For all the Taylor Bennett Doubters...

[buzztheirazz]

btw--this was his 2nd start?! i believe our season will go as Taylor does.
good play=10 win/ACCCG/poss. uga win
mediocre play=8 win/No accg/no dog win
bad play....

 

[thwg]

You are the smart ones. You are the realistic ones. He looked bad. Not a good outing, as a whole.

Negatives: several overthrows & underthrows, poor vision (missing Mike Cox wide open for a TD in the first half), ducks, overall nervous and hasty.

However.....

There are many positives and reasons for optimism.

1. He won his first game as a starter in a very awe-inspring setting.

2. He really did run the offense pretty well as far as tempo goes.

3. He made one technically great pass with that out pattern first down to JJ in the second half. This is a good sign. He also had a good pass to Colin Peek which sent the Tech fans into a chorus of "Tight End", "Tight End?", "Tight End!", "Where are we?", 'Who is this?", and so on... Very humorous.

4. No turnovers, although he tried. This should still be a confidence booster and a point from which to build.

5. Our next game is at home against Samford. Hopefully he can settle into his role a bit. (Let's make sure we don't take this one for granted like Michigan did against App St.).

6. Our next big game is at home.

7. Worse comes to worse, a huge Calvin Booker is his back-up, and he is backed up by our QB of the future.

Anyway, I am not overflowing with confidence, but I think I will be, eventually.

On a random prognosticatory note, the games I am most worried about are VPI (they are the nation's darling. We better have a big ol' pre-game ceremony in their honor, to be shown on national television, and we all had better wholeheartedly show our support for them in enduring that horrific event. I will not support us losing to them in football over it, though), MD, UVA (the facts that this is in Charlottesville and they already lost to Wyoming don't help), and ga (I will always be worried about this one until we beat them). I don't know why, but I am only secondarily worried about BC, Clemson, and our date with F$U in the ACCCG.

Thank you for reading what turned into a rambling post.

the TB from Saturday would have helped last year. He was average compared to what we saw in his limited play last season. Yet, he completed a higher % of his passes than RB did in his career. He made no TOs. I didn't know what to think of going a whole game and not seeing a ball hit the other team in the numbers. He wasted no TOs. He was called for no Delay of games. He took one sack I think (going by memory) and had little chance to avert that one. He looked and acted like a leader and knew his role well. As poor as his touch was, his soft screen passes to TC were perfect.

For his first start on the road and in South Bend, I was quite pleased.

 

[mm42]

2007:
QB making his 3rd start leads team to South Bend for season opener, completes 11 of 23 passes for 121 yards, no TDs and no INTs. Result: 33-3 win.

1997:
QB making his 9th start leads team to South Bend for season opener, completes 10 of 21 passes for 118 yards, no TDs and 2 INTs. Result: 13-17 loss.



Notre Dame was no great shakes in 1997, either, finishing 7-6.


I don't think performance in a season opener at Notre Dame Stadium is cause for alarm. The fact that TB was poised and calm was a good sign. It will take several more starts before we can pass judgement on him as a starter.

 

[refrigeratormover]

What's pathetic is we have fans talking shiite and they don't even know how many starts tater has!

And some wonder why we shake our heads!

 

[TerminusTechie]

Bennett did not have a great game throwing the ball, but he did manage the game effectively.

Although it was Bennett's third start, his timing and accuracy seemed rusty. It often takes a little while for the passing game to develop the proper timing in game situations.

Hopefully, Bennett will step up the way Godsey did after Godsey opened the season with a relatively rough outing against Central Florida in 2000.

 

[GTWannaBee]

...poor vision (missing Mike Cox wide open for a TD in the first half)...

From what I understand, that was a designed screen. There would be no reason to look for other receivers if your primary is open.

Bennett was definitely nervous. Any player in his position would be (see all three ND QB's). Once he settles down and gets some touch back in his throws (as in not throwing it into the helmet or arm of the opposing lineman), he'll be good to go. He did enough to lead this team to a blowout so I'm encourged by that. Should be a good season this year.

 

[ncjacket]

Well, techinically TC was open because Taylor could et the ball to him. But with a ND player standing right behind him, it wasn't the right throw to make and TB did point to Cox as if to say, I know I missed you. Plus if Cox wasn't really an option why would he react the way he did?

 

[beej67]

Taylor was Reggie minus the turnovers.

That said, We'd have gone 11 wins with a ACC Championship last year if we had Reggie minus the turnovers.

 

[instant oatmeal]

i think TB really benefitted from GT's ability to run at will. if GT runs into a team with a stout run defense, forcing GT to rely on the pass, it could be an ugly game. Bond's gameplan was great... use the run to win the game and let TB simply manage the game with short, safe passes. it worked. however, if GT suddenly needs to rely on the pass to win, it will be a tough task, imo.

 

[GTWannaBee]

i think TB really benefitted from GT's ability to run at will. if GT runs into a team with a stout run defense, forcing GT to rely on the pass, it could be an ugly game. Bond's gameplan was great... use the run to win the game and let TB simply manage the game with short, safe passes. it worked. however, if GT suddenly needs to rely on the pass to win, it will be a tough task, imo.

That's what Stamford is for. Well, that and a chance for a W of course.

There's two weeks of practice between now and BC. Bennett will be ready.

 

[GT65_UGA89]

Taylor was Reggie minus the turnovers.

--as well as minus the mouthing off after every other play.

 

[mm42]

if GT suddenly needs to rely on the pass to win, it will be a tough task, imo.

That's like saying "if Notre Dame needs to rely on coaching ..." or "if Notre Dame needs to rely on blocking ..."

This was only one game, Taylor's first start in a hostile stadium. Brady Quinn's 1st start in a hostile stadium he went 3 of 10 for 34 yards. What a loser he turned out to be.

 

[instant oatmeal]

BQ was a true freshman... playing against a vaunted Michigan defense.

TB was playing against a notoriously porous ND defense and had ample blocking and great run support. totally different scenarios.

it's not like saying either of your two insinuations mm... that was a stretch, even for you, lol.

 

[mm42]

BQ was a true freshman... playing against a vaunted Michigan defense.

How about Brady Quinn's opening road game as a sophomore then? 12th start, against mighty Brigham Young, 5.6 yds/attempt, barely over 50% completions, and a LOSS. What a loser. He'll never amount to anything.

 

[instant oatmeal]

How about Brady Quinn's opening road game as a sophomore then? 12th start, against mighty Brigham Young, 5.6 yds/attempt, barely over 50% completions, and a LOSS. What a loser. He'll never amount to anything.

under Ty Willingham.... you are correct.

 

[ncjacket]

i think TB really benefitted from GT's ability to run at will. if GT runs into a team with a stout run defense, forcing GT to rely on the pass, it could be an ugly game. Bond's gameplan was great... use the run to win the game and let TB simply manage the game with short, safe passes. it worked. however, if GT suddenly needs to rely on the pass to win, it will be a tough task, imo.

Wow, you can tell all that from just one game!

Taylor played poorly no question. But we've seen him play better and trust that he will in the future. His main problem was that he missed like 3 passes that would have completely changed everyone's opinion of him. But even playing poorly, he completed several balls that were better thrown than anything any of your 3 QBs threw, so pardon us if we're okay with him at QB.

 

[gth816f]

under Ty Willingham.... you are correct.

I find the whole ND coaching situation very humorous. You can never really tell about a college coach until a full recruiting cycle(four years). Ty did not get one. Charlie is. It's not looking too good for Charlie right now(not that it looked that great to anyone outside of ND his first two seasons)...it probably won't turn around this season. We'll see what happens next season.

 

[instant oatmeal]

yes, TB played better than all 3 ND QB's... but he had the benefit of a strong run game to help him whereas ND had no run game. I'm not comparing him to any ND QB... i was simply stating that i wasn't impressed with him after reading all the hype. will he get better? definitely. was he setting the world ablaze? not at all.

I find the whole ND coaching situation very humorous. You can never really tell about a college coach until a full recruiting cycle(four years). Ty did not get one.

in all reality, ty only got one class since he failed to put even a semblance of a class together during his last two years. did you know that Ty set records for the smallest recruiting class at ND (16 in his 2nd year, 15 in his first)? weis came in with only about 70 of the allotted 85 scholarshipped players. i won't even discuss ty's obvious shortcomings of losing to vastly inferior teams...

Charlie is.

with 3 consecutive top-10 classes and consistently beating teams who he's supposed to beat, he has earned his right to stay.

It's not looking too good for Charlie right now(not that it looked that great to anyone outside of ND his first two seasons)...

it's not looking good? everyone except weis said that it was a rebuilding year. even pundits were saying LAST YEAR that 2006 was ND's last chance for a while since this year would be incredibly tough for the irish. every team hits rebuilding years, and this is ND's year. 2 back-to-back BCS bowls and 3 top-10 recruiting classes after inheriting a team with a losing record? weis also holds the records for most wins in the first two years of any coach at ND. i'd say things look pretty good. weis has brought consistency to program that has had none for the past decade. i fail to see how you say things haven't looked good since weis took over.

it probably won't turn around this season. We'll see what happens next season.

yes we will.

 

[ContactBuzz]

; but he had the benefit of a strong run game to help him whereas ND had no run game.

By the way, I haven't seen any ND fan address one thing. Before the game, I saw many fans say that Choice wouldn't crack the top 5 on NDs RB depth chart (this is no exaggeration and I saw it in multiple places, I assume by multiple fans). Have you guys changed your tune on that one?

 

[Boilerbuzz]

under Ty Willingham.... you are correct.

What's that got to do with it? He sure as hell did OK under Willingham statistically and I don't see Jabba Weis do much with Jones: a 4 star QB.

Let's blame Willingham for all things wrong with Notre Dame. What's going to happen this year when they look just as bad, if not worse, with Jabba's vaunted recruits and offense...

How can you sit there and totally forget that the players that made that team half descent last year were all recruited by Willingham? Such a short memory. Now that those players are gone, Weis should have blue-chipper in their 3rd year of the program. If they are that much better, why aren't they making an impact.

It's an excuse to call this a rebuilding year. That's a fanbase's easiest excuse. You have an experienced defensive line, linebacking corps. All of whom where gutted by Tech. Sullivan, Zbikowski, Carlson (each good players recruited by you know who). If the talent behind these guys is so great, why aren't they out there now making a difference? I didn't see Aldridge moving too many chains.

But, forget this crap. This is a GT board and we're talking about our QB. Take the excuses for the unfair firing of Willingham somewhere else. If you want to continue it with me, one on one, PM.

As far as Taylor goes, this WHOLE thread makes no sense. I saw a kid out there that didn't LOSE the game for us like Ball did. That's SUCH an upgrade, that I don't know why we are even having this discussion. If a couple of drops weren't dropped, his statline wouldn be bad at all. So, no, he didn't have a great game. But he had a good one. When you can put up 33 points against ND in South Bend, you're doing something right and/or you're not doing something really wrong.

I sure as hell am not excusing him because we got the W. That was the reason we were STUCK with Ball. But it's clear that we lost games we should not have lost because of Ball taking stupid sacks, throwing picks, etc... We've upgraded significantly.