SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis managed to joke about his reputation as an offensive guru following his team’s worst offensive performance since he arrived.

“We’ve been practicing this game plan for three weeks. How’d I do?” Weis deadpanned Sunday.

When reporters at his news conference didn’t respond, he said: “I was supposed to get a chuckle out of you at least, OK?”

Fighting Irish fans were in no laughing mood following the 33-3 loss Saturday to Georgia Tech – the worst season-opening loss in Notre Dame history. It was the third straight game the Irish were soundly beaten, dating back to a 41-14 loss to LSU in the Sugar Bowl and a 44-24 loss to USC in the regular-season finale.

But even more frustrating was that the Irish offense looked inept against the Yellow Jackets as Weis went through three quarterbacks trying to find a spark. Demetrius Jones tried to run the ball and Evan Sharpley and Jimmy Clausen tried to pass, but none of them could find any room as the Georgia Tech defense repeatedly overpowered the Irish line.

“They whupped us pretty good up front,” Weis said.

The Irish quarterbacks were sacked nine times for a loss of 69 yards, including Sharpley being sacked seven times. Even subtracting the sack yardage from the rushing total, four Irish backs managed 44 yards rushing on 17 carries. Starting tailback Travis Thomas lost 7 yards on seven carries and the Irish line was repeatedly stuffed on short yardage situations.

Weis doesn’t think the Irish line didn’t have the physical ability to play with Georgia Tech.

“I thought the speed of the game, especially the offensive front against their defensive front, we were playing at two different tempos,” he said.

The Irish ran 64 offensive plays Saturday. Eighteen ended in lost yardage and 10 led to no gain, meaning nearly 44 percent of the plays resulted in no gains or worse. And two of the plays for gains ended in fumbles.

The Irish also had communication problems as the players were unable to make the adjustments the coaching staff sought, Weis said.

“When you make an adjustment and it doesn’t show up the way you make it, I’ve always been taught that no matter whether you tell the guys or not, until they get it, you didn’t tell them enough or you didn’t explain it enough,” he said. “Until they get it, there’s a communication problem.”

The biggest concern for Weis is that he knew the problems Georgia Tech posed, but the Irish couldn’t do anything about it.

“Not being able to apply the answers to the problems was the thing that was really disappointing,” he said.

Now the Irish must get ready to play at Penn State on Saturday and face the same questions Irish fans have wanted to know the answers to since last January: Who will start at quarterback and what kind of offense will the Irish run?

Weis planned to meet with his staff before announcing his decision Tuesday. Jones, Sharpley and Clausen all will be considered, and the type of offense Notre Dame runs depends on starter.

“You still have to utilize the skills of the person you’re using at quarterback,” Weis said. “I still have to wait and see which direction we’re going to go and set it around what that guy can do.”

AP-ES-09-02-07 1638EDT