Al Hamnik/Times Columnist
SOUTH BEND | There is bad football and then there's the hold-your-nose, open-a-window, grab-the-room-freshener debacle Notre Dame forced its fans to sit through on Saturday.
At this rate, the closest these Irish will get to a bowl is on restroom breaks.
Georgia Tech 33, Notre Dame 3?
Minus-8 net yards rushing?
Three lost fumbles and nine sacks?
A total of 13 Georgia Tech points off turnovers, seven more set up by defensive end Justin Brown's ejection, and another three compliments of a Geoff Price punt that traveled the length of a shower room.
That doesn't seem possible -- does it? -- from a college program in its 119th season of football and boasting a .744 winning percentage.
"I didn't expect that outcome," said bewildered Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis. "That's why I'm here taking the bullets. I'm not going to point fingers and assess blame because there's too much to go around.
"I'm willing to sit here and say I did a crummy job preparing our football team."
Actually, Weis wasn't alone. He had plenty of help from a team that doesn't invoke any fear whatsoever.
The Irish started sophomore quarterback Demetrius Jones because they wanted to run at the Yellow Jackets, but he was stripped of the ball twice, both turnovers leading to field goals, before being pulled in favor of junior Evan Sharpley -- Notre Dame's designated 2-minute chuck-and-pray QB. He was sacked seven times and saw more blue sky on his back than open receivers.
Heralded freshman Jimmy Clausen, having completely finished his rehabbing, saw mop-up duty and threw six passes. If he's the future, Weis isn't saying until he studies all the film. In a day or two, he will announce his starter for the slaughter, excuse me, the next game at Penn State.
My point is, this is a very mediocre Notre Dame team. Weis did everything but place his hand on the Bible and swear to it.
The young offensive line caved in like sand castles on a beach. Neither Jones nor Sharpley could handle Georgia Tech's interior speed and protect the ball. And Weis' new 3-4 defense, because it failed on outside containment, was completely ineffective.
Georgia Tech ran for 265 net yards, an average of 6.2 per carry. Senior Tashard Choice finished four yards shy of 200. Oh, how these Irish could use such power and explosiveness in their tepid backfield.
"From now on, it's open season on the coach all the way down. You can take your pick on what story you want to write," Weis said.
Don't call me a cynic, but Notre Dame could find itself 0-3 when it hosts Michigan State on Sept. 22 and could be -- gasp -- 0-6 when Boston College pays a visit Oct. 13.
By then, Charlie might be pre-taping his postgame comments and e-mailing them out.
This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach him at ahamnik@nwitimes.com.
