It was a good win and a well played game Saturday night. Unfortunately, I cannot say great win and a perfectly executed game. Brian Kelly said it early on in his career in South Bend, “There is being the head coach and then there is being the head coach at Notre Dame.” For most teams this is a big win and a statement game, and most fans would be thrilled. Notre Dame is not most teams and Irish Fans are not most fans. Since this game put Notre Dame north of the 500 mark, let’s start with the good.
The offense had two running backs rushing for a total of 299 yards including Cierra Wood’s 20 carries averaging 9.6 yards a rush. Tommy Rees passed for 254 yards with three touchdowns (Floyd, Eifert and Jones) and…wait for it…NO interceptions. Floyd becomes Notre Dame’s all time 100-yard game receiver with 12 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown.
The defense did a great job against the run, limiting all eight Purdue rushes to a combined 105 yards, none gaining more than 25 yards.
Also, I was really impressed with the backups, especially on defense. I am looking forward to the athletic ability of this team in the years to come.
Now, let’s look at the “not bad.” Ben Turk averaged 44 yards a punt with one within the 20; this is not good, but definitely an improvement for him. The defense also sacked Purdue quarterback Caleb TerBush twice and picked him off once. Although the two fumbles are ugly, the fact that the Irish recovered both of them makes it not bad. George Atkinson had three kickoff returns for 76 yards, and I like to see him come out of the backfield. If he can return punts, he becomes even more valuable (I’ll address this later in the “ugly” section). Tommy Rees is getting better at the line of scrimmage, changing the play, or not changing the play with time running down on the play clock.
I know it’s hard to believe that there is an ugly side to a 38-10 win, but there was. As far at punt returns go, John Goodman couldn’t return a phone call. He continued his awful season with two return “attempts” for a total of -3 yards. Penalties, which represent mental mistakes, continued to plague the Irish (8 for 85 yards including two personal fouls by Lynch and Cowart), displaying a lack of discipline. Back to special teams, David Ruffer went one for three on Saturday, and one of those misses was at the hands of a block. This could be the worst of the worse down the road for the Irish. Kickoff coverage is still weak at best, giving up over 21.5 yards per return, but what makes it worse is that Brindza is kicking the ball very long, and the Irish could be pinning opposing offenses very deep.
The Irish still seem to have their difficulties finishing in the red zone, as there were several opportunities for touchdowns where they had to settle for field goal attempts. This is linked to their poor play at crucial times. Notre Dame was 4 for 11 on third down conversions. If the offense can increase that rate and continue drives, more scoring will come, or at least better field position for the defense to work with. With over 30 first downs and the offense moving the ball between the 20’s, the Irish are still having good drives with no points, and against good teams, we’ll end up with a loss.
Lastly, I was totally disgusted with a statement statistic that was glaring at me through the entire fourth quarter. I know that the only statistic that truly counts is on the scoreboard, and that Brian Kelly is not (and most coaches should not be) concerned with individual records and statistics, but as he himself said, “There is being the head coach and then there is being the head coach at Notre Dame”. Cierra Wood already had a 100 yard game in the bag (he finished with 191) and Jonas Gray, who finished with 94 yards, was denied the opportunity to get a 100-yard game. From what I can see, the last time Gray touched the ball, there was more than eight minutes left in the game, the ball was on the Purdue four yard line and Brain Kelly’s offense runs two pass attempts (both incomplete) and the Irish would have two more possessions after Ruffer’s field goal. I understand Kelly does not know everyone’s stats during the game, but someone on that staff has to know what’s going on. Gray, a senior who Kelly swears by, was denied a 100 yards game by six yards. I was told, for all intents purposes, it’s a hundred yard game and six yards is not a big deal. Well, if it’s not a big deal, why can’t Gray get at least one rush attempt for it? To add to this frustration, Cam McDaniel, a true freshman running back, burns a year of eligibility to get one rush for one yard.
Some random notes and observations include the fact that Dayne Crist was the next QB in the game and went one for one for 10 yards. Again, I like Dayne, and if Tommy goes down during a game, Dayne is who I want stepping in, but the next game I want to see Hendrix starting. If it’s an optional next man in as it was on Saturday, Crist has earned the right of first refusal. However, let’s get Andrew some snaps and keep Golson on the sidelines and retain a year of eligibility.
The defense looked decent against the option plays, which will serve them well down the road against teams like Navy.
Oh yeah, by the way, Michael Floyd looked like a senior playing against high school freshmen and Eifert is too fast to be covered by a linebacker and too big to be covered by a defensive back. What to do?
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