Irish offense proves its worth in penalty-filled game
By TED FOX
Fox Sports ...Almost
Sloppy, run it again.
The guy playing Ara Parseghian in Rudy yelled it at his Irish team, and I wouldn't be all that surprised if current Notre Dame head coach Bob Davie was thinking and/or yelling the something similar Saturday.
Notre Dame beat Rutgers 45-17, scoring the last three touchdowns of the game. But as any math major could tell you, if the Irish scored the last 21 points and won by 28, there was a time in the third quarter when they only led 24-17.
And if you divide the average age of all Notre Dame head coaches by the time at which the winter solstice begins ... Sorry — sometimes I get on a roll of numerical babbling and don't snap out of it for a while.
Anyway, the point is (finally), Rutgers hung around at least a quarter longer than most people figured, receiving some help from Irish penalties. For the game, the officials threw the yellow flags on Notre Dame penalties 12 times for 120 yards.
These mistakes stood out the most on the second quarter drive that ended in an Irish field goal, extending the Notre Dame lead to 17-10.
The drive covered 47 yards, starting on the Irish 37 and ending at the Rutgers 16. But to move that far, Notre Dame actually had to travel the equivalent eighty-five yards because they were whistled for three penalties.
Actually, there were four. On a third down inside the red zone, the Scarlet Knights had their choice of door number one, "clipping," or door number two, "holding."
When you throw in a Rutgers personal foul call earlier in the possession, that drive became a potpourri of penalties, complete with a false start, two clips, a holding, and the just mentioned "extracurricular activity."
That they still got points out of this series is a testament to this Irish offense and how much they've improved. The same can be said of the first quarter touchdown drive that followed up the erasing of Matt LoVecchio's 68 yard touchdown run because of a hold.
For the second straight week, the Irish broke the 400-yard mark in total offense. Tailback Tony Fisher, starting in the place of the injured Julius Jones, had his second straight 100-yard rushing game, and the team as a whole gained 295 yards on the ground.
At the quarterback spot, no one is saying that the freshman LoVecchio is putting up Weinke-esque numbers. But in the last two weeks, he has completed just a hair under 72 percent of his passes for 272 yards, thrown two touchdowns, and rushed for 152 yards.
You're seeing this offense do what it does best: line up behind a big offensive line, that, like any good team's O-line, probably deserves more credit than it gets, and feature a host of talent in the backfield.
Those guys can't be featured unless you have threats to catch the ball, and the Irish are now utilizing those threats. Opposing teams know Notre Dame isn't going to come out and beat them by throwing forty times for three hundred yards.
But that's OK, because they do know the passing attack is there to make big plays, whether those plays be a deep touchdown pass to Joey Getherall, or a shorter one that Javin Hunter turns into six.
"Yeah," you're saying, "but that last game was against Rutgers. They're not very good."
Point well taken.
It's probably also right to point out that the Irish have ended each of the last two games with season highs in the number of yards they've been penalized.
At the same time, at the end of each of the last two games, Notre Dame has walked away with season highs in total offense.
"Point well taken," you say. "But what does it all mean?"
That's a good question. Of course, every penalty called isn't against the offense. As coaches love to say, it's a team game. If it looks like I'm stalling, then you're pretty perceptive. I don't know if there is one good answer.
You look at teams like Florida State who is near the top of the polls and the list of most penalized teams, and you have to think that their incredible talent lets them get away with mistakes.
The combination of the Irish's talent and det permination has let them make those penalties a non-factor the last two weeks. But just like LoVecchio isn't out putting up Weinke numbers, the Irish aren't the Noles. They can afford these kind of mistakes against the likes of Rutgers and still paste them, but doing that to USC is something completely different.
Whether USC is 10-0 or 0-10, they're going to be ready for the Irish and their BCS hopes to come `a calling.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, though, whether sloppy or sensational, Notre Dame does tend to lead in the most important statistic: the final score.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 20, 2000
