Irish Must Mix It Up 
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
September 4, 2001

Notre Dame, Ind - (UHND.com) One of the headline links posted on the front page of the site on Monday had a quote by Bob Davie that pretty much said that he doesn't want to do too much this weekend so that Notre Dame can have a mistake free, or near mistake free game.  A poster responded to that saying he couldn't disagree more and I can't either.

If Notre Dame tries to come out and simply run at Nebraska or uses a similar game plan to that of the Fiesta, it could get ugly.  In order for Notre Dame to beat Nebraska they are going to have to attack Nebraska's weakness, the secondary.  If Notre Dame wants to win, they have to come out firing on all cylinders.  I'm talking like play action pass down field to Hunter on the opening play.  Nebraska is not going to give Matt LoVecchio too much respect passing the ball since LoVecchio didn't do a whole lot of that last year and will be playing the run.  He was very efficient when he did pass the ball, but Davie and Rogers didn't ask him to open it up last season. 

By throwing downfield on the first play, even if it goes incomplete, it puts that thought in the safeties' heads that Notre Dame will take chances.  This way they will have to respect that and won't be able to crowd the line of scrimmage.  Once the Irish can get the defense guessing, they can start running the ball with better success. 

Hopefully Davie has learned that a conservative approach just won't get it done against the top teams in the country and will open it up a little.  Now he doesn't have to let LoVecchio attempt 40 passes this Saturday, but Notre Dame must mix in the pass on first down more than once in order to keep Nebraska on its heels.  The Huskers are not as strong on defense as they were last year so Notre Dame must take advantage of it.

Notre Dame will put more talent on the field this Saturday then they have since the '93 season so why not use it to its fullest?  Does anyone else remember how hard of a time Nebraska had tackling Arnaz Battle last year?  Why not give him a couple wide receiver screens or "bubble" routes?  Why not let LoVecchio take one step back and fire to Arnaz and then let him do his thing?  Javin Hunter possesses great speed.  Why not let him stretch the defense?

One of Davie's biggest downfalls has been wasting talent.  Jabari Holloway could have put up All American numbers last year but barely saw the ball so why not learn from this and throw it to John Owens a couple times?  Julius Jones is a dangerous runner in the open field so why not involve him in the passing game more? 

My point here is that Notre Dame doesn't not need to try trick play after trick place this weekend to win.  They must mix it up on offense though to have a chance.  Run up the middle first down, run up the middle second down, and play action pass on third down every series just won't get it done.

Someone else on the board made an extremely good point this past weekend.  It's not how often you throw, but when you throw that is important.  For instance, say Notre Dame is facing a second and two or three.  This is the perfect time for the Irish to use a play action pass.  Nebraska will be expecting run since I can't remember a second and short that Notre Dame has passed on in years.  Then next time on second and short that thought will be there that they might pass and the safeties cant run up to the line.

The bottom line is that Notre Dame has the talent to win this game.  The offense has not had game-breakers like the ones it has this season in years.  The defensive line hasn't had as much promise as it does this year in quite some time either.  The difference between winning and losing this Saturday will rest on the offensive play calling.  While Nebraska is tough on offense and while Crouch is one of the college football's most dangerous weapons, I think the defense will be able to more than hold its own.  The offense however will be taken out of the game just like it was at the Fiesta Bowl if they are too predictable.