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ND Football UNC Week Chat

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Mike Berardino

11:54

Even the most talented player can only impact a program for 3-4 years. A top-shelf coaching staff of teachers and recruiters, which Marcus Freeman pieced together on the fly last offseason, can set you up for a decade or more.

11:52

Thanks, Cleveland Chuck. We're so glad to have you and your insights here as well. Hope you didn't watch too much of that crazy Purdue loss at Syracuse. As we've covered here, Charlie Jones, the Iowa grad transfer who's been reunited at Purdue with his boyhood friend/QB Aidan O'Connell, leads the country in receptions (32) and is tied for second in touchdown grabs (5). Notre Dame made a strong push for Jones in the portal, as O'Connell confirmed to me in July. Can you imagine how different this Irish pass offense might've looked in the first three weeks with a Julian Edelman-type like Jones getting separation on seemingly every snap? As for the long ball, I don't see Drew Pyne being asked to stretch defenses vertically too often this year. He'll stick to the short, safe, quick passes you saw when he got rolling against Cal. When it comes to so-called "arm talent," that's well down the list of Pyne's best attributes. As for your last question, I'm a little confused: Are we talking one game, one season?

CHUCK FROM CLEVELAND "THE LAND"

11:43

Hi Mike, thanks again for your insight. A win helps all of our attitudes but I am beginning to realize that this is just NOT a good team. Lou always said that the greatest improvement occurs between Week 1 and Week 2, did not see much of that. After watching so many games this w/e and seeing so many Wideouts hauling in passes, is our reluctance to throw down field based upon our fear of the turnover or lack of confidence in our wideouts? Last and this may not be fair to you but .... if you can only have ONE, would you take the ND talent or ND Coaches? At his point, I still believe in the level of talent. Thanks Mike and so glad to be a part of this Chat.

Mike Berardino

11:42

St. Paul in the house! Good to hear from the Cradle of Legends (Winfield, Molitor, Morris, Mauer). Joe Wilkins Jr., whose offseason was marred by April 1 surgery for a Lisfranc fracture in his foot, has 14 total snaps and zero targets so far. Did you know: Of Wilkins 11 career receptions, seven have come in the month of September? Saturday in Chapel Hill, against a UNC defense that ranks ninth-worst in the nation at 468 yards per game allowed and 119th overall in scoring defense (37.7), Notre Dame plays its last September game of JW2's college career.

P.Rose, St. Paul

11:35

Where did Joe WIlkins disappear to?

Mike Berardino

11:33

Welcome, Ohio Terry! Oh, my. I hope young Tyler was covering his ears. He was down on the field for pregame warmups, huddling with Pyne and the starting O-line as they shared a laugh. I noted that on Twitter (hope you follow!) I'm thinking with Buchner's left arm in a sling, it was best to keep him out of harm's way once the game started. Sideline collisions happen all the time.

Terry Jackson Center Ohio

11:30

I saw Tyler Buchner sitting in the Press Box behind Tommy Rees Saturday. Was there a reason (maybe physical) that he was not down on the field offering Drew Pyne encouragement and advice? Your thoughts.

Mike Berardino

11:30

Sacramento Scott! Thanks for stopping by. You raise valid points here, and no one, least of all those inside the Gug, is ignoring the luck of the Irish in the win over Cal. There's still plenty to "clean up," as Marcus Freeman will tell you, and that's where in-season improvement comes in. Speaking of that, Tobias Merriweather got his first four snaps -- PFF-College adjusted that total after initially having him at five Sunday morning -- at the college level with the promise of more to come. I posted a video on NDInsider.com of Freeman explaining the "trust" that must continue to build between coaches and player. I'd be careful not to denigrate the contributions of Matt Salerno. He was out there for 17 offensive snaps Saturday, caught the only ball thrown his way and did his part as a blocker and special teams contributor. By the way, "Bland but Effective" sounds like a great working title for the memoirs of so many modern play-by-play broadcasters. I'll let you decide who would wear it best.

Scott, Sacramento

11:16

Morning Mike, well a win is a win. ND will take what they can get, congratulations to Coach Freeman on his 1st victory. Now to the reality, California is a bottom of the PAC 12 team, year in and out. Not to many people are talking about the phantom offsides call against Cal after we missed a field gold that we eventually scored a touchdown on, that’s seven points that we should not have. Then we got a break on a third down incompletion when the Cal linebacker made a mental mistake for roughing the passer/ targeting. ND scored a touchdown on that drive. “ Execution” was the word after the loss to Marshall. Numerous illegal procedures on the office of line, dropped passes by Styles and Lenzy, complete wiffs on blitz by Lewis and sack by Foskey, blown coverage by Hart on Cal touchdown, showed a lot of work needs to be done. The offensive was bland but effective later. Lack of recruiting game breaking WR and top QB’s are really showing. Not sure why the former walk-on WR is getting more time than Tobias. Go ND

Mike Berardino

11:14

Good morning, sports fans. Thanks for all the questions. Let's dive right in.

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