Irish will emphasize running the ball in ’09

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Notre Dame offensive line coach Frank Verducci drew the biggest crowd of all the Fighting Irish assistant coaches at media day Friday.

“Usually we’re way over in the corner,” Verducci joked.

The reason for the crowd was Notre Dame’s inability to run the ball in recent seasons. The Irish have posted the three worst rushing seasons in school history, averaging just 109.7 yards a game in going 7-6 last season. And that was a lot better than the 75.3-yard average when the Irish went 3-9 the season before.

Coach Charlie Weis believes the Irish need to establish the run so teams can’t focus on stopping the passing attack.

The Irish were 5-1 last season in games where they rushed for at least 100 yards and 2-5 in games when they rushed for less.

“If you can’t run the football effectively and they shut down the pass game, you put yourself behind the eight ball,” Weis said.

Weis did a study of last year’s Bowl Championship Series teams and found they averaged 4.6 yards per run. The Irish averaged 3.3 yards a carry last year and 2.1 yards the year before. The last time they averaged 4.6 yards a carry was in 1998, when Autry Denson rushed for 1,176 yards.

Weis said he’s confident the Irish will be better at running the ball. He listed experience as one of the main reasons.

The Irish return four of the five starters from last year’s offensive line. The only position without a returning starter is left tackle, and Paul Duncan started the season before after missing last year because of hip surgery.

Weis believes the Irish are deeper at line than in his previous four seasons at Notre Dame, saying it’s the first time they can go three deep at every line position.The key for the Irish is to learn how to adjust to the unexpected, Verducci said.