Offensive Identity?
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
January 3, 2000

(UHND.com) - Its about time Notre Dame gets an offensive identity.  The debacle against Oregon State proves one thing - Notre Dame has the same offense it had under Jim Colletto who every Notre Dame fan blamed for running a bland offense at Notre Dame.  After witnessing the pathetic offensive gameplan in the Fiesta Bowl its time for Notre Dame to mix it up on offense and get rid of the run up the middle on first down, run up the middle on second down, then pass on third and long.

Notre Dame played right into Oregon State's hands on Monday night.  OSU was expecting Notre Dame to run, run, run and that's what Notre Dame did till it was too late to matter.  With the wide receivers Notre Dame has, there is absolutely NO reason that they should not have thrown the ball at least 20 times against a team that was expecting Notre Dame to run right at them.  The coaches decided to do what OSU was expecting thinking that the Irish would execute better.   This worked under Lou Holtz when everyone knew what he was going to do, but there is a big difference under the current coaching staff - mainly, its not nearly as good as Holtz's.

David Givens, Javin Hunter, and Joey Getherall can all stretch defenses because they are all fast.  That being said why didn't we see any bombs early in the game to loosen up the defense?  Who cares if the ball is incomplete.  By just throwing the deep pass early it forces the defense to watch for it, and if they don't, then you can burn them deep for a big play.

If Notre Dame wants to get back to the top echelon of college football teams they must start mixing it up on offense.  The only teams the Irish will beat with a run up the middle three straight times approach will be the Boston College's, Air Force's, and Navy's.  They won't beat the Nebraska's, Tennessee's, or Michigan's.  Under Bob Davie Notre Dame has not beaten Michigan State, because the Spartans have shut down the Irish ground attack.

If Matt LoVecchio is the be the starting quarterback next year its time to scrap the option.  LoVecchio has some running skills but as I've said since he committed to Notre Dame, he is not an option quarterback.  LoVecchio has great poise and composure for a freshman, and has a pretty decent arm, but he is not an option quarterback.  He reminds me a lot of Rick Mirer when Mirer was at Notre Dame.  Mirer could run a little, but he was far from an option QB.  Holtz made Mirer run the option however. 

Next year Notre Dame will have three great running backs, perhaps the best backfield in the nation, a great receiving core lead by seniors David Givens, Javin Hunter, and Arnaz Battle, and an experienced offensive line.  There is no reason that the offense should not put up 30 points a game with the weapons they will have.  If Notre Dame uses the same approach they used this season however, they won't put up the numbers they are capable.

In two years at Notre Dame, Kevin Rogers hasn't showed us much.  We all expected the offense the improve greatly, aside from a couple good play calls in the '99 Michigan game however, we haven't seen anything we didn't see under Jim Colletto.  Whether this is Rogers approach or whether he is being held back I am not sure, but the bottom line is something has got to change. 

Either Rogers need to open up the offense, or Notre Dame needs to get an offensive coordinator that will.  I still believe that Rogers is capable of getting the job done however.  I saw many games when he was at Syracuse and saw the offense he had there. 

Next year will tell us a lot about Bob Davie and Kevin Rogers.  After next season, if Notre Dame doesn't win or at least be competitive in a BCS game, I don't think they ever will under Davie.  He will have every player on the team recruited by him.  Kevin Rogers will have had three years with the offense and two with Matt LoVecchio.  There were no excuses this year until Battle got hurt and they had to start a freshman QB, but next year there is no room for any excuses.  Its put up or shut up time again for Davie and company.  All the respect he had gained back from fans who bashed him for his first three seasons was lost by not having his team ready for the Fiesta Bowl.