Posted on: Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Oregon St. tops Notre Dame
| • | Tomey joins San Jose State |
By Bob Baum
Associated Press
PHOENIX — Notre Dame's "win one for Ty" vow was only a fantasy. Derek Anderson's arm and the leaky Irish secondary made sure of that.
Matt York • Associated Press Anderson, in his final game for the Beavers, tied an Insight record with four touchdown passes, two to tight end Joe Newton.
The 6-foot-6 quarterback completed 28 of 45 passes for 358 yards with no interceptions.
Anderson, the game's offensive MVP, moved ahead of Steve Stenstrom to No. 2 on the Pac-10 career yards passing list with 11,249. Only Carson Palmer (11,818) had more.
"Derek is a very, very good quarterback," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "Since we've known him, he has constantly gotten better. It's been really fun working with him, because he's like a sponge. He just loves to learn and get better. I wish we had another year."
The Irish (6-6) had talked about winning the game for coach Tyrone Willingham, fired at the end of the regular season. But Sammie Strough-ter's 52-yard punt return and Derrick Doggett's blocked punt helped Oregon State to an early 21-0 lead.
"The short field position the first half just killed us," Notre Dame interim coach Kent Baer said. "The blocked punt, and the punt return, you take that away, and it's a much closer game — but that's all part of it."
Brady Quinn threw two touchdown passes as Notre Dame twice cut the lead to 10 points, the last on an 18-yard throw to Rhema McKnight that made it 31-21 with 4:52 left.
The Irish onside kick try backfired and left Oregon State at the Notre Dame 28. Dwight Wright's 3-yard TD run with 3:19 left sealed the victory.
Paul Connors • Associated Press The Irish, meanwhile, lost their seventh consecutive bowl game. Notre Dame's last postseason victory was in the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 1993 season.
Oregon State improved to 2-0 against Notre Dame. Five seasons ago, the Beavers pounded the Irish, 41-9, just down the road at the Fiesta Bowl.
The Irish pass defense crumbled in three consecutive season-ending losses, allowing 14 TD passes against Pittsburgh, Southern California and Oregon State.
The Beavers had TD drives of only 26, 4 and 45 yards to take their early lead, then went 90 yards in 12 plays midway through the second half after Notre Dame had cut the lead to 24-14. Anderson's 1-yard TD toss to Newton capped the long drive and it was 31-14 with 12:17 to play.
With Willingham ousted, and hired as head coach at Washington, the Irish played under Baer, Notre Dame's defensive coordinator. New Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, takes over the Irish program when his NFL season ends.
"I'd be lying if I told you it didn't affect some people," Quinn said. "I think this team dealt with this situation that we were given as good as any team could."
The capacity crowd of 45,917 was the largest since the Insight Bowl moved to Bank One Ballpark six years ago. The roof was open at kickoff, but was closed in the first quarter as a light rain fell.
Anderson and Oregon State finished off Notre Dame's dreary season with a 38-21 beating of the Irish last night in the Insight Bowl.
Oregon State's George Gillett celebrates after his touchdown catch in the first quarter.
After a 1-4 start, Oregon State (7-5) won six of its last seven games.
Oregon State quarterback Derek Anderson scrambles ahead of Notre Dame's Chris Frome during the second quarter.
