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A day later and none of this looks any better to Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis. It is still ugly, still disappointing and still frustrating.
And Weis is still shouldering blame, although he readily admits there is plenty of it to be spread out.
So Weis has changed his modes. He identified the myriad of problems Notre Dame has and must try to solve fast as the Irish's schedule becomes more difficult - at Penn State, at Michigan and then at UCLA, and playing host to USC.
Start at the offensive line - where Weis said it was basically everything that faltered.
“It wasn't just physicality. I think that we didn't handle the movement very well, and it was pretty easy to see,” Weis said. “The movement which we practiced a whole bunch, it goes back to the whole thing of identifying the problems and solving them.”
That all starts at quarterback, a position shrouded in secrecy throughout the preseason. Now, Weis said, he'll announce a starter Tuesday at his weekly news conference.
Having five days to prepare for a game, Weis will need to select a quarterback quick in order to effectively plan around him.
And if it is last week's starter - redshirt freshman Demetrius Jones - Weis already has said he'll work more passing into Jones' apparent run-only offense.
“Whoever the quarterback is, you are going to build the offense around that guy,” Weis said. “You have to make sure he'll do things they can do. If Demetrius is in there, we'll be involved in throwing the ball and running the ball. It won't be geared just toward the run.”
While he wasn't a legitimate candidate to start the opening game, freshman Jimmy Clausen is a viable candidate to win the starting job, Weis said. He played Clausen on Saturday because he said he expects Clausen to play more at some point in 2007. Exactly when that will be is still up for debate - but Weis made it clear that things are still not settled.
“Now, you're in a week-by-week game plan situation,” Weis said. “So all bets are off.”
It is the approach he has to take to start answering some of the questions Notre Dame has offensively.
This isn't exactly the best matchup for Notre Dame. After the season-opening drubbing, the Irish travel to State College, Pa., to play a team they hammered last year - Penn State.
Well, the Nittany Lions return much of the team Notre Dame beat last season, and don't think coach Joe Paterno won't remind his team about the fake punt Weis ran while the Irish were comfortably ahead in South Bend.
Led by senior quarterback Anthony Morelli, No. 17 Penn State throttled Florida International 59-0.
Morelli, who struggled at Notre Dame last year, completed 23 of 38 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, Dan Connor - the remaining linebacker from last season's starting unit - recorded five tackles, had a sack and recovered a fumble.
Penn State already has focused a little bit on Notre Dame.
“We watched a little tape a few weeks ago and last week in camp,” Connor said. “It's embarrassing. We played terrible against them last year. Since the beginning of the season, the Notre Dame game is something we have been looking forward to.”
Notre Dame and Michigan have not had three-game losing streaks simultaneously since 1962 - until Saturday. … Weis appears committed to keeping Travis Thomas as the No. 1 running back, James Aldridge spelling him. … Weis said freshman kicker Brandon Walker's range is probably at least 40 yards.
mrothstein@jg.net
