Eric Hansen

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - In the light of day, when the answers to the dark questions could be more measured and manicured, Charlie Weis’ signature loss to 20-point underdog Syracuse was painted to be little more than a hiccup.

“So what you've really done is you have taken these guys who were a bunch of pups (in 2007), now have a year under their belt, going from a crummy team to what I think is a decent team,” the Notre Dame fourth-year head coach assessed of his Irish in reflecting on the 24-23 Senior Day loss to the Orange (3-8) – a defeat that made this Notre Dame team (6-5) the first ever to lose to an eventual eight-loss (or worse) squad.

“I wouldn't say we're anywhere near good, but I would say we're decent,” Weis continued. “And I say, as you take the next step from three wins (in 2007) to six or seven wins, going to the next year you should expect the progression to be at least as good, if not better.”

All of which shows Weis’ resiliency and resourcefulness to the Notre Dame decision-makers. And all of which, in the final analysis of whether to keep Weis for a fifth year and set the bar insanely high next year or instead reboot, means very little.

In the final analysis, snap shots aren’t supposed to count for much either. Notre Dame first-year athletic director Jack Swarbrick said as much before he uncharacteristically gagged himself Saturday night.

It’s all about trajectory.

But how could some of Saturday’s historically infamous loss not bleed into that formula?

With Weis having retaken over the offensive play-calling, Notre Dame labored for 41 rushing yards on 28 carries against a team that had given up 200 yards or more rushing in all of its previous games but two this season -- its two victories, 137 vs. a Louisville team that shares the basement apartment with Syracuse in the Big East, and 90 vs. an FCS Northeastern team that just finished its season with a 2-10 record.

Through a tragedy of errors, Notre Dame once faced a second-and-47 Saturday -- and responded with a seven-yard pass, two plays before punting.

Former Notre Dame basketball All-American Adrian Dantley’s son, Cameron, engineered two fourth-quarter scoring drives to rally the Orange from down 23-10. Dantley, a former walk-on, is the nation’s 93rd-best passer among the 119 starting quarterbacks in the FBS.

In fact, all five of ND’s losses have come against either a backup quarterback (Pittsburgh’s Pat Bostick and North Carolina’s Cameron Sexton) or a starter ranked in the bottom third of passers nationally (No. 84 Brian Hoyer of Michigan State, No. 96 Chris Crane of Boston College and Dantley).

The star of the Syracuse comeback was freshman running back Antwon Bailey, who was not even listed in the Orange’s three-deeps and who had rushed for a grand total of 66 yards all season. He had 98 in the fourth quarter alone against the Irish -- and a game-high 126 from the game on 16 carries.

And that’s only a small slice of the statistical carnage. It wasn’t a matter of a turnover-laden, sloppy game in bad weather with a fluky bottom line. This was an Irish team that underachieved on a given Saturday more than any ND squad since the Gerry Faust years (1981-85), if not longer. It was manhandled in the trenches by a team whose inability to do that in the previous 10 games led to its head coach’s exile.

So if you’re Swarbrick, if you’re ND president Rev. John I. Jenkins, if you’re a trigger-happy trustee, what are you looking at besides blind faith to bring Weis back for a fifth year?

The buyout
Yes, Weis has seven years left on a contract that was restructured and extended six games into his first season at Notre Dame. The escape hatch for both sides this early in the cycle is uninviting by design, former Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White proclaimed when he was current Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White.

But this is not your father’s or even your older brother’s Notre Dame. It’s big business. The school has deep pockets and shallow patience. If a change were deemed necessary, Jenkins could sum it up in two words -- Buyout Schmuyout.

The recruiting
Notre Dame is on its way to its fourth straight top 10 class. Even though, there has been a crooked bottom line on Saturdays, the Irish do have more play-makers, more depth, more promise at every position, save defensive line, than in 2004 -- the last time ND made a coaching change.

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If the plug is pulled now, the administration would set back recruiting one, perhaps two years. If it keeps Weis and he still doesn’t produce on the field next season, they could purge him after the 2009 season, and the new coach would be walking into a talent gold mine. Advantage to the “Weis stays” line of thinking here.

The team chemistry
Publicly after a win, most of the Notre Dame players parrot the company line. Publicly, after a loss, most of the Notre Dame players parrot the same company line.

When wide receiver Golden Tate spoke his mind about ND possibly taking its foot off the gas after a come-from-ahead loss to Pittsburgh on Nov. 1, he was scolded and temporarily muted.

If Weis did let the players speak their mind consistently, he may be surprised to discover that the choreographing isn’t necessary. And privately, the vast majority of the players have not lost faith in their head coach and do not welcome a coaching change. This is Weis’ strongest card by far.