Oregon State Tops Irish in Fiesta Bowl
T E M P E, Ariz., Jan. 2, 2001 -- The Oregon State defense made Notre Damequarterback Matt LoVecchio look like a vulnerable freshman.
Unimpressed with the mystique of the Golden Dome, thefifth-ranked Beavers manhandled LoVecchio and the No. 10 FightingIrish, finishing off the finest season in school history with a41-9 Fiesta Bowl victory Monday night.
“When you step on the field, you respect Notre Dame, but whenyou’re on the field, it’s not about tradition, it’s about making plays,” said Darnell Robinson, who had an interception and aforced fumble. “So as a defense we just wanted to go out and playour game, and dominate.”
LoVecchio Turns Mortal
LoVecchio, who led the Irish to seven straight victories aftertaking over as the starter in the fifth game, completed just 13 of33 passes for 138 yards. He also was sacked five times.
Two of LoVecchio’s third-quarter turnovers led to touchdowns: afumble on a crushing blindside hit by Robinson, then theinterception by Robinson, that helped the Beavers break open thegame at 34-3.
“We rattled him a little bit, and when we forced him to pass —I don’t want to boast about it — but being the secondary that weare, we took advantage of it,” Oregon State cornerback KeithHeyward-Johnson said.
Oregon State’s quickness up front and in the middle made it oneof the best defensive teams in the country all season, but the waythe Beavers dominated Notre Dame, on big play after big play, wassimply stunning.
Notre Dame, which kept the ball on the ground its last 24 playsin a Nov. 25 victory over Southern California, ran six straighttimes to open Monday’s game, but gained just 8 yards.
“We felt pretty confident we could defend their passing game,because it’s not too fancy; nothing tricky to it,” said linebackerJames Allen. “Our secondary can cover anybody, so once we shut therunning game down, from then on it was a walk in the park.”
Beavers Take Early Lead
After Oregon State jumped to a 12-0 lead, LoVecchio was forcedto pass more, and the Beavers came after him relentlessly. On oneplay, defensive end DeLawrence Grant ran all the way across thefield to drag him down from behind.
On his fumble, LoVecchio didn’t have a chance. Robinson drilledthe 18-year-old quarterback in the back, jarring the ball loose.Eric Manning recovered at the Notre Dame 26.
“To me, that was the turning point of the game,” Oregon Statecoach Dennis Erickson said.
The Beavers (11-1) were so thoroughly in control, they could getaway with some silly mental errors. They were penalized 18 timesfor 174 yards, both records for the school and the 30-year-oldFiesta Bowl.
Beaver Believers
While many of the Irish fans filed out into the cool night,thousands of orange-clad “Beaver Believers” stayed until the end. Their team had never won even 10 games in a season, and had not wona major postseason game since the 1942 Rose Bowl against Duke —played in Durham, N.C., because of the threat to Pasadena by theJapanese in World War II.
Their large numbers helped give the Fiesta Bowl an attendance of75,428, the third-largest in the game’s history and largest for anon-national title game.
Quarterback Jonathan Smith was precise all game, completing 16of 24 passes. His three touchdown passes gave him 20 for theseason, breaking the record of 18 set by Erik Wilhelm in 1988.
“I think my confidence grew when I got some wide receiversmaking plays for me,” Smith said. “They were running wide open half the time. If some of the balls were thrown a little bitbetter, they could have gotten up and run with them.”
Tailback Ken Simonton also had a record-setting performance,even though he gained only 85 yards, his third-lowest total of theseason and 49 below his average. His 1,559 yards broke his ownschool record of 1,486, set last season.
Oregon State even had it going on special teams, which wassupposed to be Notre Dame’s area of expertise. T.J. Houshmandzadehreturned a punt 16 yards, then fumbled the ball at midfield. Theball was picked up by Terrell Roberts and returned 45 yards for atouchdown that made it 27-3.