INSIDER: Leaving his past behind: Facing familiar faces across the field, Willingham led his new team to victory
By ANDREW SOUKUP
Sports Writer
Stanford quarterback Chris Lewis made no attempt to be patient. Mumbling, "Excuse me, I need to shake a hand," he edged his way between reporters surrounding Irish head coach Tyrone Willingham, who was preoccupied with a NBC interview.
Suddenly, Lewis broke through the crowd surrounding his former head coach. Willingham stopped talking to the camera and embraced his former player, whispering something in Lewis' ear. Then the two symbolically parted, Willingham returning to his interview, Lewis returning to his team.
Lewis wasn't the first, nor was he the last, Stanford player to approach his former coach. As Willingham jogged toward the tunnel under a deafening roar, Cardinal after Cardinal lined up to talk to their old coach. What Willingham told his former protégés, only they will know.
But Willingham, who joined Jesse Harper, Knute Rockne and Ara Parseghian as the only Irish coaches to start 5-0 in their first season, didn't have to do much talking after Notre Dame's 31-7 win. The No. 8 Irish sent the Cardinal out of Notre Dame Stadium with a message of their own, showing Stanford what a Willingham-led team is capable of.
"If I were on the other side of the ball and the game's over, whichever way it goes," Darrell Campbell said, "I would definitely start the line and shake coach Willingham's hand because he's such a tremendous person, such a tremendous coach. He's like a father figure to us."
Carrying a 7-3 lead into the halftime, the Cardinal appeared poised to hand its former coach a shocking upset. But while Stanford celebrated in its locker room, the Irish – including Willingham – flung curse words around to express their displeasure with what Willingham called the worst half the team played all year.
But as it has done all season long, Notre Dame relied on its defense to provide a quick burst that preserved its undefeated season. Keyed by its third and fourth defensive touchdowns of the season, the Irish rattled off 28 points in a 6:54 span midway through the second half, a spurt from which the Cardinal never recovered.
Campbell launched the rapid Irish turnaround when he launched himself at Lewis midway through the third quarter, sacking the Stanford quarterback on the Cardinal 5-yard line. Almost single-handedly, Campbell had swung the momentum in favor of the Irish and the floodgates opened.
"I think it inspired a lot of people at that time, especially the fans in the stands," defensive lineman Cedric Hilliard said. "They really got into the game … and made it hard for the offense to hear. I think it was definitely a turning point."
On Notre Dame's next possession, quarterback Pat Dillingham, who learned early Saturday morning he would start over the injured Carlyle Holiday, led the Irish on a 6-play, 57-yard drive that ended in Rashon Powers-Neal's three-yard touchdown run.
Two plays later, Shane Walton picked off Lewis' pass and raced 18-yards for a touchdown. Five plays after Walton's score, Courtney Watson snatched a ball away from tight end Alex Smith and sprinted 34-yards for another Irish touchdown, giving Notre Dame a 24-7 lead with 1:09 remaining in the third quarter.
"A thing we stress to our football team is that we really need to elevate our energy in all areas," Willingham said. "We hit a stretch in the third quarter where it all seemed to come together with the energy of our defense and the energy of our offense. We put together multiple scores pretty quick."
But the Irish weren't finished yet. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Gerome Sapp picked off another Lewis pass, setting up Ryan Grant's 1-yard touchdown run.
Once again, the Irish defense rescued a lackluster offense that generated just 119 first-half offensive yards. Dillingham looked shaky for most of the first half. Notre Dame's offense had trouble moving the ball and only generated five first downs.
"On the sidelines we told [our defense], `We may have to score a touchdown here to win this thing,'" defensive coordinator Kent Baer said.
But second half adjustments and a dominant running game helped the Dillingham and the Irish offense inch along. As the offensive line wore down Stanford's defense, Dillingham looked increasingly comfortable on the field. With his father, who works for the Stanford medical staff, watching from the other sidelines, Dillingham finished 14-for-27 with 129 passing yards.
"I have to hand it to him, he had confidence, he was emotionally stable, he handled all the pressures of paying here better than anyone I have ever seen," Irish offensive lineman Jordan Black said. "It's hard to play here, you've got millions of people watching you on TV, 80,000 people in the stands, people expect you to play a certain way. Having all those pressures on you, he did a good job."
For its part, the oft-maligned Irish offensive line had a field day against Stanford's defensive front. The Irish ran the ball extensively in the second half, clearing the way for Grant and Powers-Neal to both finish with over 100 yards rushing.
Notre Dame nearly had another touchdown in the first quarter, but a roughing the center penalty nullified a 92-yard Vontez Duff punt return for a touchdown. Stanford got the ball back, moved 21-yards on a "fumble-rooskie" play and scored its lone touchdown of the day on a Teyo Johnson 14-yard reception.
After the game, after Willingham finished shaking hands of his former players, after the Cardinal disappeared from the field, Notre Dame's head coach ran out of the field pumping his fist toward the student section, leaving no doubt which team he was in charge of.
To be 5-0, he said with a grin, "feels pretty special."
All Sports Stories for Monday, October 7, 2002
