NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL Weis starting to sound like Holtz

Especially when he's telling the Irish how good 3-4 Tennessee really is.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Charlie Weis has been waking the echoes at Notre Dame this season. On Tuesday, the echoes sounded a lot like Lou Holtz.
Weis ripped a page from Holtz's coaching book, making Tennessee sound as if they were a bad bounce away from playing for a national championship and not a 3-4 team that just saw its offensive coordinator resign because of a third straight poor performance.
"Don't talk to me about Tennessee being 3-4 because this team could be 6-1 or 7-0," Weis said. "We're definitely concerned."
Take away the Jersey accent and add a lisp, and it sounded a lot like the poor-mouthing Holtz was famous for when he was at Notre Dame. Weis had a long list of reasons why the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish (5-2) should be concerned about the Volunteers:
List of reasons
U"You're talking about a team that's got a .938 winning percentage in the month of November [the past 20 years] because they usually close out the season very strong."
U"Coach [Phillip] Fulmer has been a coach for 14 years. His record is 126-35. Out of all active coaches that have had 10 years of experience, he has the best winning percentage of .783."
U"I'd say this is as good a defense, if not the best defense, we've played this year."
U"In their four losses, their defense has given up a total of five touchdowns, given up 86 yards rushing in a game and a little over 200 yards passing per game."
U"Everyone says they have no offense. Any time you're throwing for over 200, running for over 100, I don't know what they're looking at."
What he didn't mention
What Weis failed to mention is that the Volunteers average just 16 points a game, ranking 108th out of 119 Division I-A schools. He also failed to mention that they are 99th in total offense at 315 yards a game. He also didn't say that the Volunteers, who started the season ranked No. 3, barely beat UAB 17-10 in the season-opener.
Weis said the Volunteers have lost "because they've been unfortunate in critical situations." But he said the Irish can't count on Tennessee's bad fortunes continuing.
"The problem with that is if you start feeling that way, then you're setting yourself up for the trap yourself because then you're starting to think it's going to happen again this week. Before you know it, it doesn't happen and you find yourself on the short end of the stick," he said.
He said he will have no trouble convincing his team the Volunteers are a dangerous opponent. All he has to do is show them a tape of a Tennessee game.
"You can see their speed wide receivers. You can see the runner running through people. You can see the offensive line being dominant. There's plenty of evidence," he said. "This is going to be a very challenging game."
Want's Irish to believe
Weis said he has no doubt the Irish will buy into his message of just how good the Volunteers can be.
"Just as long as those players aren't oblivious to when the coaches put on tape, I think it will be a very easy sell," he said.
After all, it worked for Holtz all those years.