In the game of football, anything related to the word slow is thought to be bad. Consider the Fighting Irish slow.
If the elite of college football like LSU, Ohio State, USC and Florida are quicksilver, then Notre Dame is molasses. If the heavyweights are thoroughbreds, then the Domers are plow horses.
Speed-wise, ND isn't even in the ballpark. They aren't even close. Now, I'm not talking so much about individual speed. The Domers do possess a sufficient amount of players who can scoot and move.
No, what's being discussed here is a team's collective speed or more precisely, the pace at which it plays. In other words, how rapidly does it go about getting things done? Does the team in question execute with a certain zip or crispness or does it lumber through its' exertions?
Any objective analysis would place the Irish in the latter category. They're plodders who often look like they're toiling in mud. They seem to need more traction. They're a pedestrian team in a high-energy sport.
You name it and the Irish are slow at it. Getting to the line? Methodical. Running backs hitting the holes? Tardy. Offensive line firing off the ball? Lethargic. Defensive line applying pressure to opposing quarterbacks? Late. Linebackers and defensive backs either plugging holes of getting to the perimeter for containment? Dawdling.
The Irish are slowness personified! The play a game as if it's one big walk-through. When Charlie Weis and his staff review film, they don't need to reduce the projector's speed to take a closer look at something. Heck, there's no need for that since Notre Dame's normal speed is, in essence, slow motion.
In real time, the Irish are tortoise-like while much of the opposition they face has the look of greyhounds. Gee, I wonder who'll win that race?
Because of their glacial approach, ND hasn't been able to establish an identity on either side of the ball. On offense, because they play with no real sense of urgency, things appear disjointed. There's no flow whatsoever to their efforts. On only two occasions in this entire season, once in the second half versus Purdue and perhaps late in the first half against Duke, did there seem to be any type of rhythm when ND possessed the ball.
Defensively, it hasn't been much better. Oh sure, there were flashes when the "D" showed some intensity but generally, their tact was one of caution. Instead of dictating the action, Corwin Brown's unit mostly sat back and reacted, none too swiftly I might add. Rather than being aggressive, they demonstrated a sort of tentativeness that made them appear nothing but slow. They've looked confused and confounded a good deal of the time.
It would be hard to shoot holes in any of these criticisms since all of them are valid. All one has to do is just watch the Irish in action to realize that these shortcomings exist. These are serious problems that must be addressed. But while it can be easy to condemn, it's much harder to offer solutions that might provide some relief.
So in the interests of balance, here are a few suggestions on how ND can pick up the pace, speed things up and become more Ferrari than Kia.
Offensively, begin by making it a point to get in and out of the huddle rapidly. Getting to the line promptly helps create a mindset of being ready to go.
Try some quick counts which should allow the line to fire off the ball and perhaps catch the opposition unawares.
Incorporate more quick-hitting interior runs which don't take forever to develop.
Utilize the shotgun with some degree of frequency. When functioning well, this setup can get your quarterback into a groove and help establish a flow and rhythm to the offense.
Try more slants and passes off a three-step drop. Because these plays are based on timing, they must be executed without hesitation, thereby accelerating the tempo at which a team plays.
As a change of pace, employ the hurry-up offense. Feature it prominently and don't restrict its' use to just before the end of each half.
Defensively, set a tone by going to more man-to-man coverage and challenging the receivers at the line of scrimmage. Yes, it's somewhat risky but it sends a message of confidence and literally forces a team to play faster.
Get the linemen to stunt more. It'll make them more active and lively. The Irish haven't had a persistent pass rush in what seems like eons so free things up by having the defensive front take different routes to the quarterback.
Bring the house more often in hopes of making some game-changing plays. And stick with this philosophy even if it doesn't yield results right away.
Show the blitz repeatedly but then back out of it whenever you want. This will create confusion for the offense and should go a long way in helping to disguise ND's coverages.
Take advantage of a good number of these recommendations and it's guaranteed that the Irish will come off as more rapid and assertive. These ploys will help quicken the team's pace and help it perform at a faster rate. On offense, they'll look sharper while on defense, they'll start flying to the ball.
Enough with playing slow. The time has come to literally change gears. It would be best to open things up and go full throttle. In the 90 miles-an-hour world of college football, the Irish have to stop going 55. Let's get some afterburners on this sucker. Let's lay some rubber.
Because without a lot more zip, speed and charge, the Irish will continue to go down the drain. As they've painfully learned, slow motion just doesn't cut it. That's the surest way to get nowhere fast.