For a guy who has below average arm strength, lacked touch on deep balls, and not the best of size, he squeezed out every drop of performance humanly possible, and became one of the all-time greats of ND football.
His football IQ is easily one of the highest among any player, and his gunslinging instincts were great.
I'd even argue that he had to do more with less, since WR development wasn't very good during his time at ND, and the running back stable was good, but not great.
That, plus the QB coaching and development under Tommy Rees wasn't good, either.