The night before every game, Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz dims the lights for his players and asks them to lie down on the carpet, relax as a group and imagine the next day`s battle.
Last Friday, Holtz asked each of his players to visualize the opening play of the game against Michigan State. He didn`t tell them what the play was, but he wanted each player to mentally go through the steps of execution and visualize its success.
On Saturday, Holtz approached quarterback Rick Mirer and asked him which play he had gone through the night before.
”He said, `Pass 53,` ” Holtz related.
Then Holtz posed the same question, individually, to receiver Lake Dawson, receiver Ray Griggs and offensive coordinator Skip Holtz.
Like Mirer, they answered, ”Pass 53.” It was unanimous. So Holtz set aside conservative gridiron gospel and, to the shock of his quarterback, his speedy receiving corps and Irish fans, opened the game against Michigan State with ”Pass 53.”
Mirer faked a handoff to Reggie Brooks, faded back and hit Dawson, who had found a seam in the middle, for a 43-yard gain.
”I just thought it was something that should go,” Holtz said about the first play in a 52-31 rout by Notre Dame (2-0-1).
The play opened the way for a free-wheeling Irish attack taking advantage of a Michigan State defense set to stop the ground game. Mirer, who passed for three touchdowns in the first 15:34, threw for 253 yards in the first half.
In addition to the opening play to Dawson, he completed seven other passes of 17 yards or more, including a 59-yard bomb to Dawson and a 39-yard scoring toss to Griggs.
”I love to see our offense work as a machine like that,” said Dawson, who is becoming Mirer`s favorite receiver. ”It shows we`re very versatile and we can hurt you in a lot of ways.”
Mirer, Dawson and other receivers were on campus during the summer, practicing their patterns and timing, and the work has paid off. After catching no passes in the opener, Dawson caught six for 89 yards against Michigan and five for 126 yards against Michigan State.
Next Saturday, Notre Dame`s new aerial attack will zero in on Purdue
(1-1), which upset California in its opener but then was stunned Saturday by Toledo 33-29.
