An interesting forum/blog from Notre Dame fan Neil Hayes ... gives you an idea about what they think about our offense ...
I just got off the phone with Stephen Tsai, who covers Hawaii for theHonolulu Advertiser. He told me about the Rainbows. I told him aboutNotre Dame. In the end, we concluded that these two flawed teams mayvery well play an entertaining game.
Here's what I was able to learn about the offense.
Hawaiistruggled to replace Colt Brennan early in the season. His longtimebackup Tyler Graunke was supposed to be his replacement but ran intooff-the-field problems. As a result, coach Greg McMackin resorted tousing five different quarterbacks (starting four) this season beforesettling on junior Greg Alexander during the final six games.Alexander, who is 6-3, 230 pounds, is a classic run-and-shootquarterback. He is a good scrambler but is not a natural runner, ifthat makes sense.
This a classicrun-and-shoot offense, remember. Brennan's four best receivers fromlast year are all gone. Malcomb Lane is the speedster and deep threatbut lacks consistency. Greg Salas is the more polished receiver. Slotreceiver Michael Washington is the Rainbows' leading receiver with 56catches. He's quick but not fast, according to Tsai, and struggles tomake yards after the catch, but is a reliable target that Alexanderlooks for frequently. The other slot receiver is Aaron Bain. He's got44 catches.
Tsaisays running back Kealoha Pilares is Hawaii's best offensive player. Hemissed the past three games after spraining his foot but is expected tostart against Notre Dame. Pilares will carry the ball eight-to-10 timesper game. He will also line up in the slot and make plays in thepassing game.
Hawaiihas the nation's 33rd best passing offense. It will be pitted against aNotre Dame defense ranked 18th in passing efficiency defense. I wonderif that second stat is a little misleading, however.
SanDiego State's quarterback was a freshman, Michigan was struggling tofind someone at that position who could run first-year coach RichRodriguez's offense. Michigan State's Brian Hoyer is solid butunspectacular. Purdue's Curtis Painter was a good college quarterbackhaving a bad year, in part because he lost many of the weapons who madehim so effective as a junior. Still, Painter, the most accomplishedpasser Notre Dame played until the season finale against USC, completed29 of 55 passes for 359 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.Stanford's Tavi Pritchard ended the season as the 85th most efficientpasser in Division I. North Carolina, Washington and Pittsburgh allplayed backup quarterbacks against Notre Dame. Boston College's ChrisCrane, who was trying to replace first-round draft pick Matt Ryan, wasaveraging an interception every 12 attempts when the Irish played theEagles. Anyone who saw that game knows Crane was not an accomplishedpasser. Navy played a backup quarterback against Notre Dame andSyracuse's Cameron Dantley, the son of ex-Notre Dame basketballstandout Adrian, was such a sought-after recruit that he had to walk on--- at Syracuse. My long-winded point is this: Notre Dame didn't play atop-tier quarterback until the final game of the season, when MarkSanchez threw for four touchdowns.
It makes me wonder if Notre Dame's strength --- pass defense --- could turn into a weakness against a high-caliber passing team.
Theywill need to get some pressure. That shouldn't be difficult. Hawaii hasallowed 49 sacks, which is the second highest total in Division I.Teams haven't accumulated those sacks by blitzing, as Notre Dame oftendoes. Tsai said that the line struggles with speed-rushing defensiveends. Most teams have chosen to play Hawaii straight up and have foundtheir front four is able to get pressure while allowing everyone elseto drop back into coverage. If Notre Dame could get consistent pressurefrom their defensive line it would be a big help, but that hasn'thappened much this season.
