Irish roll over Cougars in first off-site home game in San Antonio

Monday, September 19, 2005 o bserverTHE

Michigan State 44 , Notre Dame 41

player of the game

Golden TateIrish wide receiver

Tate caught four passes for 80 yardsand a touchdown and added 61 rushing yards and a score.

quote of the game

“It was a relief. Close games all thetime, it kind of gets old.”

Jimmy ClausenIrish quarterback

stat of the game

40:54

Notre Dame’s time of possession,compared to 19:06 for Washington

State, in a game the Irish thoroughly dominated.

play of the game

Golden Tate’s leaping 50-yard touch-down grab at the end of the first half.

The Hail Mary from Jimmy Clausenmade the score 30-7 at the half and

helped bury the Cougars.

Monday, November 2, 2009 o bserverTHE

IRISH INSIDERNotre Dame 40, Washington State 14

SAN ANTONIO — Halloweenfeatured very few scarymoments for the Irish, whorolled to a 40-14 victory overWashington State in theAlamodome.Notre Dame dominated the

Cougars from start to finish,the first time in months thatthe Irish weren’t holding theirbreath in the closing minutes.“It was a relief,” Irish jun-

ior quarterback J immyClausen said. “Close gamesall the time, it kind of getsold.”Clausen and the Notre

Dame of fense put up 30points in the first half to putthe game out of reach early,h ighl ighted by a 50-yardcatch by Golden Tate on aClausen Hail Mary to end thehalf. Tate leaped over threeWashington State defendersto make the catch and held onfor the score.“It was probably one of the

most phenomenal catches I’veseen anyone make, ever,”Irish coach Charlie Weis said.After a three-and-out on

Washington State’s first pos-session, Notre Dame drovedown the field before stallingin the red zone. Freshmankicker Nick Tausch convertedthe field goal to put the Irishon the board 3-0While the Irish defense sti-

f led the struggl ing Cougaroffense, Clausen drove theIrish to their first touchdownlate in the first quarter, con-verting on a 7-yard pass tojunior Duval Kamara in theback of the endzone.The next Notre Dame drive

had a similarresult , as theWildcat forma-tion and run-ning gameoverwhelmedthe Cougardefense. Tatef in ished thedr ive wi th as p e c t a c u l a r16-yard run,spinning out ofthe arms oft w oWashington State defendersbefore finding the edge andthe touchdown.Junior Robert Hughes

starred on the next drive forthe Irish, wearing down theWashington State defense andpunching in the score from ayard out . Hughes had acareer-high 131 yards in the

game and helped Notre Damecontrol the time of posses-sion. The Irish had the ballfor 40:54 in the game.The Cougars finally got on

the board with 1:16 left in thehalf, scoring on a pass fromTuel to wide receiver JaredKarstet ter. The t ime was

enough for theIrish, however,as Tate madethe touchdowngrab as t imeexpired.“ I ’ve seen

them before ,i t ’s not theonly one I ’veever seen. ButI don’t knowhow manytimes you seeone guy wi th

three guys around h im goup,” Weis said of Tate’s leap-ing catch. “He’s not 6-feetta l l , i t ’s not l ike he ’s 6-5going up there, he’s like 5-11going up there. I thought itwas phenomenal.”The Notre Dame of fense

slowed its torrid pace in thesecond half, with injuries and

the scoreboard playing a con-sideration. After punting ontheir f i rs t possess ion, theIrish were rolling down thef ie ld againwhen Clausenwas tripped upnear theWa s h i n g t o nState endzone. Weis then

r e m o v e dClausen, whoonly s l ight lyaggravated hisongoing tur ftoe injury, fors o p h o m o r eDayne Cr is t .After an incompletion, Tauschconverted his 14th-straightf ie ld goal , a Notre Damerecord.The Ir i sh put the ir f ina l

points on the board on a longpass down the middle fromCris t to c lassmate JohnGoodman, who outraced aCougar defender 64 yards forthe score.Cr is t la ter suf fered an

injury while scrambling, hurt-ing his left knee. Weis said hewould have an MRI this week

but was “caut ious ly opt i -mistic.”The Notre Dame defense did

i ts part in the b lowout aswel l , ho ld ingthe Cougars to206 yards o fto ta l o f fenseand only 104through thea i r .C o r n e r b a c kRobert Blantonand defensivetackle IanWilliams eachi n t e r c e p t e df r e s h m a nWa s h i n g t o n

State quarterback Jeff Tuel,who was sacked five times.“ [Tuel threw for] a l i t t le

over 100 yards and gotsacked a bunch of times, hewas under pressure,” Weissaid. “They were getting afterhim today, there was nodoubt they were getting afterhim.”The Cougars managed 102

yards on the ground, butmany of those came long afterthe Irish starters had left thegame.

“[Six] three and outs in thegame the first defense gaveup 100 yards o f fense thewhole game. The defensegave up only 200 yards forthe whole game,” Weis said athis Sunday press conference.“But when the first guys arein there, they gave up 109yards . That was pret tyimpressive. With sacks, pres-sures, you know, playing thegame behind the l ine o fscrimmage. No explosives inthe passing game. When isthe last time we’ve been ableto say that?”The Irish held a significant

edge in talent on both sides ofthe bal l , and Notre Dameused that to its advantage tobuild, and then hold, the biglead over the course of theentire game.“ I jus t fe l t l ike get t ing

upfield and getting penetra-tion was the key thing, and tostay low and be more athleticthan them,” said Irish sopho-more defensive end and Texasnative Kapron Lewis-Moore.

Contact Michael Bryan atmbryan@nd.edu

By MICHAEL BRYANAssociate Sports Editor

VANESSA GEMPIS/The Observer

Irish junior wide receiver Golden Tate escapes a tackler during Notre Dame’s 40-14 victory over Washington State Saturday in SanAntonio. Tate led the Irish with 80 yards receiving and a touchdown, and he added 61 rushing yards and a score.

A welcome change

“I don’t know howmany times you seeone guy with three

guys around him go up... I thought it was phenomenal.”

Charlie WeisIrish head coach

“I just felt like gettingupfield and gettingpenetration was thekey thing, and to stay

low and be more athletic than them.”

Kapron Lewis-MooreIrish defensive end

C

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 2 Monday, November 2, 2009

Off-site home game a successWhen you mentioned to someone

that Notre Dame was playingWashington State in San Antonio,the most common response was“why?”I’ll even

admit that Iwas skepticalof the first “off-site homegame” that waspart of NotreDame’s new 7-4-1 schedulingmodel.But after a

weekend in SanAntonio, it’sclear that theidea is a greatone, even if theexecution coulduse a little improvement.The weekend kicked off Friday

night with a pep rally in front ofthe Alamo, one of America’s mosticonic venues. Even though thepep rally wasn’t the most raucousI’ve ever seen, the crowd itselfwas a sight to behold. Notre Dameestimated that close to 8,000 fansattended the rally, and the crowdspilled out onto the adjacentstreets.The speakers included former

Notre Dame running back AllenPinkett and radio broadcaster DonCriqui, and the Band of theFighting Irish played all the crowdfavorites — and threw in a littleLone Star flair by playing “Deep inthe Heart of Texas.”After the pep rally ended, the

crowd moved down to SanAntonio’s famed River Walk.Random “Let’s go, Irish” chantsstarted up and down the river.And a few fans rode down the

river back and forth waving aNotre Dame flag and cheering forthe Irish.“I thought that this was a great

venue,” Irish coach Charlie Weissaid. “I mean, I thought it wasawesome. And I think our playersthought that. There was so muchexcitement in the air. I mean, Igive credit to our Notre Damefans.”On Saturday, San Antonio might

as well have been South Bend.Irish fans owned the streets andthe River Walk, but there was asurprising amount of WashingtonState crimson to be seen, too.As for the game itself, the

Alamodome was about as close toNotre Dame Stadium as you couldget, minus Touchdown Jesus. MikeCollins, the voice of Notre DameStadium, provided the publicaddress and Officer Tim McCarthyeven had a fourth quarter mes-sage for the fans.Numerous people compared the

atmosphere of the weekend tothat of a bowl game, which istough to replicate in the middle ofthe season.The biggest positive aspect of

the weekend, though, was theopportunity it gave to Irish fans inthe Lone Star State. For a lot ofNotre Dame supporters across thecountry, it just isn’t possible to getout to a game in South Bend.While there may not have been ahuge student presence at thegame, it’s a safe bet that for manyof the alumni and subway alumniin Texas, this was their first Irishgame in quite a few years, if notever.“When you get into an experi-

ment like this — and this is anexperiment, taking a home game

on the road — you need a greatpartner,” Notre Dame AthleticDirector Jack Swarbrick said atthe pep rally. “And we couldn’thave a better partner for our firstoff-site game than San Antonio.”That being said, the weekend

wasn’t perfect. Despite the bestefforts of Notre Dame and itsalumni clubs in Texas, the gamedid not sell out. If you’re countingthis as a true home game, it’s thenon-sellout since the infamous1973 Thanksgiving game againstAir Force. The announced atten-dance was 53,407, about 82 per-cent of the Alamodome’s capacityof 65,000.The poor ticket sales could prob-

ably be attributed to the weakopponent. As nice as theWashington State fans were, theCougars just aren’t the type ofteam Notre Dame should be aim-ing for with these games. Imaginewhat the atmosphere would havebeen like if the game had beenagainst a top tier team like Miamior Georgia, to name two.Hopefully, Swarbrick and the

athletic department will learnfrom this weekend and makeimprovements for next year’sgame against Army in YankeeStadium. In all, though, it was asurprisingly positive experience inSan Antonio for fans, coaches andplayers alike.“If the rest of them go like this,

sign me up,” Weis said. “It reallywas a great experience.”

The views expressed in thiscolumn are those of the authorand not necessarily those of TheObserver.Contact Sam Werner at

swerner@nd.edu

B+quarterbacks: Jimmy Clausen played likehe has all season, and his Heismanstock continues to rise. Dayne Cristlooked shaky but threw a nice touch-down before leaving with an injury.

report card

Sam Werner

AssociateSports Editor

A-running backs:Robert Hughes excelledwith Armando Allen held out of thegame, and Theo Riddick showed flasheswith the game in hand.

Areceivers:Golden Tate was unstoppable asboth a receiver and a runner, and DuvalKamara had another solid effort thatincluded Notre Dame’s first touchdown.

B+offensive line: Clausen was sacked twicebut the line made time for all three quar-terbacks and opened up holes to pavethe way for a big day on the ground.

A-defensive line: The front four continuesto improve, as six defensive linemencombined to make nine tackles forloss. Ian Williams added an intercep-tion of a screen pass.

B+linebackers:Manti Te’o continues to showwhy he was Notre Dame’s most prizedrecruit as he adds speed to a linebackingcorps made faster with the addition ofconverted safety Harrison Smith.

Bdefensive backs: Robert Blanton picked offJeff Tuel and the secondary limited himto 104 yards passing. But the cornerslooked silly on the Cougars two touch-down passes.

special teams:Nick Tausch made his 14thstraight field goal, but he had an extrapoint blocked and punter Ben Turk wasinconsistent again. Tate made a mentalerror trying to pick up a bouncing punt.

A-coaching: The so-called Leprecat forma-tion was very successful, and Charlie Weisdid what he wanted — jumped out to anearly lead and held on without too muchtrouble.

3.33overall: Finally an easy victory.The Irish weren’t dominantfrom the get-go, but showedwhy they were such heavyfavorites heading in.

ANDREW WEBER/The Observer

Notre Dame’s matchup with Washington State in San Antonio’s Alamodome wasn’t a sellout, but Irish coachCharlie Weis compared the atmosphere at the off-site home game to that of a bowl game.

adding up the numbers

32Number of first downs by Notre Dame in a gamethe Irish dominated. Washington State had 12first downs and had the ball for just 19:06.

5 Number of Cougars possessions ending withpunts to begin the game. Washington Statepunted eight times in all.

59Yards gained out of the Leprecat forma-tion on the six play, 80-yard drive thatended with the first Irish touchdown.

9 Number of touchdown receptions by junior widereceiver Golden Tate. Only Oklahoma’s RyanBroyles (10) has more.

35Number of Irish players who previously partici-pated in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl prephigh school all-star game at the Alamodome.

14 Number of consecutive successful field goalattempts by freshman kicker Nick Tausch, whohas hit on all but one attempt — his first.

124Number of consecutive passes JimmyClausen has thrown without an interception,dating back to the Washington game.

0 Number of turnovers Clausen has committed whenthe Irish have been either tied or trailing this sea-son.

Tune in to the Irish Insider podcast at ndsmcobserver.com/podcasts

ANDREW WEBER/The Observer

Junior running back Robert Hughes runs through a would-be tackle during Notre Dame’s 40-14 victory over WashingtonState Saturday. Hughes led the Irish in rushing with 131 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown.

SAN ANTONIO — Juniorrunning back Robert Hugheshasn’t always known when hewould play or where he wouldplay. But when given theopportuni tywith ArmandoAllen battlingn a g g i n gi n j u r i e s ,Hughes hasstepped up.“When my

number iscalled, I justwant to go outand produce,”Hughes said.“I just try tofocus on doingmy job andmaking the best of my oppor-tunities.”Hughes rushed for a career-

high 131 yards and a touch-down against WashingtonState in San Antonio, relent-lessly pounding a strugglingCougars defense. The junior’sbruising runs helped the Irishdominated Washington State

in time of possession, control-ling the ball for over two-thirds of the game at 40:54.“He did really well, stepping

up for us, Armando was downand didn’t play, he ran the ballreally well for us today,” Irishquarterback Jimmy Clausensaid.

Entering theseason ita p p e a r e dHughes wouldsee a decreasein playingtime, as Allenwas the clearlye s t a b l i s h edstarter ands o p h om o r eJonas Graystood in thesecond stringon the depthchart.

Then Hughes was movedinto a part-time role at full-back following an injury tosenior James Aldridge againstNevada. As Allen battledinjuries, however, Hughesbegan receiving more time atrunning back and earningcarries.“I really don’t know when

the switch went on, but theswitch definitely went on andhe decided that this was whathe was going to be,” saidWeis. “Once he made thatdecision thatthis is how Iam, run withmy padsdown, leaningforward, nottrying tomake every-one miss,once he madethat decision,I think it’skind ofcleaned upfor him howhe’s going toplay the game.”Hughes rushed for 68 yards

and a touchdown againstPurdue while Allen sat out,and then ran for 70 yards andanother score againstWashington. In San Antonio, with Allen

out again, Hughes received 24carries, only his second gamewith over ten this season.Hughes said the repetitionshelped him get into the flow ofthe game and wear down the

Cougars.“It felt great, I got in a

rhythm, coach kept calling mynumber and I just wanted tokeep running the ball well,

run the ballhard andkeep gettingy a r d s , ”Hughes said. H u g h e s

also showedoff his catch-ing skills inthe game,grabbed fourreceptions for51 yards. Ithas been hisrunning style,h o w e v e r ,

that’s set him apart from therest of the tailbacks this sea-son.“[Running backs coach Tony

Alford] always felt we’ve got alot of little guys that can dancearound everyone,” Weis said.“We’ve got Armando, we’vegot Theo, we’ve got guys thatcan dance around. He’d like tohave that bruiser.”

Notre Dame 16, Washington State 0Golden Tate 16-yd run (Tausch kick) with 9:29remaining.Drive: 8 plays, 71 yards, 4:01 elapsed.

Notre Dame 23, Washington State 0Robert Hughes 1-yd run (Tausch kick) with 4:05remaining.Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 4:02 elapsed.

Notre Dame 23, Washington State 7Jared Karstetter 11-yd pass from Jeff Tuel (NicoGrasu kick) with 1:16 remaining.Drive: 7 plays, 67 yards, 2:49 elapsed.

Notre Dame 30, Washington State 7Tate 50-yd pass from Clausen (Tausch kick) with:00 remaining.Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 1:16 elapsed.

uThe game in San Antoniohad an extra special meaningfor Notre Dame sophomoredefensive lineman KapronLewis-Moore, who hails fromnearby Weatherford, TexasLewis-Moore said he receivedover 20 ticket requests for thegame, but was able to accom-modate everyone.“It was good being back to

Texas — the hospitality andeverything,” Lewis-Moore said.“I miss the Texas weather.”

uFreshman kicker NickTausch set a Notre Damerecord by connecting on his14th-straight field goal in thethird quarter. After missing his

first career attempt atMichigan, Tausch has beenperfect on the season. MikeJohnston set the previousrecord of 13 during the 1982season.

uSaturday’s game wasNotre Dame’s first indoorgame since a 41-14 loss to LSUin the 2007 Sugar Bowl. It wasthe Irish’s first victory in adome since beating Florida inthe 1992 Sugar Bowl.

uThree Notre Dame playerswere injured in the gameSaturday night. Sophomorequarterback Dayne Crist hurthis knee, and sophomoreoffensive lineman TrevorRobinson and sophomoredefensive lineman KapronLewis-Moore hurt their ankles.

At his press conferenceSunday night, Weis said thatCrist would receive an MRIMonday to determine theextent of the injury and thatRobinson could miss nextweek’s game against Navywith a low ankle sprain. Headded, though, that Lewis-Moore’s injury was minor anddidn’t anticipate him missingany time.

uSenior tight end MikeRagone, who has played inevery game this season forNotre Dame, recorded his firstcatch of the season Saturdaynight on a short six-yard com-pletion from Clausen.

uFormer Irish great and1987 Heisman Trophy winnerTim Brown was scheduled to

speak at the pep rally Fridaynight, but was replaced byAllen Pinkett at the lastminute. Brown, a Dallasnative, did represent the Irishfor the game’s opening cointoss, serving as an honoraryteam captain.

uThe Irish continued to usethe Leprecat offense effectivelyagainst the Cougars, at onepoint running three straightplays with a player other thanClausen taking the snap. Theformation worked, though,gaining 59 yards on an 80-yard first quarter touchdowndrive. Junior wide receiverGolden Tate also had a touch-down run out of the Leprecat.

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERMonday, November 2, 2009 page 3

Hughes makes most of opportunity

By MICHAEL BRYANAssociate Sports Editor

Notes: Lewis-Moore enjoys homecoming

Contact Sam Werner at swerner@nd.edu

By SAM WERNERAssociate Sports Editor

1stBoston CollegeNotre Dame

09

2nd721

3rd03

4th77

Second quarter

Notre Dame 3, Washington State 0Nick Tausch 29-yd field goal with 9:44 remain-ing.Drive: 10 plays, 45 yards, 4:23 elapsed.

Notre Dame 9, Washington State 0Duval Kamara 7-yd pass from Jimmy Clausen(Tausch kick failed) with :14 remaining.Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards, 3:04 elapsed.

Third quarter

Notre Dame 33, Washington State 7Tausch 23-yd field goal with 3:16 remaining.Drive: 11 plays, 40 yards, 6:10 elapsed.

Total

1440

scoringsummary

First quarter

statisticstotal yards

rushing yards

passing yards

time of possession

Contact Michael Bryan atmbryan@nd.edu

Fourth quarter

Notre Dame 40, Washington State 7John Goodman 64-yd pass from Dayne Crist(Tausch kick) with 10:01 remaining.Drive: 2 plays, 55 yards, 1:06 elapsed.

Notre Dame 40, Washington State 14Karstetter 8-yd pass from Tuel (Grasu kick) with5:16 remaining.Drive: 7 plays, 65 yards, 3:06 elapsed.

12-23-104

8-725-273-4

10-(-1)

3-272-192-142-131-15

22-27-268

24-1314-619-518-29

6-594-804-513-363-24

Clausen

HughesTateRiddickGray

RudolphTateHughesKamaraRiddick

Tuel

TardyMitzWinstonTuel

ThompsonKarstetterSolomonWinstonSimone

receiving

rushing

passing

“He did really well,stepping up for us.”

Jimmy ClausenIrish quarterback

“It felt great, I got in arhythm, coach kept

calling my number andI just wanted to keeprunning the ball well,run the ball hard andkeep getting yards.”

Robert HughesIrish running back

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 4 Monday, November 2, 2009

Notre Dame imposed its will on a reeling Washington State team in the

first in a new series of off-site home games in stadiums across the coun-

try. Junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen (22-for-27, 268 yards) was effi-

cient, finding junior receivers Duval Kamara and Golden Tate (80 receiv-

ing yards, 61 rushing) for touchdowns before leaving the game in the

third quarter. Tate and sophomore running back Robert Hughes (131

rushing yards) each ran for touchdowns. Sophomore backup Dayne Crist

connected with sophomore John Goodman for a 64-yard scoring strike

but was forced to exit with a leg injury. The Irish defense held the hapless

Cougars to just 206 yards offense as Notre Dame built a 30-7 halftime

advantage before coasting to a 40-14 victory. Junior defensive tackle Ian

Williams and sophomore defensive back Robert Blanton each had inter-

ceptions, and Darius Fleming, Zeke Motta, Ethan Johnson, Steve Filer

and Paddy Mullen each recorded sacks on Cougars quarterback Jeff Tuel.

For more photos, check out the photo gallery at ndsmcobserver.com

Taking careof business

Clockwise from top: Junior linebacker Brian Smith jumps to defend a Jeff Tuel pass; junior receiver Golden Tate makes a leaping grab on a first-half Hail Mary; sopho-more defensive lineman Ethan Johnson makes a tackle; freshman kicker Nick Tausch connects on a kick; sophomore receiver John Goodman breaks away for a score.

VANESSA GEMPIS/The Observer

VANESSA GEMPIS/The Observer

VANESSA GEMPIS/The Observer ANDREW WEBER/The Observer

VANESSA GEMPIS/The Observer