SOUTH BEND, Ind. “”mdash; At the end of the day, the statistics
of defensive ends Justin Hickman and Bruce Davis against Notre Dame
will read as a combined five sacks and 13 tackles.
But the only statistics that remained in their minds after
Saturday’s loss were two figures: 80 yards, 35 seconds.
That’s how long it took Notre Dame’s offense to
register the final 80 yards necessary for its Saturday victory.
And despite the immense pressure both ends put on Notre Dame
quarterback Brady Quinn all game, the only thing they wanted to
talk about was the pressure they failed to put on him during the
last drive.
SLIDESHOW
See more photos and listen to players and coaches react to UCLA’s
20-17 loss to No. 18 Notre Dame.
“We played our butts off today,” Davis said.
“But we only played 59 minutes. In order to win, you have to
tackle and finish. We didn’t do that on the last
drive.”
During the last drive, the Bruins’ defense decided to move
to a Cover 2 formation, abandoning the blitzing defense that had
stifled the Irish’s offense all game long.
Instead of facing constant pressure as he had earlier, Quinn was
able to sit back in the pocket and deliver the balls accurately
down the field.
“We wanted to play a zone defense to prevent the big
play,” defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said. “I
was planning on moving back to our blitzing scheme after staying in
zone for a few plays, but unfortunately we never got that
chance.”
The worst thing about Saturday’s loss, especially for
Davis and Hickman, was that in the last minute all the hard work
they had put in earlier went to waste.
“You work so hard all game, and it all disappears,”
Hickman said. “Three plays ““ just three plays,
that’s all it took. I’m at a loss for anything else to
say right now.”
In the final drive, Hickman and Davis were relegated to a
three-man pass rush with tackle Kevin Brown. Instead of having
one-on-one coverage as they saw earlier in the game, both were
facing double coverage on the final drive.
That enabled Quinn to have the time he needed to deliver the
winning touchdown pass to senior Jeff Samarzija.
“Looking back, of course it would have been better if we
were able to put more pressure on him,” Davis said.
“But in the end, if we make that tackle (on Samardzija) and
the clock winds down, we are not talking about a loss right
now.”
Davis and Hickman will look back at Saturday’s loss and
one day understand the ramifications of what they were about to
achieve.
But on Saturday, it was the final drive that they
remembered.
“I really don’t know how we respond to this, I
really don’t,” Davis said. “I guess we learn how
to finish better, but we needed to finish on Saturday.”
WEIS REACTS: Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis was
impressed with the Bruins’ defense on Saturday.
“Most of the day, the defense was pretty stout,”
Weis said. “They gave up a few big plays for touchdowns, but
I would say they were definitely getting the best of us.”
Weis should know the Bruin defense better than others, because
he coached with Walker while both were assistant coaches with the
New England Patriots.
INJURIES: Running back Kahlil Bell left
Saturday’s game with a sprained left ankle, and will be
evaluated when the team returns to Los Angeles. Linebacker Aaron
Whittington sprained his right ankle and will be evaluated as well.
Fullback Michael Pitre sprained his left ankle during the game, but
returned during the fourth quarter.