4B the university daily kansan
sports
friday, October 31, 2003
Irish look to spoil FSU's rank after bowl hopes downed by Boston
By Andrew Soukup
The Observer via U-Wire
University of Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Oh,
how times have changed for the
Irish.
A year ago — or 10 years ago, if you will — Notre Dame played, and defeated, Florida State in two games with national title implications. This year, Notre Dame can only play the role of a spoiler.
A week ago, Notre Dame lost to Boston College in a game coaches defined as a "must-win" if the Irish wanted to go to a bowl. This week, it's "a heck of an opportunity to upset one of the best teams in the country," Irish coach Tyrone Willingham said.
That's what the Irish season has been reduced to as the door was slammed virtually shut on a Notre Dame bowl game after last week's loss in Boston.
But as bleak as Notre Dame's season is, Florida State's is shining bright. Ranked No. 3 in the Bowl Championship Series rankings released Monday, 7-1 Florida State could jump into the national title game if Oklahoma or Miami lose and the Seminoles don't lose the rest of the way.
They'll be led by Bobby Bowden who, with a 48-24 victory against Wake Forest Saturday, became the all-time winningest coach in Division I-A college football history.
Tomorrow's game will be the second time in three weeks that the Irish will face a top 10 opponent. UCSE blow out Notre Dame 45-14 on Oct. 18.
"We're lucky that our schedule at this time of the year gives us this opportunity that we have against one of the top four, three, five teams in the country, depending on what particular
poll you are looking at," Willingham said. "We have got a great football team coming in here that gives us an opportunity to be the spoiler."
Notre Dame thrived in that role a year ago, when players claimed they weren't getting enough national respect a year after a losing season.
The 2002 campaign culminated in Tallahassee, Fla., when the Irish humiliated Florida State 34-24 to reach 8-0 on the season. Notre Dame seemed on its way up and Florida State, fighting to find a quarterback and its identity, was heading out of control.
Now the situation is completely different.
Behind quarterback Chris Rix, who reconciled with his teammates over the off-season and now directs a potent offense, the Seminoles are a Miami loss away from controlling their own
destiny. The Irish, at 2-5, are trying to bandage a wound that seems to be re-opened week after week.
Still, Willingham is encouraged by Notre Dame's 18-point rally last week. Trailing 24-6, the Irish took a one-point lead with less than five minutes remaining, only to watch the Eagles win with a last-second field goal.
And because the Irish haven't given up this season, according to Willingham, the coach believes his team has a chance at winning this weekend.
"We can knock off Florida State," he said. "We have got to play consistent. We have got to execute.
"We can't have lulls because Florida State, from what I have seen this year, doesn't have lulls. They go pretty hard the entire football game."
Bye helps Badgers prepare for Gophers
By Brent Nevel
Badger Herald via U-Wire
University of Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Badgers would like to say goodbye to their recent failures on the defensive side of the ball, and this weekend should provide them with the perfect opportunity. This bye week could be one of the most important weeks in the season for Wisconsin. The week off should give the Badger defense time to rest and give it more than enough time to prepare for the upcoming game with Minnesota.
Although the defense may not need the time off as much as the offense, it will use the extra week to prepare and get healthy for the Golden Gophers. If the defense hopes to shut down the Minnesota attack, it must perform much better than its performance at Northwestern.
The team came out sluggish and uninspired, which led to
Northwestern being able to take an early lead and build upon it. The Badgers, again, had problems with a Northwestern offense that likes to spread opponents across the field. The Wildcats have used the spread formation to run the ball on the Badgers in the past, but Saturday they were able to pound the Badger defense uncharacteristically to the tune of 245 rushing yards. By far this was the most yards a team was able to gain on the ground against the Badgers all year.
Even more frustrating to the team is the fact that Northwestern wasn't really able to throw the ball successfully, with 53 of its 176 passyards coming on Brett Basanez' touchdown pass to Jason Wright.
"We just didn't play the way we're capable of playing. We did a lot of good things at times, but when we needed to we just couldn't get the ball back to the offense," defensive coach Kevin Cosgrove said.
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