Rakes Report #178: Baby, it's Halloween, and we can be anything (The North Carolina Review)
rakesreport.substack.com
~optional musical accompaniment~ If you were forwarded this email and would like to sign up to receive future editions, you can do so here. 1) In this topsy-turvy world of ours it’s nice when some suspicions and theories are plainly proven true. Over the summer, it seemed like the defense should be able to keep Notre Dame in every game through the bye, but that the offense would need to be up to speed for shootouts against Southern Cal and North Carolina teams with potentially elite offenses. Our working idea during the bye week was that the quality of defense being faced by the Irish would be severely diminished compared to the stout fronts they saw over the season’s first six games, making it easier for the offense to carry a heavier burden. On Saturday evening, Tommy Rees & Co. were issued their tallest task of the season — score on nearly every possession or lose — and they came through to get the Irish to 7-1. Is this truly an offense that can flirt with eight yards per snap the rest of the way, or was it just a spooky All Hallows Eve Eve aberration against woeful opposition? That distinction will decide whether the “-1” sticks in the loss column the rest of the way.
Rakes Report #178: Baby, it's Halloween, and we can be anything (The North Carolina Review)
Rakes Report #178: Baby, it's Halloween, and…
Rakes Report #178: Baby, it's Halloween, and we can be anything (The North Carolina Review)
~optional musical accompaniment~ If you were forwarded this email and would like to sign up to receive future editions, you can do so here. 1) In this topsy-turvy world of ours it’s nice when some suspicions and theories are plainly proven true. Over the summer, it seemed like the defense should be able to keep Notre Dame in every game through the bye, but that the offense would need to be up to speed for shootouts against Southern Cal and North Carolina teams with potentially elite offenses. Our working idea during the bye week was that the quality of defense being faced by the Irish would be severely diminished compared to the stout fronts they saw over the season’s first six games, making it easier for the offense to carry a heavier burden. On Saturday evening, Tommy Rees & Co. were issued their tallest task of the season — score on nearly every possession or lose — and they came through to get the Irish to 7-1. Is this truly an offense that can flirt with eight yards per snap the rest of the way, or was it just a spooky All Hallows Eve Eve aberration against woeful opposition? That distinction will decide whether the “-1” sticks in the loss column the rest of the way.