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SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame knew how tough he’d be to bring down. The Irish knew he’d be running all over the place and that Georgia Tech would feature him in its offense.
Despite that, Tashard Choice did exactly what the Yellow Jackets needed him to. He gained 196 yards on 26 carries and scored two touchdowns, rendering Notre Dame’s new 3-4 defense to a sheet of gold-plated pavement.
“He’s a very solid back,” senior inside linebacker Maurice Crum said. “He makes all the right cuts and all the right moves. You definitely saw that today.”
Georgia Tech added a new wrinkle with Choice, too. He took direct snaps in shotgun, something Notre Dame had prepared for – but the team struggled to deal with.
Choice broke open the game with a 22-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give Tech a 16-0 lead. He effectively ended it with a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter to give the Yellow Jackets a 26-3 lead.
After Georgia Tech saw it could run as it did, the Yellow Jackets stuck with it.
“I want to say start of the second quarter I told (offensive coordinator) John (Bond), I said ‘John, let’s just keep pounding them a little bit,’ ” Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said. “We had enough weapons and enough ammunition to be able to do that.”
Notre Dame senior defensive end Justin Brown was ejected after hitting Georgia Tech senior left guard Matt Rhodes in the head following a play in the second quarter.
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis didn’t see the play because he was busy following the ball. He did call it a turning point, though, because if Brown hadn’t committed the penalty, Georgia Tech would have had to punt. Instead, the Yellow Jackets had a first down and Choice scored to give Georgia Tech a 16-0 lead.
“I have faith that the officials, for them to throw somebody out of the game, he must have done something not very smart,” Weis said. “He must have.”
Fifth-year senior Dwight Stephenson Jr. replaced him for the remainder of the game.
From the limited amount of kicking Notre Dame did Saturday, it appears freshman Brandon Walker will handle field goals and walk-on sophomore Nate Whitaker will kick off.
In his debut, freshman Armando Allen had three carries for 25 yards. ... Irish punter Geoff Price had an equally bad day, averaging 38.3 yards a punt. … It was Notre Dame’s first season-opening home loss since a 17-15 loss to Northwestern in 1995. … Defensive end Trevor Laws blocked a field goal in the fourth quarter, the fourth block of his career.
mrothstein@jg.net
