Irish have to face painful truth
ND in over its head in losing a record ninth straight bowl
NEW ORLEANS -- The entire Notre Dame team slowly walked off the Superdome field stunned silent, some of the players glaring at the ground, others staring into space.
Irish coach Charlie Weis walked parallel to athletic director Kevin White, and White extended a handshake. Weis focused straight ahead with a blank stare on his face, his eyes ready to tear.
Reality had sunk in for a team that wanted to make a statement in Wednesday night's Sugar Bowl matchup with LSU. Instead, the Irish showed again that they're not ready to play with the big boys.
(AP)
The Irish (10-3) dropped their NCAA-record ninth consecutive bowl game. They played tough for almost three quarters, then faded away.
''It was complementary -- crummy second half,'' Weis said. ''I was very disappointed with our play, especially in the second half.''
Brady Quinn had one of his worst games of the season, completing just 15 of 35 passes for 148 yards with two interceptions. He was shown up by LSU's JaMarcus Russell, who passed for 332 yards and two touchdowns (21-of-34) and ran for another score. Russell sealed the thrashing with a 58-yard touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell with 18 seconds left in the third quarter.
Quinn's voiced crackled as he tried to explain his disappointment.
''It's tough,'' he said of playing his last game at Notre Dame.
The Irish needed to play nearly flawless football, but that hope went out the window on the first drive of the game. On fourth-and-three from his own 34, Weis made one of his most questionable play calls of the season when he opted for a fake punt. Travis Thomas took the snap and was swarmed by the LSU defense for no gain.
Weis backed his decision. LSU coach Les Miles said he sniffed it out a long time ago.
''We kind of figured, they run that fake one time,'' Miles said. ''Prior to that snap, we alerted guys on the field that it may well be a fake. ... It appeared to us that they might be willing to take those risks.''
It took the Tigers two plays and 49 seconds to take advantage of Notre Dame's blunder. Russell hit Early Doucet for a 31-yard pickup between Irish defenders Mike Richardson and Chinedum Ndukwe. Running back Keiland Williams then blasted through the right side for three-yard score.
So much for the Irish getting off to a good start.
When Russell drove his team 80 yards on eight plays on his team's second possession -- a drive ending with Russell's 11-yard touchdown strike to Dwayne Bowe -- the game appeared destined to be the blowout most anticipated it would be. The Irish tried not to let it happen.
Quinn sizzled a pass to David Grimes late in the first quarter, and Grimes twisted his body and made an outstanding 24-yard touchdown catch between two defenders.
The defense gave the Irish the ball right back when Terrail Lambert and Victor Abiamiri caused Russell to fumble, and Travis Leitko recovered for Notre Dame. The turnover did not translate into points, with Carl Gioia missing a 34-yard field goal attempt wide right.
Then Walker got loose, thrashing the usually stellar LSU defense for 125 first-half rushing yards on 18 carries. Walker blasted down the sideline on a 35-yard sprint, then followed with a 15-yard dash to set up the second score. Quinn sailed a pass to Jeff Samardzija for a 10-yard score and a 14-14 tie.
Right where Notre Dame wanted it, right? Not exactly. The defense, playing soft, gave up a critical score in the final minutes before halftime, with Russell blasting up the middle for a five-yard run. It capped an 82-yard drive.
If Notre Dame had any hope, it had to make something happen to start the second half -- and a key play indeed occurred. Seldom-used Irish cornerback Ambrose Wooden appeared to strip Doucet and give the ball to Notre Dame. But LSU challenged the play, and the officials decided Wooden did not have control of the ball as he stepped out of bounds.
Instead of driving for the game-tying score to begin the half, the Irish were back on their heels trying to keep the Tigers from scoring.
Fat chance.
After punter Chris Jackson took a pitch and rumbled for a first down on a fake field goal, the Tigers capitalized with a David Colt field goal.
If there was a positive for the Irish, it was the play of Walker. He finished with 128 rushing yards on 22 carries. He workload decreased in the second half only because the Irish were playing catch-up. Walker also had two catches for 30 yards.
It wasn't nearly enough.
''While it was a decent performance from me,'' Walker said, ''what's going down as a team is just not good enough.''