Weis won't be satisfied without win

By ROB TODOR
VINDICATOR SPORTS EDITOR
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The improvement of the Notre Dame football program under first-year coach Charlie Weis has been well-documented.
The four-time Super Bowl champion assistant, though, is not satisfied, and wants everyone, including his players, to know it.
"I'm content with the progress the team has made," he said Sunday. "I'm happy for my staff and I'm happy for the players. I'm happy for the administration and I'm happy for the university.
"To be honest with you, I'm not happy personally. We lost two games and I take the responsibility for those losses. When you're the head coach you better take that responsibility. If you're waiting for me to do cartwheels [over a 9-2 season] you will be waiting a long time."
Reason for outlook
The Fighting Irish take on Ohio State (9-2) today at 5 p.m. in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium. Weis left no doubt he feels it's important that Notre Dame win the game to establish momentum for the 2006 season.
"Especially with this being New Year's, people like to go back and reflect over the previous year and look at the different games," he said. "But I think that you're always remembered by how the season ends.
"You can beat a team like Ohio State and end up 10-2, I think people will leave the season with a good taste in their mouth. If you lose everyone will say, well, you made some nice progress but you're not quite there.
"That's really not how you want to go into the off-season," Weis continued. "To me this is a very, very clear case of black and white. There's no subjectivity here. At this point, all you can do is win one game. That's all that's left. There's no other games to play. I think this will be the one that our season will be marked on."
Weis' worry
Weis' biggest worry is how the Notre Dame defense will contain Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith.
"What scares me is anytime you have a quarterback, and especially a quarterback who started out with a reputation of being a runner first and a thrower second, and now has reversed those roles, you have a problem," he said. "It's the multi-dimensional players that scare you the most. Any time he's back for a pass he can take it himself. He knows [now] he's a passer first and a runner second and that's the toughest thing to teach a quarterback that has that kind of athleticism.
"I think he's learned that and you can see he's evolved from the beginning of the year to end of the year where he know understands that he'll run when he has to, not when he wants to."
Weis is also impressed with the Buckeyes' defense, calling it the most complete unit Notre Dame has faced this season.
"We have gone against some good defenses," he said. "It's no big secret that the University of Tennessee's defense was very, very good this year. Ohio State is good on all three levels. Sometimes you have a dynamic front four or a rock-solid secondary or great linebackers, but unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view, they're good on all levels."
Possible factor
Weis said special teams could play an important role in determining the outcome of the game.
"There's two things [about Ohio State] you really have to be concerned with," he said. "Any time a guy [OSU's Josh Huston] has kicked off 70 times and [has] 49 touchbacks he's definitely a weapon. One, he doesn't miss [field goals and extra points] so he puts points on the board, and second, he never gives you a break in field position."
Weis is also impressed with kick returners Ted Ginn Jr. and Santonio Holmes.
"Every time you kick or punt the ball they have a chance to score," he said. "Trust me I will be watching all the kicks and punts. There's no worse feeling in the world -- I remember in 1996, the only time I was associated with a Super Bowl team that did lose, we cut the score to seven [points] against the Packers, I'm talking to my guys about how great it was and the next thing I know Desmond Howard is taking the ball down the sideline for a touchdown."
Message
Weis said his message to the team will be simple today -- just win.
"That's the way we will approach this game and every game," he said. "It's really about winning. Obviously we can talk about playing with integrity and all of those things, but don't ever tell me about a good loss. There's no such thing."
todor@vindy.com