The 'Weis' man of Notre Dame does it again in defeat to Stanford, 45-38

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Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis surveys the damage

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Goodbye Charlie – and don't let the door slam behind you.

If you wanted a microcosm of all that was wrong with Notre Dame under football coach Charlie Weis, then Stanford's march down the field for their winning touchdown was the best example.

A powderpuff Notre Dame defense that would have trouble stopping the Stanford band – never mind a  runaway Heisman trophy candidate – conceded the inevitable touchdown with a minute to go.

Charlie doesn't do defense. Like Charlie Brown, the ball always gets taken away form him at the last moment – and Saturday night was no different.

Before the final Stanford touchdown, Weis had a fourth and two from this own 35-yard line to keep the Notre Dame drive alive.

What did he have to lose? If they got the first down the way quarterback Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate were playing, a touchdown would have resulted. If they missed, Stanford would just have scored earlier and made Weis' chance of marching back down the field for the tying score easier.

That is not Weis' way. If there's a fork in the road, he takes the wrong branch.

He punted and literally kicked away any hope of a bowl game for the Irish.

Weis never really got the defense thing during his time at Notre Dame. He gave the impression it was an afterthought, a mere add-on to building the best offense since Joe Montana.

He did build a great quarterback in Clausen, and two great wide receivers, but this is a 22-man game – and the glaring weaknesses he left in the secondary and at the line of scrimmage on defense were never addressed.

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