Charlie Weis wound up using all three quarterbacks in the season opener against Georgia Tech.
The three could have been Joe Montana, Tony Rice and Joe Theismann, and it probably wouldn’t have mattered.
On a day where nothing seemed to go right on either side of the ball, Notre Dame found itself beaten and battered, victims of a 33-3 thrashing that actually could have been much worse.
Yellow Jackets running back Tashard Choice, held to 54 yards on the ground against the Irish in 2006, outgained the entire Notre Dame team by himself. Choice had 196 yards on 26 rushes, adding a pair of touchdowns.
First Quarter: Georgia Tech, 6-0
Georgia Tech recovered an apparent Armando Allen fumble on the opening kickoff, but replay overturned the call and Demetrius Jones led the Irish offense onto the field. Notre Dame picked up one first down on an 11-yard run by Allen, but Jones fumbled under heavy pressure three plays later and the Yellow Jackets took over at the Irish 32-yard line.
Choice gained 22 yards on Tech’s first play, setting up a first-and-goal, and the visitors got the ball to the 5 before a third-down sack by David Bruton forced the Yellow Jackets to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Travis Bell with 11:15 to go.
Following a three-and-out and a 22-yard punt by Geoff Price, the Yellow Jackets again started in Irish territory at the 48-yard line. A 17-yard jaunt by Choice set up another first-and-goal at the 10, but Notre Dame’s defense again held up and Bell connected on a 29-yarder at the 6:50 mark. The Irish again failed to pick up a first down going the other way, and Georgia Tech regained possession at its own 32.
Choice continued gobbling up yardage, gaining 15 yards on a screen pass, and Tech once again moved deep into Irish territory on a leaping 32-yard grab by James Johnson. The 11-yard line was as far as the Yellow Jackets could advance, though, and this time Bell’s 29-yard attempt was blocked by Trevor Laws with 49 seconds on the clock.
Notre Dame ended the period with the ball on its own 34-yard line.
The Big Moment: Three times the Yellow Jackets got into the red zone, and all three times Notre Dame’s defense held its ground. Laws’ block, the fourth of his career, helped keep the score much more reasonable than it probably should have been.
Feature Performer: Choice essentially had his way with the Irish defense, and he outgained Notre Dame’s offense all by himself, 65-57. Last year’s ACC rushing leader had 52 yards on the ground and another 13 on two receptions.
By The Numbers: Georgia Tech held a slim edge in rushing yardage (61-57) but doubled the Irish up in terms of total offense, 114-57…Tech also had a fairly good-sized advantage in time of possession, 8:50 to 6:10…Allen rushed for 25 yards and Jones 24 to lead Notre Dame, which had its only pass attempt fall incomplete.
Miscellany: Notre Dame substituted early and often, using four different tailbacks (Travis Thomas, Allen, Robert Hughes and James Aldridge) and five different wide receivers (David Grimes, George West, D.J. Hord, Robby Parris and Duval Kamara) during its first five plays from scrimmage.
Second Quarter: Georgia Tech, 16-0
Keeping the ball predominantly on the ground, the Irish offense finally began to chew up some yardage. After Notre Dame crossed into Tech territory for the first time, though, Jones was stacked up on a second-down keeper and stripped of the ball again. The Yellow Jackets returned the fumble to the Fighting Irish 45 with 12:29 left, and Bell converted a 40-yard kick two minutes and 45 seconds later to make it 9-0.
Notre Dame sandwiched two punts around one by the visitors, and Georgia Tech again wound up with excellent field position at its own 47. Choice quickly pushed the ball across midfield, and a personal-foul penalty on defensive end Justin Brown – after the Irish defense had come up with a big stop on third down – put the ball on the Notre Dame 22 with 2:55 to go. Brown was ejected, and the Yellow Jackets cashed in on the mistake just 11 seconds later when Choice rumbled in for a 22-yard touchdown.
Evan Sharpley replaced Jones behind center, and despite the help of a pass-interference call, couldn’t move the ball past midfield. The half ended with the Irish on their own 40.
The Big Moment: After a stop by the Irish defense on third and long, Brown was flagged, and then tossed out of the game, for apparently clubbing Tech lineman Matt Rhodes in the head. Choice found the end zone two plays later.
Feature Performer: Choice continued to dominate, getting the Yellow Jackets into the end zone for the first time and cracking the 100-yard mark before the half. He went into the locker room with 110 yards on 16 carries.
By The Numbers: The Yellow Jackets outgained the Irish, 173-66, with a 118-53 edge on the ground…Jones’ 28 rushing yards led Notre Dame…Sharpley completed 2 of 3 passes for 9 yards, while Jones hit 1 of 3 for 4 yards…The Irish had a slim edge in possession time, 15:13 to 14:47.
Miscellany: The Irish failed to score a first-half point for the first time during Charlie Weis’ tenure.
Third Quarter: Georgia Tech, 19-3
The visitors quickly moved across midfield on a 28-yard pass from Taylor Bennett to Greg Smith, and another 10-yard pass from Bennett to James Johnson kept the drive alive at the Irish 36. Two runs by Choice moved the ball to the 20-yard line, but after three incomplete passes, Tech again had to make do with a Bell field goal, this time from 39 yards out at the 10:22 mark.
With Sharpley still in at quarterback, Notre Dame used a personal-foul call against Georgia Tech and a fourth-down pass to Robby Parris to advance to the Yellow Jacket 25-yard line. Back-to-back tosses from Sharpley to John Carlson set up another first down at the 12, and then a third hookup between the two – after Sharpley alertly picked up a Thomas fumble – made it third and inches from the 2. The Irish failed to convert, but finally got on the board with a 23-yard Brandon Walker field goal at 4:38.
The teams traded punts, and Tech ended the quarter at the Notre Dame 23 after a 45-yard run by Choice on the penultimate play of the period.
The Big Moment: Parris’ fourth-down grab kept the first sustained drive of the day going for the Irish, leading to the Walker field goal.
Feature Performer: Sharpley, who led the first real offensive charge of the day for the Irish by connecting on a couple of clutch passes, including a 12-yarder to Carlson on a busted play.
By The Numbers: The difference in offensive production continued to grow, as the Yellow Jackets ended the period with a 307-104 edge in total yardage, including a massive 195-40 disparity in rushing…Choice bumped his total to 181 yards on 23 carries…time of possession remained nearly even, with the Irish holding a 10-second advantage (22:35 to 22:25).
Miscellany: Dating back to last year’s Sugar Bowl loss to LSU, Notre Dame went a total of 64 minutes and 45 seconds between points before Walker broke the drought.
Fourth Quarter: Georgia Tech, 33-3
Choice started the fourth quarter doing the same thing he had done all afternoon – carving up the Irish defense. With 13:06 on the clock, he trotted 7 yards for his second touchdown, putting the Yellow Jackets up by 23.
A Sharpley fumble gave Georgia Tech another shot deep in Irish territory, and freshman Jonathan Dwyer cashed in with an easy 7-yard scoring run at the 8:52 mark.
Jimmy Clausen came in on Notre Dame’s next possession, but the results were much the same as they had been for the Irish all day – three plays and a punt. The freshman overshot Hord on his only throw.
The Big Moment: The Choice touchdown and the ensuing Irish turnover – their third of the day – essentially obliterated any doubt about the outcome.
Feature Performer: Clausen completed 4 of 6 passes for 34 yards in mop-up time.
By The Numbers: Georgia Tech finished with 386 yards of offense – 265 rushing and 121 passing…Notre Dame had 130 yards passing and minus-8 rushing for a total of 122…Possession time was relatively even, ending up 30:20 to 29:40 in Notre Dame’s favor…The Yellow Jackets totaled nine quarterback sacks.
Miscellany: Eight of the 18 Notre Dame freshmen – Allen, Tate, Hughes, Kamara, Clausen, Kerry Neal, Ian Williams and Aaron Nagel – saw game action.
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