The Shamrock Series didn’t go quite as planned last Saturday
night, but Notre Dame pulled away with a “comfortable” 30-14 win over Purdue. The
Boilermakers gave the Fighting Irish all they could handle for nearly three
quarters, and actually held a 14-10 lead over Notre Dame with 3 minutes
remaining in the first half. However, the Irish responded with an 8-play,
70-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard scramble for a touchdown by Everett
Golson to give Notre Dame a 17-14 lead going into halftime. From that point on,
Notre Dame would take control and add a touchdown and two field goals to put
the Boilermakers away.
Notre Dame was good, but not great on offense which allowed
Purdue to stay in the game longer than expected. The Irish moved the ball
fairly well in the first half, but a missed field goal, a stalled drive that
ended in a field goal, and a fumble in their own territory kept the score
close. For the second week in a row, Notre Dame struggled to run the ball as
well as they would like, forcing Everett Golson to carry the load offensively.
Golson accounted for all three touchdowns (one rushing) and threw for 259 yards
on the night. The Irish had 139 yards rushing on 38 attempts, but Golson was
also their leading rusher with 56 yards. Cam McDaniel, Tarean Folston, and Greg
Bryant combined for only 83 yards on 24 carries, good for just 3.46 yards per
carry. I thought Notre Dame would be able to run the ball with relative ease
against Purdue, so Saturday’s effort is a bit discouraging. Part of the
struggles may have been due to 5th-year senior Christian Lombard
missing the game due to injury, but hopefully the Irish will be able to work
out their kinks with the offensive line during their bye week. Other than
Golson’s performance, the most encouraging thing that came from the offense was
the continued emergence of Will Fuller. Fuller led the Irish with six receptions
for 51 yards and one touchdown. Fuller has been Golson’s favorite target
through three games with 19 catches for225 yards and three scores. Somebody
needed to step up with DaVaris Daniels suspended and T.J. Jones graduated, so
it is nice to see Fuller break out in a big way.
The Irish played pretty well defensively, but they really
turned it on in the second half. Purdue gained 290 yards on offense, but they were
held scoreless in the second half due to two interceptions, three points, and a
turnover on downs. Notre Dame’s success was due in large part to their suffocating
run defense. Purdue was held to just 56 yards on 26 attempts, leaving
quarterback Danny Etling vulnerable to sacks and turnovers due to pressure as
the game progressed. In fact, the Notre Dame defense was so tough that the
Boilermakers failed to reach the red zone in the second half. The defensive
standouts of the game were Romeo Okwara, Jaylon Smith, Joe Schmidt, and Devin
Butler. Okwara led the Irish with 11 tackles and made his presence felt by
combining for a sack and forcing a fumble. Smith accounted for nine tackles, a
sack, and another tackle for loss. Schmidt tallied 8 tackles on the evening and
also put an exclamation point on the victory by intercepting a pass with 1:46
remaining in the game. Butler’s interception with 8:19 remaining all but sealed
the game and the sophomore also chipped in with four solo tackles. Overall, it
was another good performance by a young Irish defense that should only get
better as the season continues.
-Eric Tichelbaut
Twitter: @etichel07
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