Irish might be good, but they're no Ivy Leaguers

WSU FOOTBALL: If Paul Wulff has worries about Cougars getting overwhelmed by Notre Dame’s mystique, they're misplaced

HOWIE STALWICK; For The Olympian | • Published October 31, 2009

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SAN ANTONIO - Washington State coach Paul Wulff has expressed concern that his young team might get caught up in the aura of Notre Dame's storied football tradition and forget to focus solely on the Fighting Irish team that takes the field today in the Alamodome.

After all, with all due respect, Charlie Weis, Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate are no Knute Rockne, Joe Montana and Paul Hornung.

Alas, Wulff will probably be delighted to learn that at least one Washington State player says he knows virtually nothing about Notre Dame’s storied past.

“I know it’s one of the Ivy League schools,” the youngster said.

That’s just what Wulff wants to hear. You see, Notre Dame has never played in the Ivy League or any other conference.

The Cougars, of course, have a lot more to worry about than Notre Dame history.

Clausen and Tate are All-America candidates at quarterback and wide receiver, respectively. Weis, who won three Super Bowl rings as offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, seems eminently capable of figuring out how to carve up a Washington State defense that yields nearly 500 yards a game.

Las Vegas has installed the 5-2 Irish as 28-point favorites over the 1-6 Cougars. Wulff quickly dismissed a reporter’s suggestion that a nice, respectable showing would satisfy the Cougars.

“We want to come down and win,” Wulff said, “and I really believe that a lot of our players are set in their mind to do that.”

Realistically, Notre Dame’s biggest obstacle might be overconfidence.

However, the 25th-ranked Irish have played six straight games decided by seven points or fewer since drilling Nevada, 35-0, in the season opener.

“We haven’t really shown any evidence of being able to steamroll anybody,” Notre Dame center Eric Olsen said.

The vast majority of the 50,000-plus fans expected to be on hand will be Notre Dame supporters. The contest is the first in a series of once-a-year “home” games the Irish are staging around the country.

“It’s a road game for us,” Weis said. “At the same time, we’re Notre Dame, you know.

“We get everyone’s best shot every week. Washington State, though their record is not very good, this year really has a couple of opportunities to make their season, and one of them would be by beating Notre Dame on Saturday night on national TV.”

The Cougars are coming off their best offensive showing of the year, though they lost 49-17 to California last week.

The Irish are rather ordinary on defense – ranked 93th in the country, including 117th in pass defense – and only a few Notre Dame players have the type of speed that tends to overwhelm WSU.

Tate is one of those players –“He’s got great quickness and strength,” Wulff said – and Clausen has a big-time arm to take advantage of Tate’s speed.

WSU cornerback Terrance Hayward acknowledges Clausen’s talent, but Hayward wasn’t totally enamored with Clausen after playing against him in a summer passing league in high school.

“He was kind of a cocky dude,” Hayward said. “He has an ego.”

Unless Hayward and his teammates play the game of their lives, Clausen’s ego and statistics figure to be substantially inflated after today’s game