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Ty loses Weis-guy Bowl Calling the match-up between Notre Dame and Washington the 'Ty Bowl' earlier in the week, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis bested Tyrone Willingham in what some may call the 'Weis-Guy Bowl,' considering the fact that ND officials put a zip to his lip. To add insult to injury, Weis used many of Willingham's former recruits to hammer the Huskies, 36-17, in front of 71,473 mostly purple fans, sprinkled with specs of green. ''If you look at five plays, we get those plays, we win,'' Willingham said, referring to a goal-line fumble, an end-zone interception and other mistakes that went against Washington. But... Washington couldn't run it and Washington couldn't stop it: Actually, it was the match-up in the trenches that eventually led to Washington's defeat, its mistakes notwithstanding. Notre Dame (3-1) ran for 233 yards, while holding Washington (1-3) to just 41 yards rushing. Controlling the line of scrimmage, the Irish won time of possession, 36:56 to 23:04. ND held UW to just 5 yards rushing in the first half, as it led 12-3, and punted only once in the game. Don't expect Charlie to act like a Weis-guy the week before his guys face 'SC. Executing a text-book-balanced attack, Notre Dame added 327 yards to its 233 yards rushing, posting 560 total net yards. Washington finished with a credible 449 total net yards -- which along with Notre Dame's 44-41 loss to Michigan State last week says that the Irish are in for some defensive problems when they face the offense of USC at South Bend in two weeks. And since the powerful Trojans don't take kindly to biting, off-handed witticisms directed at themselves, I doubt whether Weis will give them bulletin-board material by calling that game the "Pete Bowl. " Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times writes, "Washington coach Tyrone Willingham did not prevail against his former team Saturday, but he obviously knows enough about the Irish personnel to understand that the way you beat Notre Dame is throw deep against its secondary. This week's exit poll question: If Isaiah Stanback can throw for 353 yards against Notre Dame, can Matt Leinhart throw for 600?" If the Dawgs are to have any success the remainder of the season, they must both run the ball and stop the run better. Period. The good: -- QB Isaiah Stanback logged a passing efficiency rating of 131.3 on the game, which is outstanding considering he didn't have much run support. His PE is 139.28 for the season. -- The UW has a plethora of outstanding pass receivers. -- The front four looked halfway decent at times, with an emphasis on halfway. -- Sean Douglas averaged 50 yards punting the ball. -- Marlon Wood has speed to spare. -- Johnny DuRocher's 41-yard touchdown pass to Craig Chambers. -- As a team, the Dawgs looked physically stronger than they were in South Bend last year. The Bad: -- In the main, the UW defense couldn't stop the Notre Dame offense. Both were on the field way too much. -- Three turnovers: 2 fumbles lost -- one costing the UW a touchdown -- and one pass interception that resulted in a lost score from inside the redzone. And, of course, the blocked punt. -- The Seattle Times columnist who says that "I believe he (Willingham) is too conservative. He is too much like his good friend, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice." Response: When Rice was a Provost at Stanford, she was largely responsible for Willingham's hire as Cardinal head coach; he gives her full credit for his hire. The UW most likely wouldn't have Ty without coach Condi, who is an avid football fan. Her father used to coach football. Willingham is a good friend of Tiger Woods, who is also conservative.
Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at
malamute@4malamute.com |
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