Notre Dame searches for answers to early slide

Just 11 more yards and the Irish would be 3-0. Just 11 more yards and they'd still be in the hunt for a national championship. Just 11 more yards and they wouldn't seem to be in a mental state somewhere between denial and indecision.

"We could be sitting here as a football team that is probably in the top five in the country," coach Bob Davie said.

But they're not. The Irish are 1-2 after communication breakdowns and horrible time management derailed two last-minute comebacks, and they're already out of the hunt for a national title - once again - just three weeks into the season.

What's worse, the Irish have committed a rash of mental mistakes that seem to have cost them more than anything their opponents have put up so far.

DANA LINNANE/Daily Thanks to poor clock management, Notre Dame has seen two victories - and one national title hope - slip away in the final minutes.

"Right now, I can understand where people would look at us and say, 'Boy, those guys, I mean, what are they doing?' That is all part of it," Davie said. "But I also realize how close we are to some really good things happening."

Notre Dame's "11 more yards" mantra comes from last-second drives that came up 10 yards short against Michigan and 1 yard short against Purdue the last two weeks. Both times, mental mistakes killed the Irish.

Perhaps nothing embodies Notre Dame's disorientation more than the end of the first half against Purdue.

Davie had instructed quarterback Jarious Jackson to down the ball and kill the clock if the Irish didn't get a first down to give the field goal unit time to get on the field. After back-to-back penalties, Davie decided to rush the field goal kicker on for a quick attempt.

Jackson didn't know about the change and lined up - behind the wrong lineman, no less - to take the snap and kill the clock with the field goal kicker and holder standing behind him trying to line up for a last-second try.

"We kind of outcoached ourselves right there and made it a little bit harder than it had to be," Davie said. "Without question, I take responsibility for that. There was nobody else involved with that but me."

All week, Davie has defended Notre Dame's time management skills and taken the blame for each gaffe.

Some of the blame has to be laid on Jackson as well. The fifth-year senior was supposed to be a bedrock of consistency for an offense that features seven new starters. Instead, he's thrown five interceptions, one fewer than he threw all of last season. Every time he pitches the ball on the option it's been an adventure, and he's taken sacks during the final drives in both of Notre Dame's losses that ate up valuable seconds.

"I don't think this team is pointing any one finger at anybody," Jackson said. "I think this whole team takes the blame, from the coaching staff on down to the players."

Jackson said he spent Sunday wondering "what if" before he put the loss behind him.

Not everyone seems to have gotten over the disappointment of two crucial losses so early in the season. Senior free safety Deke Cooper still insists the Irish can win the national championship.

"We put those behind us. We're just focusing on Michigan State," Cooper said of the first two losses. "It's a long season. We're still hoping for a national championship. We don't know how the rest of the season is going to go for everybody else."

09-16-99