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SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame’s pass defense has sprung a leak.
The Irish are the fourth-worst pass defense among 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, giving up 282.4 yards per game.
The No. 25 Irish (5-2) play Washington State (1-6) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in San Antonio.
“We have to get some things fixed in coverage,” Irish coach Charlie Weis said. “Because they’re not just getting yards, they’re getting too many easy yards.”
After giving up eight passing plays for 20 or more yards in the first three games, Notre Dame has given up 28 passing plays of 20 or more yards in the last four games.
In last weekend’s 20-16 win over Boston College, Eagles quarterback Dave Shinskie completed 17 passes with 10 going for 20 yards or more in his career-best 279-yard performance.
“It gets kind of aggravating when you see how close you are to changing all these big plays to either pass breakups or interceptions,” said Sergio Brown, who started at safety last Saturday.
The saving grace for Notre Dame has been the ability to come up with some big plays.
Notre Dame forced five turnovers against Boston College, three interceptions and two fumbles, and the Irish have nine interceptions and six fumble recoveries. Notre Dame is tied for fourth in turnover margin this season with a plus 10.
“If something happens on a certain play and we give up some yards, we know we have to correct it,” said Kyle McCarthy, who will move from strong safety to free safety for Saturday’s game. “We know if we don’t correct it, they will hit us on it again.”
The switch of McCarthy, who has a team-high five interceptions, to free safety is just one move Notre Dame made to correct its pass defense.
Brown started at free safety against Boston College, and Harrison Smith, who started the first six games there, moved to linebacker while playing safety in the nickel package. Jamoris Slaughter was also worked in at safety.
Brown will start at strong safety and Smith at linebacker against Washington State, with Slaughter rotating in at safety.
Notre Dame has also made moves at cornerback with Gary Gray, who had a 30-yard interception return against USC, starting the last two games after being a backup for the first four games. Robert Blanton and Gray will likely start at cornerback against Washington State, with seniors Darrin Walls and Raeshon McNeil coming off the bench.
“It wasn’t exactly like I envisioned it, but we did make some progress,” defensive backs coach Corwin Brown said of the moves. “We were better tacklers.
“We were in position for the most part. And we did make some plays.”
