:: Notre Dame Football ::
Notre Dame wallops Washington State 40-14, Golden Tate joins Jimmy Clausen as Heisman contender, Irish moving up towards BCS bid
Clausen completes 81% of passes, 22 of 27 for 268 yards and 2 touchdowns; Tate has 141 all-purpose yards, including touchdowns receiving and running
VIDEO: NBC full-game replay :: VIDEO: und.com ND-WSU highlights
Hosting a dazzling, prime-time neutral-site game at San Antonio's Alamodome, Notre Dame beat Washington State 40-14, after leading 30-7 at the half. The Irish rise to 6-2 on the year, becoming bowl-eligible. Both Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate put on Heisman-quality performances, including a spectacular 50-yard passing touchdown into triple coverage to close out the first half. And 310-pound nose tackle Ian Williams had an interception.
After a school-record six close finishes, the Irish finally put one away with a bigger margin, despite a spirited performance by a hard-playing Washington State team with respectable talent.
Clausen sustains Heisman campaign, playing well every week
Playing less than three full quarters, rightful Heisman front-runner and Notre Dame junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen completed 81% of his passes and threw for two touchdowns and no interceptions, going 22 of 27 for 268 yards. Clausen has now thrown 18 touchdowns on the year to 2 interceptions, running in a 19th touchdown on the ground.
Golden Tate Heisman contender
Joining Clausen as a Heisman contender is junior wide receiver, flanker-running back, and Wildcat quarterback Golden Tate. Tate had 141 yards all-purpose running on the day, including 4 receptions for 80 yards, and a spectacular 50-yard touchdown catch with three defenders plastered to him in mid-air, to close out the first half.
Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis said it was one of the most phenomenal catches he had ever seen.
Tate also had a 16-yard touchdown on the ground and, as a runner, finished with 61 yards on 4 carries, including a run of 33 yards.
As a receiver and rusher, Tate averaged 17.2 yards per touch and had 2 touchdowns on 8 plays. On the ground, Tate averaged 15.3 yards per carry.
As a flanker-running back or Wildcat quarterback, Tate is an electrifying runner with blinding speed and quick, fluid moves. And, like Rocket Ismail, one of his early boosters as a freshman, the 5-11 Tate also is showing surprising strength for his size. In recent weeks, Tate already continued showed incredible hand strength hanging onto difficult catches with dexterity, and he now is showing some notably strong running, including breaking multiple tackles on a 16-yard touchdown run.
Irish triple-up Cougars with yardage production, combine big passing with electrifying Wildcat
The Irish offense rolled up 592 yards of offense, 337 yards passing and 255 yards rushing. Notre Dame had nearly three times as much offense as their opponent, with the Irish defense limiting the Cougars to 206 yards, 104 passing and 102 rushing, and snagging two interceptions, one of them made by 300-pound nose tackle Ian Williams.
As mentioned above, Notre Dame jazzed up its offense with some Wildcat, especially in the second quarter, with both the electrifying Tate and power-running but agile Robert Hughes as Wildcat quarterback.
Robert Hughes leads rushers
Heavy halfback Robert Hughes, also playing some Wildcat quarterback, led the Notre Dame rushing attack with 131 yards on 24 carries, at 5.5 yards per carry. The day before the game, Hughes marked the second anniversary of his brother's death, and Weis said Hughes had been playing with a heavy heart; as could be seen he also played with a sense of purpose.
Not long after Irish Running Backs Coach Tony Alford came on board last spring, Weis had commented that Alford felt Hughes had to decide whether he wanted to be a bruising, hard-running Jerome Bettis-style back or more of a dancing-around kind of back.
After Hughes' big performance against Washington State, Weis observed that Hughes had developed well into the big power-runner, important to his success.
Texan Tausch kicking well
A Texas native, Notre Dame freshman kicker Nick Tausch has now made good on 14 straight field goals, a Notre Dame record. Against Washington State in San Antonio, Tausch went 2 for 2, hitting from 29 and 23 yards out.
Irish defense stifles Cougars
Notre Dame's defense largely shut down Washington State with the exception of one scoring drive towards the end of the first half, and another scoring drive against Notre Dame reserves late in the game. The Notre Dame defense only gave up 206 total yards, 104 passing and 102 rushing. The Irish pass defense, especially, acquitted itself well overall, limiting the Cougars to those 104 yards on 12 of 23 passing.
While giving up two passing touchdowns, the Irish defense snagged two interceptions, one of them by mammoth nose tackle Williams, who batted a pass upwards at the line of scrimmage and then grabbed it for the interception.
Weis pointed out that Washington State quarterback Jeff Tuel had thrown for around 350 yards against Cal the previous week, only for Notre Dame to limit him to around 100 yards passing.
Scoring
With a mix of passing and running, and Wildcat jazzing things up in the second quarter, Notre Dame led 9-0 after the first quarter and then 30-7 at halftime after the stunning 50-yard pass from Clausen to Tate in the closing seconds of the half. Notre Dame tacked on a field goal in the third quarter to go up 33-7, resting a slightly banged-up Clausen not long after to lead off waves of substitutions.
Notre Dame had an extra-point attempt blocked in the first quarter, which a Washington State safety gathered in to run back for what would have been two points for the Cougas. Tight end Mike Ragone took out after the return man like a runaway freight-train and brought him down from behind, just before the Cougar would have been closing in towards a score that would have made it 9-2.
Sophomore quarterback Dayne Crist hooked up with sophomore wide receiver John Goodman on an impressive 64-yard strike perfectly placed mid-stride that Goodman took the house. It was the first collegiate touchdown for both players.
Looking mostly sharp and impressive before being knocked out of the game with an apparent knee injury, Crist was 2 of 6 for 69 yards and 1 touchdown with no interceptions.
Receivers, and the return of Rudolph
Notre Dame used eight receivers.
After roughly 10 receiving yards per game against Southern Cal and Boston College, tight-end Kyle Rudolph appears to be back in the swing of things, with 6 catches for 59 yards. While Weis had indicated Rudolph was needed more for blocking against Southern Cal, and there was discussion of Weis helping all the tight-ends with their routes in practice, one might speculate whether there might have been a minor injury or some other issue with Rudolph the past few games that impeded receiving but not blocking. In any event, Rudolph appears to be returning to form as an all-around contributor, including lining up as a wide-out, all 6-7, 260 pounds of him. Rudolph has the ability to be a bona fide wide receiver with his speed and hands.
Hughes had 4 catches for 51 yards, quintessential wide-out Duval Kamara had 3 catches for 36 yards, freshman speedster Theo Riddick had 3 catches for 24 yards, and Goodman had 2 catches for 73 yards, including the dramatic 61-yard touchdown thrown by Crist. Roby Toma also had a catch, as did tight-end Ragone.
As mentioned above, rightful Heisman candidate Tate had 4 catches for 80 yards, including what might have been the most spectacular long throws into the end zone of recent memory.
Clausen threw the ball about 60 yards through the air, from his own 45 to a spot 5 yards deep in the end zone, where Tate was surrounded closely by three defenders. The 60-yard throw was perfectly arced and perfectly placed to come down at a spot at a level a few feet higher than Tate's head, slightly in front of Tate, perfectly in line with Tate. So Tate leaped up for it, wearing all three defenders like a cheap suit, with all three plastered against him when the ball arrived, all four players grabbing for it. Tate grabbed it in mid-air, went down backwards in the middle of a four-body heap, and simply would not be denied, hanging onto it the entire way and most likely ripping it away from one or more defenders trying to get it from him. The official appeared to signal touchdown as Tate was flying around and apparently confirmed it as he went down.
Riddick stepping up
Another of several interesting developments in the game was the continued emergence of freshman Riddick as a runner, as well as his emergence as a receiver.
Riddick is one of the fastest players on the team, and has been returning kick-offs from the get-go, but he now is emerging as an additional flanker-running back who, like Tate, has a lot of speed and fluidity, combined with quick cuts and suprising strength. Riddick is fast and agile, but he also is appearing to be surprisingly strong and solid as potentially a true running back. At the same time, he appears to be capable of running good routes, having good hands, and having good, seamless catch-and-run abilities like a true receiver.
On the day, Riddick had 116 yards all-purpose running, 51 yards rushing, 24 yards receiving, and 41 kick-return yards.
Riddick might prove more and more potent in any scenario, and if there's a way to have Wildcat with Tate and Riddick together, that might provide some theatrics that opposing defenses would just as soon not see.
At the same time, Weis had been intrigued by the prospect of having Tate and Shaquelle Evans running routes at the same time to have two speedsters at once, and now one wonders if Riddick might also be that extra speedster as well.
Irish offensive versatility
In the absence of Armando Allen, Notre Dame continues to show some versatility, with the likes of Tate and Hughes, as well as Rudolph getting back into the swing of things. Riddick, like the rest, adds an intriguing wrinkle to the versatility dynamic.
The Wildcat is turning into a dramatic momentum-changer that complements the Clausen-led pro set well.
Weis, Mr. NFL Offense, is quickly turning in a Wildcat guru, and with Notre Dame's versatility and growing flash, not to mention Tate's sense of flair and Hughes' sense of drive, the Wildcat is starting to turn into a work of art. With Allen expert in it as well, Notre Dame has a bevy of fast, hard-running cats to run the Wildcat.
Defense clamps down
The Irish defense has been solidifying more and more each week, and has followed up strong performances against the run with a tough overall performance against the Cougars.
Weis said it was a pretty complete performance by the defense, and pointed out that the defensive starters only gave up around 100 yards of offense, with no explosive long passing plays.
At the beginning of the season, Notre Dame had switched from 3-4 to a 4-3, albeit possibly with more complications than apparent. In a 3-4, Notre Dame, theoretically at least, had a big nose tackle, two defensive ends, and four linebackers of varying sizes and abilities, including a safety playing in a linebacker spot. As a result, even in their base configuration, the 3-4 Notre Dame arguably had two cornerbacks and three safeties on the field, with one safety at linebacker, but additional diversity to the types of players in the linebacker spot.
At the start of this year, with Jon Tenuta also taking over play-calling, the new Notre Dame 4-3 featured a nose tackle, another tackle, and a defensive end on the line, with two big linebackers, around 250 pounds, in the two-deep at the other defensive end spot. And the three linebackers lining up at linebacker were all big as well. So it was a bigger line-up all-around, even with a linebacker at defensive end.
Another wrinkle was that Manti Te'o, national defensive player of the year in high school as a recruit, was being worked in gradually. When Te'o was not in, veteran linebacker Brian Smith was starting at Te'o's spot.
At first, a lot of the tackles were being made by safeties.
In recent weeks, Te'o has started and played extensively, and Brian Smith has started at his customary middle linebacker position. Te'o and Smith have generally paced the tackling, and there has been a notable up-tick in production from the linebackers and defensive line as an entire front-7.
Te'o presents an interesting case in that he is very fast and fluid, but bulked up from 6'2, 225 as a recruit to around 6-2, 250 without losing quickness and agility.
Another change has been safety Harrison Smith moving back to play linebacker, as he had last season, bringing a little more dynamism to the mix there with respect to speed and athleticism. Sergio Brown has been getting more play-time at defensive back, part of a broader mix at defensive back.
Meanwhile, Darius Fleming, a top-10 defender national for tackles-for-loss, previously a starting linebacker, has been working in at defensive line.
There appears to be some interesting movement among the players and their roles. There was a game where a back-up defensive end was starting at linebacker, made a number of tackles, but was credited by Weis for adding to the production of the defensive line, shifting between both roles.
Safety Kyle McCarthy continues to be a top-5 defensive back nationally for interceptions.
Against Washington State, 25 Irish players registered tackles, and there was a big mix with the totals. 10 Irish defenders were involved with tackles-for-loss.
Defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore led with 5 tackles. Four Notre Dame players had four tackles each, including defensive backs Jemoris Slaughter, McCarthy, and Zeke Motta, as well as defensive end/linebacker Fleming.
All of the above but Slaughter had tackles-for-loss, with Fleming and Motta registering at least a portion of a sack. Te'o and linebacker-turned-defensive end Kerry Neal each had 3 tackles, with Neal sharing a sack.
Fleming, who had 2 tackles-for-loss, is now #8 in the FBS/Div. I-A in that category.
Defensive linemen Ethan Johnson, Paddy Mullins, and Steve Filer all were involved with sacks, and defensive lineman Morrice Richardson had a tackle-for-loss.
Defensive back Robert Blanton had an interception, as did nose-tackle Williams.
Weis: Alamodome "Awesome" Venue
Weis called the Alamadome an "awesome" venue and the neutral-site experience in San Antonio a great experience, said everybody thought it was great to be there, and indicated he looks forward to more neutral-site games generally.
Bowl eligibility and BCS
The Irish improve to 6-2 on the year and are provisionally bowl eligible. (Notre Dame becomes fully bowl-eligible with a seventh win. Teams with 6 wins may go to a bowl, but in the selection processes preference goes to teams with 7 or more wins.)
Notre Dame becomes BCS bowl-eligible with 9 wins and a standing of at least #14 in the BCS tabulations. The Irish are now #22, rising from #23 the previous week.
:: click here for NCAA 2009-10 bowl guidelines (PDF)
Keywords: Notre Dame Football, Fighting Irish, Washington State Cougars, Charlie Weis, Jimmy Clausen, Heisman, Golden Tate, Ian Williams, San Antonio, Alamadome, Notre Dame Neutral Site Games, Dayne Crist, John Goodman, Manti Te'o, Brian Smith, Kyle McCarthy, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Robert Hughes, Nick Tausch, BCS Bowls, Weis
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