Atlanta – Anyone who doesn’t know Charlie Weis probably can figure out he didn’t get by on his looks. In fact, you figure a guy that looks a bit like a walking davenport with a whistle has got to have a pretty good personality, a sense of humor, a way to find the right word that doesn’t include an X or an O.
So for whatever magic he does with those two letters in making Notre Dame football matter again, he has near equal strength in his sense of sarcasm. Sure, he has his quippy little putdowns of Heisman Trophy-favorite Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardzija, his minor-league chucking receiver.
Weis has to keep them grounded. But on a beautiful warm Southern night at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday, Weis’ bite sunk into his maligned defense.
As the second half opened and second-ranked Notre Dame trailed 10-7, Weis walked around his defensive staff yelling, “Six hundred and seventeen yards, right?” It was a direct shot to the ego of a defense that coughed up 617 to Ohio State in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.
“There might’ve been a couple other words in there,” Weis said, “but 617 was definitely in there as well.”
By January, if Notre Dame is lined up in Cardinals Stadium for the national title or Quinn is in New York awaiting his Heisman Trophy coronation, Saturday’s 14-10 win over Georgia Tech may be a forgotten footnote. What may be remembered more from Atlanta is the ugly side of Weis’ rejuvenated Notre Dame program finally came of age.
Not to say that defense has crippled the Irish, but that obnoxious green leprechaun was seen before the game limping out of a cab. With arguably the most explosive offense in the country in Weis’ crafty paws, Notre Dame’s national title hopes rest on the improvement of a defense that gave up 397.9 yards a game last year, its worst since a 2-7 season in 1962.
Its lone task was merely to stop probably the best receiver in the country in Calvin Johnson and do it with the world watching, or at least 550 credentialed media, a stadium record. Considering this ol’ ball yard was built in 1913 and is the oldest on-campus stadium in Division I-A, a lot of people sensed an upset.
It didn’t quite happen. Sure, Johnson had his 111 yards and his requisite circus catch you’ll see on GameDay all season, but his seven catches and one TD catch were the only offense Georgia Tech could muster. Notre Dame’s nine returning starters apparently remembered the Fiesta Bowl all too well.
Weis remembers, too. If he forgot, the world reminded him.
“That’s all I’ve heard this whole offseason: 617 yards,” Weis said. “If I hear that again, I’m going to vomit. I’ve challenged the defense every day, every day. I thought the defensive staff and defensive players showed up, and that’s the reason why we won the game.”
Granted, it took the defense a while. Johnson caught seven passes for 95 yards in the first half. Johnson, 6-feet-5, outleaped 5-11 Mike Richardson for a 4-yard TD pass for a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.
But while Weis is known as the master halftime adjuster, defensive coordinator Rick Minter was the coaching star Saturday. In the second half Notre Dame held Johnson to two catches and Georgia Tech to only 71 yards.
“They basically doubled (Johnson) every snap,” Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said.
While a question mark about the Irish defense became an exclamation point Saturday, maybe it’s time Weis loaned out his genius label to Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta. The same guy who smothered Auburn and Miami in road wins last year had to replace six starters, including three-quarters of his secondary.
Then try to shut down Notre Dame.
He about did it. Blitzing from all over the field, with returning linebacker Philip Wheeler chasing Quinn almost to Peachtree Street, Notre Dame had its lowest offensive output in Weis’ 13 games at the school.
“I expected to be more productive on offense,” Weis said. “But the thing I liked is our balance. We had about 80 plays and it was about 50-50 run-pass when it was all said and done. And that’s kind of the way I like to play.”
John Henderson can be reached at 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
