There are strange words coming out of the Notre Dame football camp, and maybe stranger opinions coming from outside, as the 2007 saga of the Fighting Irish reaches Saturday’s game with Air Force.
Who would think the battle cry for the mighty Irish would be about keeping the faith or that the oddsmakers would have Air Force, a team that once lost 11 consecutive games to Notre Dame, favored by three points in South Bend, Ind.? But with the beleaguered Irish facing prospects of a one-victory season for the first time since 1892 (when they beat South Bend High School), those are the signs of the time.
The Irish are 1-8 and without a victory in five previous home games. They went 19-6 in coach Charlie Weis’ first two seasons, but they’ve been shut out in two games this year, 38-0 by Michigan and 38-0 by USC.
“One of the things we do as older players who have faced adversity in the past is just keep focused on what’s important,” said senior center John Sullivan, one of three captains. “Everything in the past isn’t important anymore, and there’s nothing that you can do about it. The only thing that matters to us is Air Force this Saturday, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Former Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry, who was involved in all five of Air Force’s previous wins over the Irish, is surprised on two counts as he looks on at this matchup.
“I never thought I’d see a Notre Dame team at 1-8, but I also never thought I’d see an Air Force team favored in a game in South Bend,” DeBerry said. “I’m not sure the oddsmakers know that much about it, but it’s always special to play Notre Dame, and rightly so we’ve been the underdog against a team with players who have been heavily recruited.”
One of Notre Dame’s problems has been at quarterback, where junior Evan Sharpley and freshman Jimmy Clausen have divided time. Weis announced Wednesday that Clausen would start Saturday.
“I think it might affect chemistry if it were a player that we didn’t have confidence in, but we don’t have that problem,” senior tight end John Carlson said. “We have faith in them.”
Going into their last three games, the Irish are next to last of the 119 Division I-A teams in rushing at 56.4 yards a game and last in total offense at 208.4 yards.
“It’s easy to stay positive when your team is winning, and maybe if the record was 8-1 it would be easy to say the right things on and off the practice field,” Sullivan said. “It’s a humbling experience to be 1-8, but this team has really lived up to the character of Notre Dame, and it has lived up to the tradition despite the record.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
