Occasional flop vs. repeat failures in big games
by Flanner89 (2021-02-19 12:40:17)

In reply to: Why don't more people get this?  posted by graNDfan

Post Reply Return to Rock's House

I can accept an occasional flop game. Lou lost to Air Force. Ohio State lost to Purdue (or was it Iowa) not that long ago, and barely beat Navy. Clemson has their occasional Pittsburgh.
I know it was Michigan, but we beat them pretty well the previous year and Michigan was down, so I put that more in the "flop" game category. As long as that's a once every 3-5 year happening I'll accept it as par for the course (as evidenced by the elite teams having a similar rate of flop games.)
My issue is the repeat ass-whoopings in the big games. That's where those elite teams shine and we stink -- a huge difference between a Kelly team and the elite teams in these games. Not as big a different with the occasional flop.
(I am admittedly a bit torn on not counting Michigan as a big game, since it fits the profiles of some of the other Kelly blow-outs. But I remember the ND fanbase view of that game, myself included, as it being a fairly sure victory for us.)

Jack worked very hard on that game to his credit.
by domer4  (2021-02-19 12:51:52)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

I am not one to ever defend Jack - but I will this time. This wasn't a "flop" game situation - those are games you didn't know could be a loss, or you were coming a big win (like 1996 and Washington or 1993 and Florida State) or a really bad defeat (Tennessee 1991 and we just mailed it in against PSU the next week).

Jack did everything to telegraph this game was big:

1) Jack moved the USC game back a week (Oct 12) to give us two weeks to prepare for the Michigan game (that was the earliest date for that game in decades, it probably should have been Oct 19).

2) Michigan played PSU on the road on Oct 19 (a tough game that they ended up losing).

3) Michigan had never played an out of conference game that late in a season since.... well, at least 50 years? 70 years?. They were always opposed to any game in October (Delaware State a few years ago as an exception) since it took away their focus from the conference games.

And yet still BK shows up totally unprepared... in year 10 of his "program"
Fair points, but with other contradictions
by Flanner89  (2021-02-20 12:30:30)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Agree with everything you said, and those are some of the points that give me pause about putting this in the "flop" vs. "big game ass-whoopin'" category. Even within this thread posters are giving contradictory points -- why it was a big game and others saying Michigan was tanking. I can see it either way. Just because Savvy treated it as a big game didn't mean the team did.
In either case there is still the obvious elephant in the room: Kelly's teams consistently get their butts kicked in big games, while the elite teams up their level of play in those games and (at least sometimes) win their share. I don't need to put the Michigan game in the 'big game' category to support that point.
BK will have to win a title for me to forgive that loss
by Freight Train  (2021-02-19 17:10:01)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

UM was reeling coming into that game and his game plan was a repeat of the NC State hurricane game. During the halftime interview of that shit show, he simply said “we have to pass the ball better.” Meanwhile UM was somewhere in the midst of running it 25 straight times or whatever in that foul weather. He is incapable of a sound game plan.