Irish quarterback Brady Quinn wasn't too satisfied after Saturday's 34-10 Notre Dame win over Syracuse.
He said he thought he had not played that poorly since Michigan on Sept. 10 when he completed 19-of-30 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. The three-year starter was 21-of-37 for 270 yards and two touchdowns against the Orange.
But completing less than 60 percent of his passes for just the third time this season and throwing for 50 yards below his season average of 320 yards per game left him disappointed - which is just what Charlie Weis wants to see.
The Notre Dame coach said at his Sunday press conference that Quinn's lack of satisfaction with his performance is a sign of the quarterback's growth through 10 games playing as the starting quarterback for Weis in his first year as a college head coach.
"Good or bad, he's starting to be more like me," Weis said. "There's good and bad in that, but he has raised the expectation of his own play, which I personally believe is a good thing. So now those numbers, to a lot of other people, would be impressive, but to him that's disappointing and that makes me feel good that he thinks like that."
Quinn might have had good reason to feel disappointed, though. He has steadily raised expectations of many this season after throwing for 29 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions. His top two receivers, Maurice Stovall and Jeff Samardzija, have shared in his success - teaming for 116 receptions for 1,886 yards and 23 touchdowns.
So his play against Syracuse, which boasted the nation's No. 6 pass defense entering the matchup, did not sit well with Quinn.
"You look at his statistics, everyone thought he had a horrible game," Weis said. "It's just that we're getting used to him completing every pass."
Weis said Quinn's leadership and confidence has improved along with his passing statistics this season.
"Leadership has to be something that you really have," Weis said. "It can't be something that's fabricated. He obviously has it."
Notes:
u Chase Anastasio was named by Weis as special teams captain for this week based on his performance against the Orange. The Irish wide receiver partially blocked two Syracuse punts from his position on the edge of the Notre Dame punt block formation.
"I was pleased with the punt coverage," Weis said. "Chase I thought played a really, really excellent game."
u Weis didn't leave a lot of time for sleep after the victory Saturday. The coach was up until near midnight watching several college football games on television, then rose just after 4 a.m. to begin his Sunday routine of watching film of Syracuse and beginning to plan for next week's game against Stanford.
"I really tried to get a peek at four different games ... I'm driving my wife nuts," Weis said. "I watched a little of the Stanford-California game and the USC-Fresno State game and finally called it a night about quarter to 12, because that alarm clock was ringing about quarter after four, and I thought enough was enough by that time."
