Tomorrow night, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (1-1, 21st
ranked) travel to West Lafayette to take on their in-state rivals, the Purdue
Boilermakers (1-1). The atmosphere at Ross-Ade Stadium won’t be quite like what
the Irish saw last weekend in Ann Arbor, but the Purdue fans will be more than
ready for this game.
Despite the in-state rival and raucous environment, I don’t
expect this game to be particularly close. Last week, Notre Dame certainly had
their hands full defensively with the mobility of Devin Gardner, and even
struggled a bit to contain Temple’s quarterback, Connor Reilly, in the opener.
Purdue’s quarterback, Rob Henry, will also present some issues in containment,
but he isn’t as skilled as a runner as Gardner, so the Irish should be able to
bottle him up. In addition, Purdue doesn’t have the same caliber of weapons
surrounding their quarterback as Michigan did. In fact, running back Akeem Hunt
is the only real top-level player that I could think of off the top of my head.
If the Boilermakers are going to make this game interesting, then Hunt needs to
have a big game. The Irish front seven should be able to keep Hunt in check, as
they have against most traditional run plays, thus forcing Purdue to throw more
often. If that is the case, then the Irish secondary needs to step up and
shutdown a weaker passing attack. Purdue doesn’t have the big-play receivers to
stretch the field, so I expect the Irish defense to have a bounce-back
performance.
Offensively, the Irish should be able to do just about whatever
they want against the Boilermaker defense. Purdue’s defense got stomped in week
one versus Cincinnati and the Irish need to attack them early and often. I
would like to see Brian Kelly open up the playbook early and try to throw the
ball vertically down the field. With T.J. Jones, DaVaris Daniels, and Troy
Niklas, I don’t think Purdue has the size or athleticism to keep up with the
Notre Dame playmakers. Once the Irish build a comfortable lead, I expect a
heavy dose of the running game. The Irish have plenty of talented backs to
choose from, and all of them figure to see some touches. If the Irish have a
nice cushion in the second half, it would be especially nice to see the
freshmen Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston get an extended look.
Notre Dame has four
difficult games coming up after this road contest, so hopefully they will get
back on track with a well-played victory.
Prediction: Notre
Dame 34, Purdue 10
-Eric Tichelbaut
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