposition. The fact that Weis prides himself on in-game adjustments makes for an interesting contradiction here. Hopefully that works itself out once they've put together a dependable defense in coming years.

Oh! And Nick Saban is a scumbag.