Charlie Weis, 3-17 when opponents scores 30 or more, doesn’t want shootout against Purdue

Charlie Weis hoping to avoid shootout with Purdue

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — After back-to-back shootouts against Michigan and Michigan State, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis doesn’t want another against Purdue.

“We don’t want to be playing in a game where we’re trying to win 35-34 every week,” he said.

Weis has good reason for wanting to avoid shootouts. The Fighting Irish (2-1) are 28-5 under Weis when holding opponents to 29 points or fewer, a winning percentage of .848. That would be better than Ara Parseghian’s career winning percentage of .836 (95-17-4) and close to Frank Leahy’s mark of .855 (87-11-9).

Unfortunately for Weis, though, Notre Dame’s 33-30 win over the Spartans last Saturday was just his third victory in 20 tries when an opponent scores 30 points or more. Those 20 games of surrendering 30 or more also is the most of any coach in Notre Dame history.

Weis, an offensive minded coach, knows the Irish need to be better on defense. That’s why he hired highly respected Jon Tenuta two years ago to help Corwin Brown run the Notre Dame defense. It’s also why he let Tenuta take over this season as the defensive play-caller for the Irish.

Since being named defensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2000, seven of the eight teams Tenuta called plays for finished in the top 30 in the nation in total defense. The worst season was his first season at Georgia Tech in 2002, when the Yellow Jackets were 50th in the nation at 356 yards a game.

The Irish, who opened the season with a shutout, are on pace to do much worse this season. They are 96th in the nation in total defense, giving up 398 yards a game, including 149 yards a game against the run and 249 against the pass.

“We’ve got to do a better job against the run, we’ve got to do a better job against the pass,” Tenuta said. “We’ve got to play sound defense. We’ve got to start making plays. It’s something we haven’t been able to do. We get ourselves in trouble in one drive in particular and we don’t rally the troops. We need to rally the troops.”

Tenuta is known for his aggressive, blitzing defenses, causing confusion for opponents who struggle to adjust to the pressure. The past two games, though, its the Irish who have appeared confused at times.

The Irish allowed Michigan freshman Tate Forcier to look like a seasoned veteran as he ran for 70 yards and completed 23 of 33 passes for 240 yards, including a 5-yard game-winning TD with 11 seconds left. Then against a Michigan State line battered by injuries, the Irish defense didn’t get a sack and managed only three quarterback hurries while the Spartans passed for 354 yards — the fourth most against a Tenuta defense since 2000.

Weis has confidence in Tenuta’s schemes, saying the players need to play better and tackle better.

“I think the first thing we have to do better on defense, to be perfectly honest with you, is be better fundamentally,” Weis said.

Tenuta believes playing the pistol offense against Nevada, the spread against Michigan and a pro-style offense against Michigan State may be part of the problem, taking the defense out of sync. He said playing against the Irish offense in the spring and in August, the defense played well.

“So obviously we’ve got to get back into doing the things that we do well,” he said.

Weis believes the Irish defense needs to play with more confidence. He told coaches this week to work on building players’ confidence. Weis said it’s not a lack of confidence in Notre Dame’s defensive schemes or their teammates, but just confidence in themselves so players aren’t playing hesitant.

“We’re going to try to get it so that by Saturday night they’re just letting loose,” he said.

Tenuta said the most important thing is for players to recognize formations and anticipate on down and distance what plays are going to be run.

“Those are the things we have to hone in on,” he said.

Whatever is ailing the Irish, they have to start making it harder on opponents, who are averaging 6.2 yards a play. It would be good to start against Purdue, which is averaging 440 yards and 36 points a game.

“There’s just too many easy yards that we’re giving up,” Weis said. “We have to make those yards tougher.”