Davie promotes improved offense
By KEVIN BERCHOU
Sports Writer
While the strength of the Notre Dame football team has been its defense all season long, head football coach Bob Davie was more eager to discuss his improved offense Tuesday.
With a once direction-less offense finally establishing an identity, the whispers of a possible BCS appearance are getting louder and louder. At 5-2, Notre Dame is rolling, gathering not moss but momentum with every win as it approaches a home tilt with Air Force Saturday.
After opening the season 1-1, the Irish were forced to alter their style of play with the loss of starting quarterback Arnaz Battle. After his replacement, sophomore Gary Godsey, experienced mixed results, Davie handed the reins to true freshman Matt LoVecchio who is 3-0 as a starter and is now entrenched at the position.
In the loss to Michigan State, the offense struggled, with even its better stretches marred by bouts of inconsistency. But in wins over Navy and West Virginia, the Irish have improved by straying from an unsuccessful run, run, run game plan to let LoVecchio open things up a bit.
"I think we've finally established ourselves offensively," Davie said. "Losing Arnaz set us back a couple of weeks, but lately I think we've showed we can spread the field and open things up a bit."
Having to alter the offensive system to accommodate Godsey's abilities for both the Purdue and Michigan State games delayed the evolution of the offense.
"At that point to do what we had to do, set us back a little bit," said Davie. "We became something we weren't and that took two weeks of our evolution. We kind of went backwards."
In his weekly "state of the team address," Davie praised his offense's ability to metamorphose.
"We're improving each week, and that's our goal," he said. "The future is becoming brighter as we go. We're in our eighth game of the season, but for our offense it's really like the fifth game. We think we're going to get better."
The key, according to Davie was forging an offensive identity.
"The biggest thing we've done is to lock into the system which requires some mobility at quarterback," Davie said, "and now I think we're getting better at what we do."
Much of Notre Dame's improved offensive success lies in Kevin Rogers' ability to tailor an offense for the different quarterbacks. LoVecchio, a drop-back passer with deceptive speed, has been allowed to not only make the throws from the pocket but to run the occasional option as well.
"We do spread it and we give you a lot of formations," Davie said. "And now I think we're getting better at executing."
Rogers has also learned to use a talented corps of running backs. Sophomore Julius Jones, and juniors Terrance Howard and Tony Fisher have all shown flashes of brilliance this season. Fisher, a talented pass catcher has been running more downfield routes — he caught long scoring passes against both Navy and West Virginia, while Howard has shown power running up the middle.
"We have a lot of options there [tailback]," said Davie. "We have to go with the hot hand, but right now Julius is still the starter."
Additionally, the Irish have excelled at taking care of the ball. By playing almost turnover-free football — they have yet to lose a fumble in seven games — the Irish have maximized their chances of a victory. By not giving away the ball, the Irish have avoided giving away games.
Davie also announced that Battle, who broke a bone in his wrist against Nebraska, would indeed miss the remainder of the season, as his cast will be on for another month.
"Arnaz is completely out of the mix for the year," Davie said. "This week Gary Godsey is our backup, but that could change. We'll get to the open date and then see where we are. Jared Clark (another true freshman) is also a consideration."
With the offense moving closer to matching the defense's quality of play, talk has turned to Notre Dame making a run at a spot in the Bowl Championship Series.
By winning out and finishing with a 9-2 record or by cracking the top 10 in the BCS poll, Notre Dame would qualify for a BCS berth. That spot, however, would only be guaranteed if TCU finishes sixth or higher in the same poll. In that case, BCS bylaws assure Notre Dame of receiving the second at-large spot. Should Texas Christian not crack the top six, a 9-2 Irish team would only be in the pool, and not assured of a berth.
With a strong special teams unit and a punishing defense already in place, an offensive surge has the Irish thinking of bowling come January. Rogers is no doubt devising new ways to strike.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, October 25, 2000
