Bronco should borrow Y.'s 1994 game plan

SOUTH BEND, IND. — It has been 11 years since BYU defeated the Fighting Irish 21-14 on a mid-October day in Notre Dame Stadium back in 1994.

One lingering memory is Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz taking an official in a headlock to demonstrate how BYU offensive linemen were slowing down his pass rushers bent on taking off the head of Cougar quarterback John Walsh.

That snapshot was classic.

That day, Cougar running back Jamal Willis caught a 19-yard touchdown pass and scored another touchdown , a 1-yard run. Kicker David Lauder kicked field goals of 47 and 49 yards and Hema Heimuli caught a two-point conversion pass to cap Cougar scoring.

That day, the Cougars turned to a balanced attack, mixing passes from Walsh and runs from Willis to force Notre Dame into covering all its weapons. Walsh finished 17 of 31 for 216 yards. He threw one interception and was sacked four times. Willis gained 75 yards on 18 carries as the Cougars rushed 37 times for 117 yards.

BYU could take a similar game plan into today's game with the Fighting Irish.

But Willis said back then, Norm Chow didn't go into the game with a plan to run the football that many times.

"Oh, we had a script for all the plays in the game plan — what we'd do," Willis said. "But Chow called the game based on what the defense gave us, and the run was there that day. He said we were going to go in and mix it up and see how they reacted."

Willis, who was the star of that game, now works for BYU's athletic staff as an academic coach in the Student Athlete Center. He still passes the bus test. He is only 10 pounds over his playing weight of 215 in 1994 and when he made the roster of the San Francisco 49ers.

Willis remembers the Notre Dame game as a highlight of his career. That 1994 team ended up 10-3 and defeated Oklahoma in the Copper Bowl.

"The thing I remember most is the big-time atmosphere there at Notre Dame. It's something you grow up seeing on TV and to just walk on that field was a realization of a dream to play Notre Dame. Not every football player gets that experience.

"The thing that impressed me was how much class the people had at Notre Dame. After the game, the fans congratulated us for playing well, even through they were disappointed in losing. They know their football out there, and that day they gave us all the credit for playing the way we did. How Notre Dame fans support their football stood out the most in my mind about that game."