But putting aside the five turnovers committed by ND on Saturday, there was something even scarier looming in the background for Charlie's Weis's squad. In keeping with the horror theme, "Consider the following…"
- a plucky and up-and-coming program in search of a "signature win" who is a decent team but won't threaten for a BCS game
- an atmosphere of anticipation and lead-up as big any yet this season
- a game played in the Southeast, in front of a largely hostile crowd
- a Notre Dame team looking to "finally" grab the mantle of legitimacy
- a highly skeptical sports media
That's right, kids. We may have just lost our 10th straight bowl game last weekend.
I don't want to sound hysterical or anything, but I don't think my speculation is too far off. As it is, more than a few pundits are already (and consistently, lately) projecting the Irish as accepting a bid to the Gator Bowl this year, likely to played against another rising ACC team: the Seminoles of Florida State. The match-up between the two erstwhile dominant national powers is looking more and more plausible with every passing week, and Notre Dame's latest performance certainly augurs ominously should that bowl pairing materialize.
For whatever reason, the Irish have struggled mightily in recent years when playing quality opponents away from the ethanol-kissed air of South Bend. The good news is that when Notre Dame does eek one out, it comes in an even-numbered year: Georgia Tech in 2006, Tennessee in 2004, and coincidentally, Sugar Bowl-bound Florida State in 2002.
I remain a firm believer that opponents "get up" to play Notre Dame more so than they would any other team, but this alone does not excuse the Irish collapse that has usually followed under these circumstances. It really wasn't always this way. We used to intimidate opponents because of what they thought we might do them. Now teams beat us and proclaim it to be a program-making/saving/legitimizing victory. Unfortunately, Irish teams of years past, most notoriously in bowl games, have repeatedly failed to step up and deliver under pressure by defending Notre Dame's hard-earned reputation. There's almost an element of dishonor to it.
Focusing on the affair in Chapel Hill for a moment, I must deviate from the conventional wisdom of "win as a team, lose as a team". Admittedly, no Irishman had a perfect day. But...
We had more total yards, first downs, and third down conversions. We committed fewer penalties. The defense allowed only 22 points. And, we were not out-coached. There is really only one man I can lay the blame off this loss directly on, and this time, he has no more hair to shave off.
Sorry Jimmy. You're a great player, and in the future you will probably single-handedly win us many games. But on Saturday, you lost us one. Indeed, Clausen was responsible for 3 of the 5 turnovers (and all of the ones that mattered). Two of those turnover led to Tarheel touchdowns. And then, there was that one turnover…
Clausen's first pass of the second half can only be described, for lack of a more elegant term, as a big smelly brain fart. (Perhaps, a "substantial odoriferous cerebral flatulent emission"?) He stared down Kyle Rudolph like he was Sarah Palin in a two-piece. While this interception was the most egregious exercise of bad judgment, there were several other throws Jimmy made that were more questionable than the authenticity of Joe Biden's hair. (We are equal time!!) I think it's fair to say that with each game up until the last one, Clausen had improved tremendously. But against North Carolina, he regressed and cost his team the game.
Fortunately, Clausen has a chance to redeem himself in Seattle against a Washington defense that has given up about as many points as the Dow Jones Industrials did last week. But in the meantime, all Notre Dame can do is brood over what might have been. Unless you think the Irish can pull off a miracle in Los Angeles, or consider BC to be a better team than North Carolina, ND will not get another chance to prove its big-game mettle in a road game until bowl season. They had better be more prepared than they were this weekend.
Labels: Bowls, Jimmy Clausen, Really Bad Movies
