Daily Domer: Hello, Good Bye Week

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind., during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches on the Irish

Upon entering the Guglielmo Athletic Complex (i.e., "The Gug") on Sunday, one could still feel the entire Notre Dame football program exhaling with relief. Local columnist Al Lesar of the South Bend Tribune reminded Irish head coach Charlie Weis that yesterday Weis had said, "There was a lot of bad stuff in the game, but I'm going to have a tough time feeling bad tonight." Lesar wondered whether, having had a night to digest the tape, if Weis' mind had changed.

"I'm not going to feel bad," Charlie chuckled. "You can't talk me into feeling bad."

Weis acknowledged that "there are plenty of flaws on this team, from the head coach on down," but he reiterated that with each Saturday the sense that his 4-1 Irish are special, or at least have a chance to be, gains clarity.

"Why is this team special?" Weis said. "Two reasons. Heart, to start off with. Who can question this team's heart?

"Number two, when you have a quarterback like this (Jimmy Clausen) you have a chance to win every game. That's the bottom line."

Weis joked -- an approaching bye week does wonders for levity, especially upon the heels of a heart-stopping win -- that the best thing for his quarterback might be a second turf toe. After all, Clausen did pass for a career-high 422 yards against the Huskies, despite the absence of his top receiver (Michael Floyd), despite the turf toe and despite the second half being played in a rainstorm of varying degrees of intensity. Clausen, in fact, threw for 220 yards after halftime.
"When you have a quarterback like this (Jimmy Clausen) you have a chance to win every game. That's the bottom line."
--Charlie Weis
Through his first two seasons Clausen was oft-criticized for not being equal to the hype -- no matter that his numbers were almost identical to those of Brady Quinn (a.k.a. BQQB) in his underclassmen years. Through five games Clausen has firmly established that he is an elite quarterback -- in fact, he leads the nation in passing efficiency.

As a freshman Clausen threw seven touchdown passes and six interceptions. As a sophomore the former Oaks Christian phenom threw 25 TD passes and 17 picks.

Through five games this season he has tossed 12 TDs and just two picks, and one of those interceptions, the one he threw yesterday, was an under route that passed through the fingers of tailback Armando Allen. Clausen could not have thrown it any more accurately or with better touch. It was a Milli Vanilli error: blame it on the rain.

You'll hear a lot more about this, but if Clausen can lead the Irish to victory against USC, whose defense is No. 3 nationally in pass efficiency defense and No. 2 in sacks, then your short list for the Heisman is likely Tim Tebow (depending on if and how he plays at LSU) of Florida, Colt McCoy (depending on the Red River Shootout outcome on Oct. 17) of Texas and Clausen.

It's amazing--almost no preseason publication, if any, had Clausen on their top ten list of Heisman favorites. You'd think they'd never seen Michael Floyd, Golden Tate or Kyle Rudolph before. That trio is worth noting, as is the offensive line. As terrific as Clausen has been, he is greatly aided by walking into a huddle that has at least seven future NFL players besides himself in it (Floyd, Rudolph, Tate, Sam Young, Paul Duncan, Eric Olsen and Trevor Robinson).

During Charlie's Tuesday noon presser in the week of the Purdue game, Irish Illustrated writer Tim Prister prefaced an inquiry by saying, "Another naive question from me --"

Weis interrupted Prister, saying, "You don't ask naive questions, Tim."

So true. Prister regularly asks the most insightful questions and demonstrates that he sees the game as well as anyone in the press box. He asks soup questions, for you Finding Forrester fans out there.

On Sunday Prister asked two. First, he wondered whom Charlie let sing the fight song in the post game locker room (that honor is an unofficial player of the game acknowledgment from Weis). "I'm very glad you asked me that question, Tim," Weis said. "I almost would have asked somebody to ask me that question."

The answer? Defensive line coach Randy Hart. Because so many different players made huge contributions on Saturday (Clausen, Tate, Robert Hughes, the entire defensive line, Kerry Neal, Kyle McCarthy, etc.), Weis made the politically expedient choice. Hart, in his first season at Notre Dame after spending the previous 21 years at U-Dub, is extremely well-liked by the players. And after all, the goal-line stands by the Irish were the difference in the game.

"And he knew all the words to the fight song," Weis said.

Prister also noticed that on the game's opening kickoff, special teams player Anthony McDonald was targeted (i.e., a member of the receiving teams zeros in on him within the first five yards) and had his bell rung. "I mean, he headed over to the wrong sideline after the play," Prister said.

"It was worse than that," Weis said. "Did you see? During the play he was actually going the wrong way."
McDonald suffered a concussion on the play.

For posterity's sake: Washington, on consecutive drives in the second half, ran 12 plays from the Notre Dame eight yard-line or closer and netted a total of three points. Seven of the plays either lost yards or went for no gain. Four of the twelve plays were quarterback sneaks by Jake Locker that resulted in no gain.

Meanwhile, the community of Husky fans, as well as a much larger congregation -- Notre Dame haters -- are left wondering about the Chris Polk touchdown that was overturned by the eye in the sky and the Robert Hughes "With a little help from my friends" 2-point conversion that was not even reviewed.

My four cents: As to the former, was there conclusive evidence that Polk's knee was down before the ball crossed the plane of the goal? I'd say no. What I do wonder is that in this age of replay why not place a camera directly on the goal line? The shot with which the replay official had to work was from a camera that that was at least a yard or two deep in the end zone, which clearly distorted the angle. I understand that the line judge stands at the goal line, but again, in this era, you can argue that the replay official is more integral to the call than the line judge.

As for the two-point conversion? Weis was not denying there may be validity to the accusation that either Hughes's knee was down or that there may have been some O-line help. However, he did say "that's why we get challenge flags." Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian, who was on the USC sideline for the memorable "Bush Push", chose not to toss the flag.

When Hughes scored, a penalty flag flew (the ref picked it up and explained that there was no penalty). On Sunday Weis said that he saw the flag and wondered whether the Irish were going to be called for helping Hughes into the end zone.

"You're going to call that on me?" Weis laughed, alluding to the fact that he'd been burned by that no-call four years ago.

Turnabout is fair play.

Freshman linebacker Manti Te'o had ten tackles in his first start, and he did so with his family watching in person. The Te'o gang was waiting for the Irish as they made their walk from pre-game mass at the Basilica across campus to Notre Dame Stadium. "Normally I try to ignore the fans as we make the walk," Weis said, "but Manti's family, they're pretty hard not to notice."

On Sunday WSBT anchor Allison Hayes asked Weis about Te'o's exuberant manner on the field. "He reminds me a lot of Junior Seau," said Weis, alluding to the future NFL Hall of Famer who, like Te'o, is of Polynesian descent. "I told him that when I was recruiting him."

One has to wonder whether Seau, a USC alum, told Te'o the same thing himself during the recruiting battle between the Irish and the Trojans last winter.

After the final play of Saturday's game, I rushed over to midfield to check on Washington wideout DeAndre Goodwin. His helmet had popped off his head after the twin-blade hit by safeties Kyle McCarthy and Harrison Smith. I picked it up and waited for a Husky player to retrieve it (a friend asked if Goodwin's melon was still inside).

The entire scene was surreal. Notre Dame Stadium was erupting, but here at the two yard-line Goodwin was clearly in a daze. It was a scary moment, as Washington trainers rushed to his side and Husky players surrounded him. Notre Dame's Brian Smith approached to see how he was doing as well. Finally, the Husky staff ordered their players to head into the tunnel. The last player to leave the field, besides Goodwin, was quarterback Jake Locker.

The last two Notre Dame players to enter the locker room on Saturday were Clausen and Te'o, who gave each other one of those trendy arms-free, leaping chest-bump man-hugs. "That's why you came here," Clausen told the freshman.

Notre Dame's football schedule for the coming week:

Sunday -- Notre Dame coaching staff to put together USC scouting report (Trojans also have a bye next weekend).

Monday -- Normally a day off, but the Irish players will review the scouting report from 4:30 to 5:30. From 5:30 to 6 they will have a walk-thru.

Tuesday -- A regular practice. Half the session will be spent on preparation for USC and half on player development. That means extra attention for younger players such as Te'o, linebacker Zeke Motta and wideout Shaquelle Evans. Expect the banged-up Domers such as Clausen and Armando Allen to hit the showers after the USC prep part.

Wednesday -- Same as Tuesday

Thursday -- Early morning run and lift, and then Weis is giving the players off from Thursday afternoon through Sunday. Weis will be on the road recruiting, and will be in Florida next Friday night to See USA Today No. 1 St. Augustine.