Bizarre win a win nonetheless
Ted Fox
You had to feel bad for them.
The West Virginia coaching staff, I mean. When wide receiver Tory Johnson hauled in an eight-yard touchdown pass with 5:37 to go in the third quarter, they celebrated in the booth.
High fives. Shouts of joy. Even a little bit of fist pumping.
And why not? They had just gotten their first lead of the day, 24-17 against the Irish. Johnson had just scored his first collegiate touchdown. Everything seemed to be great.
But, seeing them, I could only think of one thing, and that was the last time I saw visiting coaches get fired up like that in the Notre Dame press box, some two years ago.
On Oct. 16, 1999., Notre Dame hosted USC. The Irish trailed 24-3 in the third quarter. Rain started to fall. The Trojan coaches were getting very excited.
A quarter and a half later, the Irish were celebrating a 25-24 win, their biggest comeback in 20 years, and the USC coaches weren't quite as happy anymore.
A quarter and a half later on Saturday, the 2001 Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrated their second win of the season, by the final score of 34-24.
No, it wasn't a program-defining, or even season-defining, come-from-behind triumph.
It was a win, though.
"[We] saw about everything that could happen in a football game," Bob Davie said afterwards. "It was a little bizarre out there at times."
So what's the definition of "bizarre?" An onside kick coming less than seven minutes into the first quarter with Notre Dame already up 10-7 probably qualifies.
Going for it on fourth down four times, and converting all four tries, makes it crazier. However, when one of those fourth down attempts is initiated from your own 32 late in the third quarter with the score tied at 24 — well, I don't think that guy who yells on those Nationwide Warehouse commercials could match that for excitement and intrigue.
"To be honest, I made that decision because I felt good about our offense running the ball," Davie said. "And I was a little [unsure] right there about how we were playing defense . . . I did not want to give them the football back. We didn't have a whole lot of confidence right there."
Earlier in the quarter, West Virginia had back-to-back offensive possessions that produced totals of 14 points, 97 yards, and only took 4:57 off the clock. That offensive surge was what got those coaches in the booth so excited.
So the Irish rolled the dice, and they won. Granted, these dice might have been weighted. Notre Dame's offensive line effectively cleared holes all day, and, in turn, the tailbacks and quarterback Carlyle Holiday took full advantage of them, to the tune of 345 yards.
Still, it's not like the decision was as easy as avoiding the dining hall on blazin' sea nuggets night.
" . . . I don't really like doing that. I mean, you're sitting there, in that football game, going for it on your own 32- or 33-yard line, but I felt good about some things, and we made the decision and we went with it."
In a reversal from what we've often seen in the past, it was the offense's job to pick up the defense this week, even though that defense once again gave up less than 300 yards. (Davie asked if that was a misprint on the stat sheet.)
But the defense did make that one big play it needed to. Fifth year free safety Justin Smith, who had logged less than three quarters of game time in three seasons, picked off a pass at the Notre Dame 12 with less than eight minutes left in the game and his team only up 27-24.
That was enough for an offense that combined solid runs with some breakaway sprints and five passing first downs.
The Irish didn't overpower the Mountaineers or destroy them like Virginia Tech did the week before.
Taking some risks, they just went about getting their second win in a row, and continued to take advantage of this home stretch to get better. Just how much better, we'll see when the best 2-4 team in the country (my favorite line in all of sports) comes in from Southern California this weekend.
True, they have a different head coach than they did two years ago on that rainy day. But they should still wait until the game is over before deciding whether or not to celebrate.
If they need a reminder, some guys from Morgantown can probably tell them why.
Ted Fox can be contacted at tfox@nd.edu. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, October 16, 2001
