After Loss at Pitt, Charlie Weis Watch is On

Paul Smith - View From the Midwest

Wednesday, 18 November 2009 00:00

Michigan City, Ind. -- His Notre Dame Fighting Irish had fallen behind No. 8 Pitt 27-9 Saturday night as the overwhelming majority of a record Heinz Field college crowd of over 65,000 crowed defiantly and with deafening decibels at his team.

Even the well-traveled among the ink-stained who cover college football for a living couldn't help but scrounge up a little bit of empathy for the chubby guy on the Notre Dame sideline with the Willy Lomanesque look.

He knew.

We all knew. Despite a gritty two-touchdown rally, due solely to the presence of the nation's best wide receiver, Golden Tate, who caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Clausen, then after the Irish finally found a way to stop Pitt's relentless offense, returned a punt 87 yards with a series of magical moves, there was little room left for doubt.

The Charlie Weis Watch was on in earnest now. Had to be. The Irish, who began the season with such promise, and with what some considered a "soft" schedule (it wasn't anywhere, if one took time to glance closely), anticipated a breakthrough year, at least nine wins, maybe 10.

But if you've been paying attention, the cruel twists and turns that have scrawled graffiti on Weis' college resume, starting with a totally unexpected loss at Michigan (now 5-6, and which was coming off an unheard-of 3-9 season in Rich Rodriguez' first year in Ann Arbor), have sent far too many jolts of reality through N.D. Nation, a group not best known for patience.

"Here we go again," the cry went.

Losses to U.S.C. (expected), Navy and now Pitt followed. S.C. has fallen from grace to a level not seen in Troy since 2002. Navy, outweighed by 50 pounds a man on both lines, racked up 348 rushing yards and actually bullied the Irish for significant portions of that game.

And now this.

Graciously, Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt opened by paying tribute to Tate, who was to blend with big Kyle Rudolph, the prep All-American tight end out of Cincinnati Elder, and Eric Floyd, thought to be the best receiver of them all to lead Weis and the Irish hordes back from the stygian depths.

"We thought coming in that Golden Tate was the best opposing player we had seen all season," Wannstedt told South Bend Tribune Notre Dame beat writer Eric Hansen and a host of Pennsylvania writers. "And he lived up to it."

On balance, this was a typical Notre Dame game in a depressing 6-4 season that has Weis' career numbers at exactly the same level, 35-25, as those of the two prior coaches, Bob Davie and Ty Willingham, definitely not candidates for statuehood among the storied greenery of Notre Dame's beautiful campus.

Weis had fielded the weekly fusillade of questions re: his future in last week's Sunday post-Navy press conference.
This time, this Sunday -- nothing. No presser, no speculation, nobody left on base. Wham-bam-and-done.

According to Hansen, just one 58-word e-mail sent just a few hours before his scheduled get-together, Weis begged off.

The juicy questions prying media were cooking up led to some well-informed Hansen speculations...

1. What about the size of the buyout, possibly up to $18 million?

2. Would Notre Dame be facing a possible future coach in Stanford's Jim Harbaugh Nov. 28?

And an observation; quite possibly Weis's fate is already decided. Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick's lips are sealed more tightly that the C.I.A.s.

So, too are those of other Notre Dame officials. What appears to be likely is the outcome of Saturday's final home game against Connecticut and the visit to Stanford, which may overtake Oregon, win the Pac-10 title and face No. 9 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl if the Cardinal doesn't stumble, won't affect the decision.

The Pitt game was the perfect microcosm of the 2009 Notre Dame season. Pitt's beyond-spectacular freshman scatback Dion Lewis, all 5-feet, 8-inches, 185 pounds of him, ripped through the Irish for 152 yards and a meteoric 50-yard touchdown just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter that made Notre Dame's comeback a Matterhornian climb.

With Tate, the impossible became a near-miracle. But that's precisely the point. Near-miracles have been sprinkled through Notre Dame's schedule all year.

True, Weis had talked about focusing on beating Pitt all week, and in some ways, had a good offensive game plan, with Tate and Clausen as centerpieces. Unfortunately for the Irish, though, Wannstedt's slow, painful growth as a college coach appears to have reached full maturation this year. Only a questionably-officiated, tough-luck loss at North Carolina State keeps Pitt (9-1) from the Bowl Championship Series elite conversation.

"We're going to keep our feet on the ground," said Wannstedt, a 1974 Pitt alumnus who had an up-and-down coaching career as fellow Pitt grad Mike Ditka's successor with the Chicago Bears, earlier in the week. "It's not going to be the people in the stands. It's not going to be the T.V. people (the biggest media coverage contingent since Gerry Faust led the Irish into Pitt Stadium back in 1982 and the unranked Irish upset then No. 1 Pitt 31-16).

"It's going to come down to blocking and tackling."

For 50 minutes Saturday night, that was more than enough.

"This," Wannstedt said afterward to anyone who'd listen, "was a statement game."

Indeed. But for Notre Dame, a very, very different statement than for Pitt.

And so the cruel rite of swirling vultures surrounds the Notre Dame program as a short list of aspirants shine up their resumes.

Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, who has guided the No. 5 Bearcats to totally-uncharted territory and their first 10-0 start in history.

Harbaugh, the brainy, feisty former Michigan, Bears and Indianapolis Colts quarterback.

And, of course, the big hope -- top-ranked Florida's Urban Meyer, who spent a couple of years on Lou Holtz's 1990s staff.

Likely scratch: Jon Gruden, who had expressed interest after Willingham was released. He re-upped with the T.V. folks, perhaps citing a preference for his traditional blond hair color better than frayed gray with crow's feet as part of the bargain.

Conjecture from some dispassionate Irish observers is this: the individual Notre Dame finally does land may make a longer-term statement than maybe some Irish fans might like, namely their future in college football's pecking order.

About Paul Smith

Paul Smith covers the Big Ten, Notre Dame and the rest of the national college football scene with his View From the Midwest.

About Paul Smith

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