Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis has had a tough couple of years here. But rarely, if ever, has it been this bad. After Saturday’s 38-34 loss to Michigan, Weis’ detractors are out in unprecedented numbers. They want the big man out.
These boo birds are pointing to the way Weis handled the clock on what turned out to be the Irish’s final meaningful series. The basic idea is that, had Notre Dame run the ball on second and third down and forced Michigan to use their final timeouts instead of throwing two incomplete passes and stopping the clock, the Irish would have won the game.
In a word… hogwash.
To understand why Weis should not only not be criticized for this move but actually applauded, consider the following facts:
- Notre Dame’s defense had been pounded all day. By that point, Michigan, led by a true freshman quarterback in his second game, had rolled up nearly 400 yards of total offense and scored 24 offensive points.
- Michigan was having an awful time trying to stop Notre Dame’s passing game. Jimmy Clausen was firing at will into the Wolverine secondary, which was badly overmatched.
- In college football, the clock stops after each first down
- All Michigan needed was a field goal to send the game to overtime
True, Armando Allen gained 13 yards on the first play of that drive. But, at that point, Michigan figured Notre Dame was going to try to run the ball to make them call their timeouts. So they stacked the line of scrimmage and stuffed the next play. That left the following situation: second down and ten with 2:29 left and Michigan owning two timeouts. Let’s analyze the two decisions Weis could have made here:
1. He could have continued to run the ball to force Michigan to call its final timeouts. This is what all the naysayers are screaming Weis should have done. But Michigan was putting nearly everybody in the box. If you know football, you know there is almost zero chance of gaining significant yards against that type of defense, no matter how well you’ve run it all day. So chances are overwhelming that Michigan stuffs two runs, calls its final two timeouts and forces Notre Dame to punt. In that case, Michigan gets the ball back with the same amount of time it did anyway (actually, a few seconds more since running plays are quicker than passing plays). Two minutes and 15 seconds is an eternity in college football, where the clock stops after every first down. And remember, Michigan only needed a field goal to tie. Maybe they don’t score a TD, maybe they do. But are you going to tell me that 2:15 isn’t enough time for Michigan to go 45 yards to get a chip shot field goal?
2. Weis could have gotten aggressive on second and third downs, which is what he chose to do after seeing how the Michigan defense played first down. Keep in mind Michigan hadn’t stopped the pass all day long. True, Michael Floyd was out with an injury, but Notre Dame still had plenty of good receivers out there. Weis likely said to himself, “There’s only one way to guarantee we win this game — don’t give them the ball back. Clausen’s been scorching them all day. We can’t stop their offense. This game absolutely has the feel of one in which the last team that has the ball wins. Let’s complete a couple passes like we’ve been doing all day and get the heck out of here.”
Not only was this a totally acceptable football decision, it was one of which fans should be proud. In calling those pass plays, Weis did what every sports fan in America wants his team to do in any sport: play to win the game instead of not to lose it. Weis went for it. He tried to deny Michigan the one thing you need to score points — the football. He knew that was the only way to guarantee victory. Giving the Wolverines the ball back, with or without timeouts, was not something he wanted to do. And for good reason.
That’s smart, aggressive coaching. Unfortunately, smart, aggressive coaching doesn’t always result in wins. But that doesn’t make it wrong. If Clausen completes just one of those two passes, Notre Dame wins and today everybody’s talking about how Weis took the bull by the horns and won the game like a man.
Charlie Weis certainly deserves criticism for decisions he has made since he came to Notre Dame. But yesterday’s decision was not one of them.
Posted under Uncategorized
This post was written by Ed on September 13, 2009
Stick to reading the news, bud…you might get an ‘A’ for effort, but here are some bullet holes to your comments:
*Yes, the passing game was working better than the run—but it’s the 2 passes that they decided to make that are suspect…WHY throw a fade to Tate when he had butterfingers all day (granted, he drew a pass interference that went uncalled on that play, but still)…and WHY throw to a Freshman (S. Evans) on the BIGGEST play of the year/game to that date (3rd down, he didn’t get his head around in time despite being naked as a newborn past the first down marker)…so perhaps you could argue that passing wasn’t the worst thing in the world to elect to do, but it was the 2 passes they decided to throw that was the fly in the ointment…
*To be clear, yes the clock stops when you get a timeout—but only for the refs to move the chains, only to eventually re-start the clock…bottom line: Weis needed to play it close to the vest on the road and with the lead (up 3, not 2 mind you…OT would feel like the worst case scenario…) and take their timeouts away…Forcier was shredding them indeed, but without timeouts who knows what happens inside that panic—all’s it takes is one play with no timeouts to see things spiral out of control…instead, Weis stuck out his chest again, only to have his “front-butt” leave the final impression (i.e., he STINKS)…the guy just doesn’t get it…I’m not saying fire him just yet, but he continually does himself ZERO favors to curry favor from Notre Dame fandom…lose to MSU, and it’s “Dead Man Walking” time…
Overall, this team is already too sloppy and too undisciplined for the veteran team they’re supposed to be…blame the players, but blame the coaching staff, too…when will ND ever beat a quality team? It’s been way too long…
-ihateweistoo
ihateweistoo,
Your comment about the types of plays Weis called has some validity, but you need to take into account that it was Clausen’s decision to throw the passes he threw. Every play has options. If one option’s not there, it’s up to the QB to go to the next option. Plus, Tate might have had “butterfingers” all day, but he was clearly the Irish’s most capable receiver on the field at the time.
And, yes, of course the clock starts again when the officials reset the chains. But a smart, well-coached team is up at the line and ready to snap the ball as soon as the official starts the clock. So, in effect, a first down acts like a timeout in college. You aren’t really going to tell me 2:20 is not enough time to mount a winning drive in college football, are you?
Weis had two choices: give them the ball back or try not to give them the ball back. He chose the latter. Chances are if he runs the ball three straight times, Michigan still goes down and scores the game winner. Had ND picked up one more first down, the Wolverines would have never had that chance.
By the way, I read the news now. Before that, though, I was a sportscaster for more than a decade.
But thanks for watching… and posting!
Ed