Weaver, Irons, Budinscak, Hilliard play without subs
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Sports Writer
PALO ALTO, Calif.
Anthony Weaver picked up himself off the ground in agony after every play on the last Stanford scoring drive.
The senior defensive end played every snap on defense for the Irish Saturday and, by the fourth quarter, he could barely stand the pain in his elbow anymore.
After the game, Weaver claimed he was just a little banged up. But his teammates knew better. They saw their senior captain leaving everything on the field and fighting through his pain.
"Tony Weaver, he's a senior, man, with such a future ahead of him and he is out there fighting in pain and agony," sophomore defensive tackle Kyle Budinscak said. "Getting up every time holding his elbow. He just kept going."
But Weaver didn't really have a choice other than to keep going.
There was no relief available for him or any of his teammates on the line. When Darrell Campbell left the game with a knee injury on the first series, the Irish were down to just four defensive linemen.
"They played hard and I am proud of these kids," defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said. "We lost Darrell on that first series and all four kids played the entire game with no substitutes."
As the game wore on, Weaver's stamina may have begun to fail him but he never lost his pride. He wasn't going to come off that field no matter what. And his teammates fed off that.
Budinscak, Weaver, Grant Irons and Cedric Hilliard all had solid games for the Irish. Weaver led the linemen with eight tackles and 1 1/2 sacks. Grant Irons had half a sack to go with three tackles and a fumble recovery while Cedric Hilliard had five tackles and Budinscak had one.
"We started to wear down a little towards the end of the game. We were fighting and fighting. There were so many guys out there fighting their hearts out," Budinscak said.
But after playing every snap from the first series on, the defensive line finally wore down in the fourth quarter. The Irish defensive line combined for two sacks and 15 tackles as Notre Dame held Stanford to three points through the first 45 minutes. But in the fourth quarter, after 45 snaps without a break, the defensive line broke down. The Cardinal put together 138 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter as the defensive linemen made just two tackles.
"We were a little thin in there," head coach Bob Davie said. "Our kids competed but we ran out of gas a little bit. We were on the field a lot on defense in the second half. We kinda wore down on defense in the second half."
Even as the four starters wore down, Mattison never considered substituting sophomores Jason Sapp or Greg Pauly into the game. They just aren't ready to compete.
"They don't have the experience," he said. "You've got two kids who have only played a few seconds all year."
But with Campbell and Ryan Roberts out for the year with knee injuries and Andy Wisne's return from a concussion still up in the air, Mattison said either Pauly, Sapp or even both of them have to be ready to play against Purdue Saturday.
"I am going to try to get someone ready and give them a lot more reps in practice," he said. "They will have to be ready to go."
Even if Pauly and Sapp aren't ready to go Saturday, the four iron men who played almost every snap Saturday say they will be ready. Weaver has instilled too much pride in this unit for them not to be ready.
"You've always got to play to pride," Weaver said. "I hate to lose. It makes me sick. I just love these guys and I really want them to win so badly. I am just playing for pride."
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, November 27, 2001
