Offense plays with nothing to lose
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Sports Editor
In the first half Saturday, Irish tight end John Owens caught two passes — for 40 yards.
In fact, four Irish receivers caught passes in that first half as quarterback Carlyle Holiday completed 10 of 16 passes without throwing an interception. Whod've thunk it?
Notre Dame's coaches finally took the handcuffs off the offense. David Givens carried the ball from scrimmage on one play, and sprinted up the middle to catch a pass on the next.
For the first time since Holiday took over behind center at Texas A&M, the opposing defense showed enough concern about Holiday's multiple offensive options to leave receivers open. And, again for the first time, Holiday hit those receivers.
This 2001 edition of this Irish offense — before Saturday about as conservative as Rush Limbaugh and as likely to take a risk as a convict on parole — let it all hang out.
They played like they had nothing to lose. Of course, as Bob Davie's "most talented team" entered Notre Dame Stadium with four losses, they really didn't have anything to lose.
Many of Notre Dame's offensive opportunities Saturday opened up thanks to a position change on the defensive line. With Jordan Black switched from tackle to guard, the Irish countered one of the nation's toughest defenses with an imposing and experienced foursome of Black, Brennan Curtin, Sean Mahan and Kurt Vollers at guards and tackles with center Jeff Faine anchoring the middle.
"I thought our offensive line played their best game of the year," Davie said after the game. "I thought Jordan Black did some really good things at guard. I thought Curtain and Vollers did some good things at tackle."
I won't argue Davie's assessment. Holiday had time to make decisions. The backs had room to move. But why should it take an injury to the struggling Sean Milligan for Davie to put these four in there together?
The same confusion entered my mind when I saw Ryan Grant carrying the ball. Granted — no pun intended — the freshman single-mishandedly changed the flow of the game when he fumbled in the second quarter.
But before that fateful play, Grant opened the drive with a 10-yard dash from scrimmage and later had consecutive rushes for six and eight yards. Then he dropped himself into the Turnover Doghouse, a small edifice in Davie's backyard previously inhabited only by Terrance Howard.
Grant never saw the inside of the gridiron again. After the fumble, he might as well have put on street clothes at halftime.
"We probably should have put him back in," Davie admitted on Sunday. "You just hate to take it out of those older guys hands, especially after that turnover."
Putting Grant in the game in the first place, rather than a three-headed monster of mediocrity and lingering injuries named Julius Fishoward, is the kind of move a 3-4 team makes when trying to find the missing link.
It's the kind of move Davie and Kevin Rogers made when they turned to Holiday, who amidst this disaster of a season won three of his first four starts.
Benching a promising player made the Irish offense that more predictable late in the game.
When Courtney Watson returned his first career interception for a touchdown and gave the Irish a 10-7 lead, the headlines began flying in my head.
"Anti-Irish send Volunteers Home" or "Unchained team steps it up" maybe even ".500 again."
But, alas, the Irish sunk back into their predictable ways from that point on. The pass protection broke down late in the game when it was needed most. The Irish ate up 8:10 of the fourth quarter on the drive to bring them within three points.
So after a week off to consider what the upset could have been, the Irish should have a chance to try out any and every offensive option when the Midshipmen dock in South Bend Nov. 18.
So let's see Grant carry the ball. Let's see the best four players up front. Let's see Holiday hit an open Owens, an open Arnaz Battle and — please — an open Javin Hunter. Why? Let's face it, after Saturday, what do the Irish have to lose?
Noah Amstadter can be reached at Amstadter.1@nd.edu. The views of this column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 5, 2001
