Beavers take big bite out of Irish, 40-9
By KERRY SMITH
Sports Editor
TEMPE, Ariz.
Soaring highs and plummeting lows were the directions two teams took in the Bowl Championship Series' New Years Day Fiesta Bowl, although the results were not what one would have expected a few years ago.
Two years ago, when the Oregon State Beavers were just completing their 28th-consecutive losing season, no one would have expected them to be able to rise to the top of the football rankings with a successful trip to a BCS bowl. No one, except head coach Dennis Erickson and his band of boasting and brash players.
"This team has always played with confidence," Erickson said. "We have confidence in each other. Good teams have that."
And to cap their second winning season, the up and coming Beavers would have had a hard time picking a better opponent to trounce 40-9 than Notre Dame, a school grounded in tradition and a team with a long history of football success.
"When you step on the field you respect the name Notre Dame, but you can't go and get into all the tradition," senior linebacker Darnell Robinson said. "You just have to play well."
Playing well was no problem for the Beavers. Although they struggled in the first half, scoring only 12 points on many scoring attempts and racking up 84 of an eventual 174 penalty yards, Erickson's No. 6 team made up for it in the third quarter with four touchdowns in a little more than seven minutes.
The Irish defense buckled under the pressure and could not contain the Beavers' scoring machine.
Led by quarterback Jonathan Smith, the Beavers ran all over the Irish, amassing 127 yards on the ground to Notre Dame's 17.
And the Irish weren't much better in the air. Freshman quarterback Matt LoVecchio, solid as a rock in the regular season with a 7-0 record, faltered for the first time, allowing the Beavers to pick off two passes, fumbling once and getting sacked five times.
"Once we got behind our quarterback had a little trouble," Irish head coach Bob Davie said. "He got discombobulated."
His team members were quick to share in the blame for the Irish's disappointing finish.
"Matt was pretty calm tonight," tight end Dan O'Leary said. "There were a couple unfortunate situations. But I think he was as calm and collected as he's ever been. We thought we could come back [after the first half]. We needed a rhythm and we couldn't find it."
Notre Dame's flat performance came after a turnaround regular season in which Davie led his crew to a 9-2 record, with last minute losses to then No. 1 Nebraska and Michigan State.
Davie was disappointed with the negative light cast on an otherwise successful season.
"It's pretty obvious we got whipped," Davie said, not making any excuses for his team's performance. "We were outcoached and outplayed. We got our butts kicked."
Despite the heartbreaking loss, Davie kept the game in perspective.
"I am embarrassed by the way we played, but I will never be embarrassed by this football team," Davie said.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, January 17, 2001
