Hard luck ND, UConn seek to end losing streaks

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Notre Dame and Connecticut keep coming up a play short.

They do it in dramatically different styles, but the common theme heading into their game on Saturday is this: Their seasons could be drastically different if someone could have come up with a key tackle, catch or run.

The Huskies (4-5) keep getting ahead and finding ways to lose. The Fighting Irish keep getting behind and falling short in their comeback attempts.

“We can talk about having hard luck and tough losses and losing four games by 18 points,” Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said. “But UConn's had it even tougher than us. They've lost five games by a total of 15 points.”

UConn has blown fourth-quarter leads in four of their losses. They were up 10-0 against North Carolina, 21-6 against Pittsburgh and 24-21 against both West Virginia and Rutgers.

“When we get ahead, we just haven't had the ability to make that one play to get that crucial stop at the end of the ball game,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said. “It might be confidence in players that haven't been in that situation, the need to make a play to gain that confidence or a matter of not executing the call properly and just a step out of place.”

It's been the opposite problem for the Irish. They've been too far behind to start the fourth quarter. They trailed 31-20 at Michigan, 34-14 to USC, 21-7 to Navy and 27-9 at Pittsburgh. They lost each game by a touchdown or less.

Weis is trying to figure out why his team can't play with more urgency earlier in the game, saying he posed that question to the team in the locker room after the Pitt loss last week.

“If I had that answer, we would have answered it a long time ago,” Weis said. “We've tried about every mode. We've tried no huddle. We've tried blitzing on every down. We've tried not blitzing. We tried change of personnel. I mean, you keep on fighting to try to find the answer, and we'll try to do that again this week.”

Weis also is concerned about how the seniors will handle their emotions in their final game at Notre Dame Stadium, remembering that last season the Irish squandered a 13-point fourth-quarter lead to a Syracuse squad that finished the season 3-9.

Weis called that loss one of his biggest regrets because those seniors “walked out of here for the last time with a loss. It was a gut-wrenching feeling that stayed with you for some time.”

Both teams are seeking to end losing streaks. The Irish have lost two straight, leading to speculation that Weis could be fired following the season. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said he will evaluate the program after the season is over.

The Huskies have lost three straight, all since the stabbing death of cornerback Jasper “Jazz” Howard on Oct. 18. Edsall said the team has continued to move forward.

“But everybody in their own way is going to handle their memories and how they're going to handle Jazz. I know this, it's something I'll never get over,” he said. “You just don't get over that.”

Notre Dame tailback Armando Allen Jr. knew Howard growing up in the Miami area and they worked out together.

“He always wanted to do more. It's like if we were working out together and the workout ended, he'd say, 'Let's do some extra stuff,”' Allen said. “He was one of those guys willing to do whatever to do the best at whatever he was doing.”

The game also brings the return of UConn quarterback Zach Frazer to Notre Dame. He signed with the Irish in 2006, but transferred following the spring of 2007 when he found out he had finished fourth in the four-man competition to replace Brady Quinn.

He downplayed the significance of playing some former teammates.

“You can't look back. I'm happy where I am and excited to play the team that I once was a part of. But it is just another game,” he said.

He concedes, though, there will be something special about starting a game at Notre Dame Stadium.

“I think everybody dreams to play at Notre Dame or against Notre Dame,” he said. “I'm fortunate to do both, to go there and now play against them.”