Loss to Stanford mirrors '99 season
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Assistant Sports Editor
Just a typical game for the 1999 Fighting Irish football team.
Notre Dame headed to the kick-off at Stanford short numerous players, then gave Stanford the early 17-0 advantage by turning the ball over and allowing big plays by the opposition.
The Irish then staged a major comeback, leaving the victory hanging in the balance until a last-second field goal by the Cardinal dropped the Irish to 5-7, on the losing end of another close game.
"To be down 17-nothing and come back, I think, shows a tremendous amount of character," head coach Bob Davie said. "That's the character that I "ve seen all year long from this football team.
"The other thing I've seen all year is that when you turn the football over," Davie added, "When you can't cover, when you give up big passes and you self-destruct a little bit with penalties, it doesn't matter how much effort you give, you can't win, you can't win."
Stanford blew the contest wide open in the first two minutes of the first quarter. It scored on the second play of the game with a 62-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Todd Husak to receiver Troy Walters, followed by a 37-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Aaron Focht.
The Irish used a depleted roster against the Cardinal. Defensive end Grant Irons, tailback Terrance Howard, left tackle Jordan Black, right tackle John Teasdale and left guard Jim Jones were among the players out with injuries.
Tailback Tony Driver and cornerback Brock Williams were suspended for the season. Senior flanker Raki Nelson, listed in the starting lineup, also failed to make an appearance in the game.
"We came out to this football game, we had nine starters not even on this trip," Davie said. "We've got a lot of injuries. We've got some players that aren't here that should be for different reasons. It's the team's responsibility and obligation that all of our members of the team go through this next season."
Despite the missing players, the Irish clawed their way back to within two at halftime, and to a tie in the fourth quarter at 37.
Underclassmen Tony Fisher and Julius Jones combined for four touchdowns in the comeback, highlighting the importance of young players on this year's inexperienced Irish squad.
"A lot of teams would have given up, coming out being seventeen down," sophomore quarterback Arnaz Battle said, "But we kept fighting and we came back and had a chance to win the game, but that's the way our luck has gone this season."
The Irish come-from-behind attempt against the Cardinal was one of many this season.
Last week, they were down 31-17 against the Boston College Eagles before fighting back to a 31-29 finish. Against Oklahoma in early October, Notre Dame turned a 30-14 third-quarter deficit into a 34-30 win.
"We thought we had a real good chance to win these last games," Fisher said, "And unfortunately we came up on the short end of them. We got off to a real slow start."
In the end, however, the Irish ended up on the losing end, in their seventh game this year decided by less than a touchdown.
A Jim Sanson field goal attempt was blocked in the third quarter, and penalties hurt the Irish late in the contest, echoing the team's season-long woes.
"As players, what we've got to do is each individual has got to concentrate on making himself better and whatever that is and however much that takes, that's what needs to happen," sophomore outside linebacker Rocky Boiman said.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, November 30, 1999
