Irish Fab Five key to upset of LSU
Quinn leads quintet of players who must come up big in Sugar Bowl
Ric Feld / APNotre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn (10) will be looking to end his college career with a huge game against a very tough LSU defense in the Sugar Bowl, writes Allen Pinkett of MSNBC.com.
COMMENTARY
By Allen Pinkett
NBCSports.com contributor
updated 6:05 p.m. ET Dec. 29, 2006
 | Allen Pinkett |
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The Irish are underdogs to LSU in the Jan. 3 Sugar Bowl, and for Notre Dame to have a solid shot at getting Charlie Weis the biggest win of his two-year tenure as head coach, it will need five players to lead the way to a strong collective team effort.
Quarterback Brady Quinn
The senior quarterback loves big games, but neither he nor Weis has a signature win at Notre Dame.
If LSU prevails, Weis should still have plenty more opportunities at beating elite teams in big spots, but for Quinn this is his last chance, the last game in his Notre Dame career. More than anything, he wants to go out a winner.
I expect Quinn to bring his A game, and he'll need it as the LSU defense is one of the best in the country. The Tigers are the fifth top 25-rated defense the Irish will have faced this season, but statistically the best to take on Notre Dame as they are No. 2 in overall defense, and No. 3 against the pass.
Opponents have scored an average of just 12.5 points a game against LSU, and while that presents the Irish with a stiff challenge, Quinn and company are also aware the Tigers have surrendered only nine touchdown passes this season, while allowing an average of 145.5 yards passing per game.
Quinn has thrown 35 scoring strikes this season, and the Notre Dame offense has averaged 273.8 passing yards per game. Something has to give, and Quinn would love for it to be the LSU defense.
As much as Quinn wants this win, he won't head into the LSU game saddled by the thought of how the Irish have come up short the last couple of seasons in big tests vs. Ohio State, Michigan and USC.
He's wise enough to know that he must always look at each game as a new opportunity, and he can't reflect on the past, but instead try and make sure he has learned from it.
Weis has had over a month to work up a game plan that will be designed to take advantage of the talents of the many weapons Notre Dame has on offense -- the most potent of which is Quinn, whom Irish fans would love to think has saved his best for last.
Tailback Darius Walker
Notre Dame has to be able to successfully run the ball. If the Irish can't run on LSU, they can't beat the Tigers.
Walker's junior season at tailback has produced 1,139 yards on 233 carries. He has averaged 4.9 yards a carry, and scored seven touchdowns.
Against the Tigers' defense, Walker will need some help from his offensive line, but while a lot of his success running the ball depends on the play in the trenches, he still -- as a premier back -- has to be able to make some big plays on his own.
ND's goals should include a heavy workload for Robert Hughes |  |
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And on this kind of stage, and in this important a game to Notre Dame, Walker will be looking for one super-human play that not only could produce points, but also rub off emotion and effort wise on his teammates.
When I played in the NFL with the Houston Oilers the running backs on the team had a pool for each game that would go to the back who made the biggest play.
It didn't matter what the blocking was like, we as running backs put it upon ourselves to make every effort to produce some type of big play, hopefully a super-human play. That's what separates the good running backs from the great running backs.
Walker is probably the most valuable guy on the Irish offense because he makes key contributions besides running the ball. Walker isn't one dimensional as he also has the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. His run after the catch is vital because he can move the chains.
He also has great pass blocking ability. I think on a lot of the touchdowns Quinn has thrown for over the past couple of seasons, Walker deserves credit for the solid pass blocking he has provided.
On some of the long pass plays, Walker has been able to give Quinn that little bit of extra time so the quarterback has not had to rush his throws and risk putting the pass in a spot where the intended receiver could not get to it.
Against LSU, I look at Walker as having to be a major threat both running the football, and also catching it out of the backfield.
Tight end John Carlson
We're hearing an awful lot about the overall team speed of LSU. You don't try and defeat speed with speed. You defeat speed with power, and I think that's where Carlson comes in. The 6-foot-5, 250 pounder is a good target for Quinn when he needs to keep drives alive.
If the Tigers are going to be flying around all over the place and trying to take advantage of their speed, the Irish need a big bruiser like Carlson who can use his power to counter the LSU speed. He creates matchup problems for the Tigers.
If LSU wants to come with a lot of pressure on Quinn, it means some defender will have to take on Carlson one on one. If its the strong safety or the free safety, that's the matchup Notre Dame wants.
Carlson used to back up Anthony Fasano, who is now in the NFL and starting for the Dallas Cowboys. I think when it comes to the ability to make plays, Carlson is as good as Fasano.
I knew Carlson was a solid tight end with great potential and great tools, but what has impressed me most this year about his play is how he has stepped up his game, and emerged as a playmaker not just a reliable target.
With a lot of tight ends, they catch the pass and they go down. But Carlson has superb ability to gain yards after the catch, and that really can a boost to the Irish offense.
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