"Charlie, Jr. must have saw something in the defense there."
The title of this post was a text sent to me at some point during the cavalcade of questionable decisions in the fourth quarter. Weis' son is now wearing a headset on the sidelines, which I don't think matters beyond the humor factor.
In an ideal world, I wouldn't have to think about Saturday again. I could call up Tom Wilkinson and Elijah Wood, have an Eternal Sunshine-type surgery performed and never have to think about November 3rd, 2007 again (or October 15, 2005, while we're at it). When I tried to remember the Navy-Notre Dame game from my senior year, there would just be that hazy area that usually accompanies reminisces of a Friday night.
"Lost to Navy? I don't remember ever losing to Navy."
Sadly, that technology is still in the works so we must work our way through what happened. First thing first, fair readers and Irish faithful, we aren't firing Charlie Weis. Were some of the crimes he committed Saturday offenses that could go on the termination paperwork? Absolutely, but the program would be worse off for surviving another coaching change this soon. If the recruiting class currently coming in all stays - and I have no idea why they would, I'm just relying on faith and Mike Frank at this point - then Weis gets the 2008 season with all of his guys facing an inexperienced slate (bye bye, Mike Hart and Chad Henne) to show he truly is the football coach we thought he was in the first two years.
Replace him now and you're faced with the embarrassment of December 2004 all over again, as we scramble to find someone to take the position. Things may have worked out eventually for Alabama this past winter, but only after begging, pleading, some Rich Rodriguez heartbreak and Nick Saban giving the middle finger to Miami Dolphin fans. The jobs at high-profile universities are obviously appealing because of the exposure and money, but dealing with the alumni, expectations and pressure make it worth the high salary. Try getting a quality coach to come to South Bend when we've only given the last two coaches three seasons each, with the latter being fired after two seasons where he achieved at least nine wins and BCS appearances. Someone would eventually come, but it wouldn't be easy, it would kill recruiting and it would give another blackeye to the University.
But yes, Weis needs to be reevaluated for the umpteenth time since the Georgia Tech game. The decision to not kick the field goal at the end of regulation was idiotic, but let's point out that the calls on that entire series were just as awful. I've been incorrectly saying it was the third down call that was wrong, but in reality, Weis elected to throw for the endzone on 2nd and eight instead of giving Armando Allen three straight cracks at the first down. Do you know how our final touchdown drive of the fourth quarter looked before Travis Thomas punched it in?
Armando Allen rush for 15 yards. Armando Allen rush for 13 yards. Armando Allen rush for 6 yards. Armando Allen rush for 6 yards. Armando Allen rush for 5 yards. Armando Allen rush for 4 yards.
Weis showed again that he was willing to outsmart himself, with the train of thought going something like "Well, we're running the ball really well, so they're going to start committing to the run, so passing will be a lot easier." Instead, it should have just been "We're running the ball really well, Armando and James are killing, we're just going to keep running until they stop us." The offensive line still isn't the best at pass protection - as we saw on the fumble recovery touchdown - so the run-run-run strategy worked so well on so many levels.
Weis also needs to be questioned on the 4th and 15 fake field goal call. The chances were miniscule that Evan Sharpley would have been able to run for fifteen yards unimpeded. Maybe if the yardage that needed to be achieved was less or John Carlson was releasing for a throw instead of a run this would have worked, but even me, in my hatred of field goals in general and especially when directed towards our kicking game, would have rather just tried a long field goal then the play that transpired. Hell, line up and go for it or punt it, either one would have probably yielded a better result.
I will not condemn Weis for not punting on the 4th and 13 on the game-tying drive. Although we were at midfield with timeouts and plenty of time on the clock, anyone who watched the Eagles/Saints NFC divisional playoff game this past January could predict what would have happened. With the Eagles down, they chose to punt away to a New Orleans team that had been Deuce McAllistering them left and Reggie Bushing them right for the entirety of the game. They never got the ball back as the Saints marched down the clock. The way Navy had personally wounded the clock down the entire game - much to NBC's chagrin, I'm sure - punting away would have been a bad idea, nearly as bad as play-actioning to Asaph Schwapp on the 4th down call.
The end-game strategy digression allows me to give some credit to a unit you wouldn't normally congratulate after a game you lost 46-44, but I think our defense did a decent job. Navy had the number one rushing offense in the country, and the best way to disrupt their attack was either with massive linemen blowing up plays before they started or speedy linebackers running down the pitchman on the outside. Notre Dame had neither, yet managed to contain big runs and get two stops the times we absolutely needed them, when the offense would have no opportunity to reciprocate (after we kicked away upon tying the game at 28 and after kicking the field goal in overtime).
It's only fitting this season hit its low point with our offensive line collapsing in front of Travis Thomas, as it did so many times in the first month of the season. The only thing missing was a special teams penalty on Thomas, a holding call on John Sullivan, a drop by Robby Parris, a blown coverage by a non-Darrin Walls corner and Jimmy Clausen completing another dramatic throwaway out-of-bounds. It would obviously be difficult to combine all of those on one play - impossible, actually - but I'd like our Robot Genius to at least try so I can have a YouTube video I turn to anytime someone asks me to summarize the problems of the 2007 campaign.
So we move onto Air Force, congratulating Navy on their victory and wishing it didn't happen. If Weis loses out these last three games, my "We can't fire him" policy might change, but that is a burning, sorrowful bridge we'll cross if and only if the need arises. Air Force is a capable team, and if we're going to try and right the ship away from an Anti-Ken Fowler prediction of 1-11, it will take the same sort of effort from everyone that we saw Saturday.
And some smarter coaching from Charlie Weis.
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