Irish Offense Piles Up Points

The Notre Dame offense finally put together a performance to match its dominating defense.

Carlyle Holiday tied a school record with four touchdown passes, completing 13 of 25 for 270 yards as the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish beat Rutgers, 42-0, on Saturday.

“Our offense did a great job of playing the way I think they can,” Coach Tyrone Willingham said after Notre Dame gained a season-high 478 yards.

The victory gave Notre Dame (10-1) its first 10-win season since going 11-1 in 1993. It also gave Willingham the most wins by a first-year Irish coach, passing the marks of 9-1 by Ara Parseghian in 1964 and Terry Brennan in 1954.

“That is about our team, our assistant coaches and our team,” Willingham said of the 10 wins. “They are the ones who deserve the credit.”

Willingham took over a 5-6 team and has the Irish on the brink of a bowl championship series berth. A win at seventh-ranked USC on Saturday would clinch a spot for Notre Dame, which could wind up in either the Orange or Sugar Bowl after the final BCS standings are released Dec. 8.

The Irish have struggled at times with Willingham’s complex West Coast offense. But against the weak Scarlet Knights (1-10), the offense had no problems.

Holiday threw touchdown passes of 38 and 63 yards to Arnaz Battle, who had three catches for 108 yards, and added a 37-yarder to Omar Jenkins and a 26-yarder to Maurice Stovall for his the first four-touchdown game -- tying a school record shared by five others.

Holiday, who threw three touchdown passes last season and one through four games this season, has nine touchdown passes in the last six games.

The 42 points are the most for the Fighting Irish since they scored 45 against Rutgers two years ago.

Ryan Grant rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown in 18 carries, giving him 1,001 yards for the season. He is only the seventh Irish running back to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. Autry Denson (1998, 1,176 yards) was the last to do it.

Shane Walton returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown. It was Walton’s seventh interception this season, the most by an Irish player since Todd Lyght had eight in 1989.