TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Notre Dame defense had its worst
performance in its biggest game of the season.
The bend-but-don't-break Fighting Irish were shattered by Ohio
State's speed, giving up one big play after another in a 34-20
Fiesta Bowl loss Monday night. Notre Dame gave up four Buckeye
touchdowns of 55 yards or more and a season-high 617 yards total
offense.
The Irish were repeatedly caught flatfooted by the Buckeyes, who
handed Notre Dame its eighth straight bowl loss in spectacular
fashion.
"Those big plays are our Achilles' heel," cornerback Mike
Richardson said. "We always harp on big plays. Giving up those
plays put it out of reach."
Notre Dame (9-3) was susceptible to big plays all season -- it
allowed USC's Matt Leinart to throw a 61-yard pass on a
fourth-and-9 to set up a game-winning play -- but nothing like
Monday.
"Big plays and mental mistakes bit us in the butt," Richardson
said.
The Irish repeatedly got beaten for big plays and in big-play
situations. They had a chance to go three-and-out on the Buckeyes'
first possession, but Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith dropped
back to pass, then took off untouched for a 15-yard gain to the OSU
34. Four plays later, Ted Ginn Jr. sprinted past cornerback Ambrose
Wooden and was wide open for a 56-yard TD pass from Smith.
"He just got behind me," Wooden said.
Two possessions later, Ginn did his best Reggie Bush
impersonation and made the Irish defenders look foolish. Ginn took
a pitch from Smith, ran left around end unchallenged until safety
Chinedum Ndukwe made him cut back at the 10-yard line. But Ndukwe
couldn't stop him, and neither could cornerback Mike Richardson or
linebacker Corey Mays.
All three were left lying on the ground watching as Ginn ran
into the end zone.
"He's fast. But I think if we would have kept our eyes on our
keys and did our responsibilities, those big plays wouldn't have
happened," Ndukwe said.
The Buckeyes went ahead 21-7 when Santonio Holmes caught the
ball at the 40, made Ndukwe miss, then raced in for an 85-yard
touchdown catch.
The Irish had a chance to get back into the game when they
closed to 27-20, but the Irish defense couldn't come up with a big
play of its own. Twice Notre Dame had the Buckeyes third-and-long,
but couldn't hold them either time.
On third-and-9, Smith competed a 10-yard pass to Antonio
Pittman. Then on third-and-11, Notre Dame defensive end Ronald
Talley had a chance to sack Smith, but the quarterback escaped and
completed a 15-yard pass to Anthony Gonzalez.
The Buckeyes put the game away on the next play when Pittman
scored on a 60-yard run.
"The bottom line is they came up with the big play to put the
game away," Weis said. "We had a couple of third downs there when
the game was in question where if we got the ball back we would
have liked our chances to at least get it to tie and get it to
overtime."
The defense never gave them a chance, though.
"That's what we've been dealing with all season," defensive
end Victor Abiamiri said. "It was disappointing we couldn't show
how good a defense we were."