| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- A handshake and hug from his new
athletic director sent Notre Dame coach Bob Davie off the field to
a rousing ovation from the crowd.
Before he left, though, Davie walked toward the north end of the stadium and lifted his palms skyward in a "raise the roof" salute to Irish fans.
|  | | Notre Dame's Julius Jones gets by A&M's Roylin Bradley (3) en route to a 17-yard TD run in the Irish victory. |
Notre Dame's first victory in 10 months -- a 24-10 win over Texas A&M (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today, No. 25 AP) on Saturday -- allowed Davie to breathe a huge sigh of relief. With new AD Kevin White calling the shots, Davie started
his fourth season knowing his job would be in jeopardy if the Irish
failed to get off to a strong start.
It took a while, but Arnaz Battle made his first start a memorable one by throwing the first two touchdown passes of his career, and the Irish defense shut down the Aggies in the second half.
Davie, an assistant at Texas A&M under current Aggies coach R.C Slocum before arriving at Notre Dame, said the game was far from pretty but winning was all that matters.
"It wasn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination," Davie said, "and I don't know that we played particularly well. But the thing that's really encouraging is we played with a lot of heart and effort."
|
 |
|
|
Saturday, Sept. 2
The big question mark for Notre Dame going into its game Saturday's game against Texas A&M was how quarterback Arnaz Battle handle all the pressure. Because, quite frankly, every other position on the Irish seemed ready to go for the opener.
After watching the junior's performance, I thought he played well. He started off a little slow, got better as the game wore on, and offense finished strong as a unit. But, Arnaz Battle has to continue to throw the football effectively -- especially next week when Nebraska comes into South Bend.
But I thought, overall, Battle looked pretty good.
|
|
|
Battle was 10 of 16 for 133 yards and also carried 12 times for
50 yards as the Irish rolled up 327 yards after a slow start.
"It took a little time for me to get my feet wet, get adjusted
and get the bugs out," the 6-foot-1, 218-pound Battle said. "As
the game went on, I felt more comfortable throwing."
Battle received a phone call from Jarious Jackson, the
quarterback he replaced, on Friday night. "I talked to Jarious and
knew I had the opportunity to bring Notre Dame back to where it
should be," he said.
Being 1-0 is fine for now, since No. 1 Nebraska is next,
followed by Purdue, Michigan State and Stanford.
"We've got a long, long, long way to go in a short period of
time because the football team coming in next week is probably as
good a team as I've seen in a long time," Davie said of the
Cornhuskers, who opened with a 49-13 win over San Jose State.
"It's a tremendous challenge for this football team."
Battle had TD passes of 9 yards to Joey Getherall with 1:31 left
in the half to tie it at 7-all, and then hit Javin Hunter on a
46-yarder with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter to put the Irish
ahead for the first time, 14-10.
Hunter appeared to shove Aggies cornerback Jay Brooks with his
left hand before shaking free and grabbing the ball on the goal
line.
"I let my team down," Brooks said. "I thought I was pushing
him, so then I let off. And when I turned around, I didn't see the
ball."
|
Irish Introductions
|
|
Here's how the past 10 Notre Dame quarterbacks did in their debuts.
|
|
Eric Chappell
vs. USC (Nov. 28, 1998)
0 for 3 passing; 7 rushes, 33 yds.
Result: Lost, 10-0
|
|
Jarious Jackson
vs. Michigan (Sept. 5, 1998)
4 for 10, 96 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
16 rushes for 62 yards
Result: Won, 36-20
|
|
Tom Krug
vs. Air Force (Nov. 18, 1995)
8 for 13, 96 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
3 rushes, 13 yards
Result: Won, 44-14
|
|
Ron Powlus
vs. Northwestern (Sept. 3, 1994)
18 for 24, 291 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT
2 rushes, 6 yards
Result: Won, 42-15
|
|
Kevin McDougal
vs. Northwestern (Sept. 4, 1993)
6 for 8, 135 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
5 rushes, minus-16 yards
Result: Won, 27-12
|
|
Paul Failla
vs. Purdue (Sept. 28, 1991)
1 for 1, 10 yards; 2 rushes, 11 yards
Played one series, replace by Powlus
Result: Won, 45-20
|
|
Rick Mirer
vs. Michigan (Sept. 15, 1990)
14 of 23, 165 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
10 rushes, 12 yards, TD
Result: Won, 28-24
|
|
Kent Graham
vs. Boston College (Nov. 7, 1987)
6 of 8, 11 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
3 rushes, 7 yards
Result: Won, 32-25
|
|
Tony Rice
vs. Air Force (Aug. 17, 1987)
1 of 5, 10 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
9 rushes, 70 yards, 2 TDs
Result: Won, 35-14
|
|
Terry Andrysiak
vs. Mississippi (Nov. 9, 1985)
4 of 8, 60 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
2 rushes, minus-7 yards
Result: Won, 37-14
|
From that point, the Irish took control. Julius Jones ran 17
yards for a fourth-quarter TD and Nick Setta added a 32-yard field
goal with 7:17 left. Any hopes for a Texas A&M comeback ended when
free safety Tony Driver intercepted a pass by Mark Farris at the
Irish 14 with 4:09 remaining.
Notre Dame ended last season with four straight losses for a 5-7 record -- its first sub .500 season since 1986. The last win was Oct. 30, 28-24 over Navy.
After Saturday's win, the team sang the school fight song in the
locker room, and Davie asked the players if they remembered the
words.
With the game tied 7-all at halftime, the Aggies had a
fourth-and-goal at the 1 after driving 74 yards, but were called
for illegal procedure and settled for Terence Kitchens' 23-yard
field goal. On the drive, Irish right end Grant Irons left because
he was dehydrated, but after being given intravenous fluids, he
returned and played in the final five minutes of the game.
But it was the failed TD drive that fired up the Irish, who went ahead on Battle's hookup with Hunter -- the wide receiver's first TD catch.
Farris, the former Pittsburgh Pirates farmhand making his first
start for the Aggies, was 16 of 28 for 165 yards and an
interception.
"It's disappointing to come up here and let some things slip
away," Slocum said. "We didn't take advantage of our chances to
score."
In addition to missing out on a TD from the Irish 1, A&M wide
receiver Chris Taylor had cornerback Clifford Jefferson beaten on
the next series but he dropped a perfect pass by Farris. Earlier,
Jefferson had been called for pass interference twice and Davie
screamed at him when the player returned to the sideline.
"We still have some huge question marks, like can we cover?"
Davie asked. "We had those pass interference penalties and thought
they were inexcusable on our part."
With temperatures soaring near 90 degrees and the on-field mark
announced at 108 degrees, the teams played the first 30 minutes as
if they were winding up two-a-day practices. Even the 150th
consecutive sellout crowd at Notre Dame Stadium had trouble getting
into the game.
Texas A&M took a 7-0 lead on Richard Whitaker's 8-yard run 2:06
into the second quarter. Battle drove the Irish 70 yards on seven
plays and hit Getherall for a 9-yard TD pass with 1:31 left. On the
drive, Battle was 3-of-3 for 43 yards and ran twice for 17 yards.
| |
ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Texas A&M Clubhouse
Notre Dame Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Bob Davie knows his team has to play well next week.
wav: 123 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
