Purdue Preview

Looking at Purdue’s body of work so far this season, Saturday night’s game should not even be close.  The Irish should use this as a bounce back game to build some confidence after their loss to Michigan and a tune-up for the rest of the season. Both teams are 1-1 after two games, but these two teams are in very different worlds.

The Boilermakers win was a six point victory over a FCS Indiana State team by the score of 20-14 (an Indiana State team who lost to Indiana the week before 73-35).  Their loss was a 42 – 7 shellacking by the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Offensively, Purdue is, well, pretty awful.  27 points in two games (20 against a lowly FCS team and a running game averaging 2.9 yards per carry).  Purdue’s passing game has a total of 311 yards

With all that being said, this is still an in-state rivalry game with the Shillelagh Trophy at stake.  Purdue and Notre Dame first faced off in 1896 and have played every year since 1946.  Notre Dame has the series lead 56-26-2.

Don’t expect this game to be nearly as close as last year’s 20-17 contest.  New head coach Darrell Hazell (from Kent State) has a long road ahead of him in West Lafayette and this Saturday’s game against Notre Dame is not going to make this trip down that road any easier.  The Boilermakers will be up for this game and should be pretty fired up to prove their worth as former 3-star recruits going up against future NFL Pros.

As for the Irish, there are a lot of things to look for on Saturday.  Obviously, Notre Dame needs to have a strong showing on both sides of the ball and get back on the winning track.  The coaching staff could take this opportunity to rest the likes of T.J. Jones who is a bit banged up with a shoulder injury.  He could play, but there is no need to further aggravate his shoulder against the team they should defeat handily, especially with receivers like Brown, Robinson, Onwualu, and Smith needing to prove their potential.

Once a comfortable lead is established (and admittedly I am not sure what that is), this is a great chance for Kelly and his staff to work in the second and third teams.  At running back we have what we know (at least to some extent) – in Atkinson, Carlisle and McDaniel - and what we hope we have - in Bryant, Folston and Mahone.  Let’s see what we hope is what we’ll get.

Others players who should get some work in while they can (before they have to) include back-up quarterback Andrew Hendrix and offensive lineman Steve Elmer.

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Feeling Blue

Before we rip apart the culprit of Notre Dame’s loss to Michigan - the Irish sefense - I want to commend Michigan’s offense.  Overall, the Wolverines offense was better than advertised even after dominating Central Michigan the week before.  Devin Gardner looked to be more than just a suitable signal caller to lead Michigan’s storied program into the future.  Hats off as well to receiver Jeremy Gallon (8 receptions, 184 yards and 3 touchdowns) and running back Fitzgerald Toussaint (22 carries for 71 yards).

If you told me we would score 30 points (seven via the defense) in Ann Arbor Saturday night I would have thought for sure the Irish would come out with a win.  If anyone told me that the Irish defense would surrender 41points while giving up 460 yards of offense (294 passing / 166 rushing) I would have never believed it.

The Irish offense, led by Tommy Rees, looked more than solid with 410 yards of offense and 314 of them through the air.  With those kinds of numbers I can even overlook the two interceptions.  Rees still had some limitations and flaws but with his second 300+ yard passing game of the season you expect some better defensive support.  I liken it to a pitcher in baseball having a good game but not receiving run support.

The Irish running game looked decent, but there needs to be some changes made.  In my opinion, George Atkinson should not be the number one back.  GAIII has skills and more than a few glimpses of greatness (5 rushes, 37 yards); but Amir Carlisle (12 carries, 64 yards) looks like he has the overall advantage coming out of the backfield.  Cam McDaniel needs more touches (1 rush, 4 yards).

Defensively, the Irish not only bent but broke, I would say with a compound fracture.  If you looked only at the stats line you might think things weren’t that bad - eight tackles for a loss (-27 yards), three pass break ups, one sack (-8 yards) and one interception (for a touchdown).  However, the two numbers that override everything are 41 (points allowed) and 1 (loss).

The Irish defensive secondary was not supposed to be a major liability this season. 

Okay, now back to work and onward to Purdue.