Post Game Report Card
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
October 24, 2000
Quarterback
Matt LoVecchio continued to improve against the
Mountaineers. He only attempted 16 passes but he made big plays when he needed to.
He threw two touchdowns to Tony Fisher including a perfectly thrown swing pass at
the very end of the first half. He didn't make many mistakes and lead the team to
its third consecutive win. He is on his way to becoming a very fin starting
quarterback and has this team in position to run the table.
Grade: A
Running Backs
Julius Jones was slowed down by an injury, but Tony Fisher and Terrence Howard
picked up the slack scoring four touchdowns. Fisher had three by himself (two
receiving and one rushing). Fisher was an excellent receiver out of the backfield
and Howard busted the offense play of the year for the Irish. Howard took a handoff
at the twenty and broke four tackles en route to an 80 yard touchdown run. Jones
only gained 28 yards, but should be back to form soon. As a team the Irish rushed
for 227 yards.
Grade: A+
Wide Receivers
Joey Getherall had another excellent game returning punts. He averaged 30.5 yards a
return on his four punt returns including a 73 yard punt return for a touchdown in the
third quarter. He also had three catches for 79 yards. David Givens didn't
record a reception but did throw a 52 yard pass to Getherall which was Notre Dame's
longest pass play of the season.
Grade: B
Offensive Line
The line did allow Matt LoVecchio to be sacked three times, but they did help Notre Dame
collect 227 yards rushing. Granted 80 of that came on one run but the line looked
improved. It still is no where near dominating and will have to improve much more if
the Irish want to be a legitimate BCS contender. There is talent along the line, its
time that the talent steps up and start taking over games.
Grade: C
Defensive Line
Quarterback pressure was again good this week even though there was only two quarterback
sacks. West Virginia was held to 134 yards rushing and West Virginia quarterbacks
did not have a lot of time to throw that often. The line is really helping the
defensive backfield this year by getting in quarterbacks faces.
Grade: B-
Linebackers
Anthony Denman played well as usual. The linebackers weren't overly good, but
weren't bad either. The linebackers were average against West Virginia, but when it
counted the linebackers and defense as a whole anchored down and came up with plays when
they needed too.
Grade: C
Secondary
Ron Isreal got his first career interception, but West Virginia passed for 287 yards on 34
attempts. The secondary played solid, not great. West Virginia quarterbacks
did only complete 44% of their passes however. It wasn't their worst game of the
year, but they could have played a lot better than they did. They won't be tested as
much by an Air Force team that has nearly twice as many rushing yards as passing yards,
but will be needed to stop Air Force's tricky offense.
Grade: C
Coaching
Davie seemed to lose his team after they got the 42-14 lead, but despite the big
lead, Notre Dame came out flat. They were shut down three and out on their first
drive and were on the ropes until Brad Lewis got hurt. After the Lewis injury Notre
Dame gained all the momentum and never looked back. Davie has done an excellent job
turning this team around this year and should get win number six next week.
Grade: C