FOOTBALL: Irish defense finds the endzone
By ANDREW SOUKUP
Spors Writer
The ball bounced out of the hands of Purdue's Montrell Lowe, and Gerome Sapp's eyes opened wide.
Sapp scooped up the ball and, reminiscent of his days as a high school tailback, weaved 54 yards through traffic to score the first Irish touchdown of the day. Just like that, Sapp had scored more points than the entire Notre Dame offense.
"The defense knew we had to step onto the field and stay strong," Sapp said. "A `bend, not break' mentality."
While Notre Dame's offense scrapped for yards at 2001-like proportions, the Irish defense withstood the blistering heat Saturday to generate its own points. Including Vontez Duff's punt return last week and interception return Saturday and Lionel Bolen's fumble return, defensive backs have accounted for all four of Notre Dame's touchdowns this season — a feat that made defensive coordinator Kent Baer smile.
"They were talking in the sideline about how they want to be the best defense in the country. It was gratifying to be around," Baer said before backpedaling seconds later. "No, I wouldn't even begin to say [they are the best in the country]. I shouldn't have said that. You're only as good as your next practice, you're only as good as your next game, and as long as we win, I don't care about the other stuff."
Still, Baer was pleased with the point-generating ability of his defense. And after the game, all Irish players would talk about was that if the offense didn't score points, the defense had to.
And score they did. Bolen's recovery decidedly swung the momentum back toward the Irish and Duff's interception was the deciding score.
"On a team with one element that is not performing as well as you would like it to, another element has to step up," coach Tyrone Willingham said. "I think our football team did that."
But Notre Dame's defense didn't distinguish itself by its ability to score as much as it did by its ability to hold Purdue. One of the defensive team goals is not to allow a point in the fourth quarter. Facing Purdue's multi-dimensional offense, the Irish used five defensive backs to try to shut down the pass while relying on their front six to contain the run.At times, Purdue running back Joey Harris rolled through the Irish defense and Notre Dame seemed incapable of stopping the Purdue offensive juggernaut that gained 318 yards.
Yet the Boilermakers only had seven or more plays in a drive twice – their touchdown drive in the third quarter and the final drive of the game. Each time Purdue's offense threatened, Notre Dame's defense responded.
"I think the defense, we have that mindset that we shouldn't be scored on, we take it personally when it happens," said linebacker Brandon Hoyte, who recorded nine tackles. "I think every guy on our defense stepped it up a notch [in the fourth quarter]."
And since the defense had kept Notre Dame in the game, it seemed fitting that the Irish would have to stop Purdue one last time before winning. Slowly, steadily, Purdue drove down the field, converting one long fourth-down opportunity and moving the ball to the Notre Dame 33-yard line.
That's when the Irish buckled down. Harris only gained three yards going up the middle on first down. Linebacker Mike Goolsby broke up a reverse on second down. Tight coverage forced Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton to overthrow his receiver on third down. On the pivotal fourth down, Ryan Roberts chased Orton out of the pocket and Hoyte grabbed the Boilermaker quarterback, causing his desperation heave to fall short of its target.
"That's all we talk about is dominate, that's all we want to do is dominate on defense," Duff said. "… We got to have focus, we got to have poise, we got to have pride in ourselves. We come down, we have that focus and know what we have to do."
Bend, don't break.
All Sports Stories for Monday, September 9, 2002
