Sports: Davie deserves the heat

Davie deserves the heat

By BOB HARIG

For nearly two games, Notre Dame quarterback Matt LoVecchia failed to direct the Fighting Irish on a scoring drive, the only two touchdowns being set up by special-teams plays.

So in the waning minutes of Saturday's game against Michigan State, with the Irish trailing by a touchdown, even the most suspect of armchair quarterbacks could have predicted what was coming when Notre Dame lined up for a field goal: a fake.

Sure enough, the Spartans sniffed it out and stuffed the play.

And for that, coach Bob Davie deserves all the criticism he gets.

A team that is trailing by seven and hasn't been able to mount a drive all day -- in two games, for that matter -- isn't going to attempt a field goal when a touchdown was necessary to win the game.

Notre Dame lost 17-10 and faces an 0-3 start for the first time in school history. Next up: Texas A&M. On the road.

And Davie is feeling the heat.

The defensive coordinator under Lou Holtz, Davie has received two contract extensions without winning a bowl game. Since getting a five-year extension during the winter that pays him $1-million a year, Notre Dame has been outscored 85-29.

The longest touchdown drive of the season was 6 yards, prompting Davie to switch quarterbacks. Freshman Carlyle Holiday will be Notre Dame's fourth starting quarterback in 14 games. He went 1-for-7 for 5 yards against Michigan State.

Some believe Davie had to overcome talent deficiencies left by Holtz, but now in his fifth year, Davie recruited all the Irish players.

"I didn't know we were 0-3 this year," Davie said this week. "I'm really just worried about winning this game. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about what people say or what this record was or what this legacy was. I'm worried about helping these kids win a game. That's all I care about."

Davie's record is 30-21. The Irish have not finished a season in the Top 10 since 1993, which is the last time they won a bowl game, and for that matter, had an All-American.

And it won't get easier. After Texas A&M, the Irish have games against Tennessee, Purdue, Stanford and Boston College.

MORE HEAT: You know it's bad when a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer calls for Joe Paterno to resign at the end of the season. That's what the Penn State coach is enduring after an 0-2 start following last season's 5-6 record.

"We got a good licking," Paterno said after last week's 18-6 loss at home to Wisconsin. "We played like a bunch of scared rabbits again in the first half. We've got to find some people who have enough poise to go out there in a tough football game and make some plays happen. I have to step back and look at this whole football team."

Paterno said nothing about stepping down.

NOT AGAIN: Baylor coach Kevin Steele took no chances. Tied in overtime with New Mexico, he elected to kick the winning field goal after a first-down running play advanced the ball to the New Mexico 12. Daniel Andino's 29-yarder won the game 16-13.

"Let me ask you this," Steele said. "Did you ever see a guy run it one too many times around here? That's why I decided to kick it when I did."

Steele admitted he thought back to two years ago, when his team fumbled at the goal line on the last play after Baylor seemingly had the game wrapped up. Instead, UNLV returned the fumble 100 yards for a 27-24 win.

CLOCK (MIS-)MANAGEMENT: Oregon's 24-22 victory over Southern Cal came with some help from new Trojans coach Pete Carroll. Instead of running the ball late in the game and forcing the Ducks to use their final timeout, Carroll called for a pass from quarterback Carson Palmer, who threw incomplete, stopping the clock with 1:11 to go. That timeout came in handy as Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington drove the Ducks 61 yards in 44 seconds to set up the winning kick.

AROUND THE NATION: Northwestern has started the season with consecutive road victories for the first time since 1905. ... Virginia Tech (3-0) tries for its third straight shutout today against UCF. The Hokies have gone 11 quarters without allowing a point, surrendering 10 in the first quarter of their opening-game 52-10 victory over UConn. ... Alabama is 10-0 against South Carolina heading into today's game, with five of the victories shutouts. Last season, one of three Tide wins was against the Gamecocks. ... That Texas Christian lost to Division I-AA Northwestern State was bad enough. But kicker Clint Sanford, who provided the winning points, took a national teacher's exam in the morning and didn't arrive at the game until halftime.

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.