Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: PURDUE man Sheldon Day and sophomore linebacker Jaylon Smith. The Irish limited Rice's prolific rushing at- tack to just 3.5 yards per carry (141 yards on 40 attempts), and should be able to contain Mostert and Hunt. Advantage: Notre Dame PURDUE PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Sophomore signal-caller Danny Etling completed only 19 of 38 throws (50.0 percent) against Western Michigan in the season opener, well below the 66.7 percent completion rate he achieved over the final three contests last season. However, he threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns with no intercep- tions en route to putting 43 points on the scoreboard against the Broncos. Etling averaged 290 yards over the final three games in 2013, once he overcame freshman nerves in the pocket. Throughout his debut season, he threw to a thin receiving corps, targeting Hunt (38 grabs for 340 yards and two touchdowns) and then-redshirt junior tight end Justin Sinz (41 catches for 340 yards and four scores) the most. Sinz continued that trend to start 2014, with seven catches for 64 yards and a score in Purdue's opener. Without team captain and fifth-year senior safety Austin Collinsworth, who is sidelined two to four weeks with a knee injury, directing traffic in the sec- ondary, the Irish yielded scoring throws of 26 and 53 yards versus Rice. Better communication from young safeties Elijah Shumate and Max Redfield is required, but Notre Dame should be able to contain Purdue's aerial attack. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. PURDUE RUN DEFENSE Notre Dame's offensive line outweighs Purdue's defensive line by an average of 26.7 pounds per lineman. The Irish offensive line returns four starters, while the Boilermakers defensive line brings back one, though that one is fifth-year senior end Ryan Russell, who happened to make two tackles for loss versus Notre Dame a season ago. Two sophomores — Ra'Zahn Howard and Jake Replogle — join Russell and senior Jalani Phillips on the line, but that inexperienced group yielded 213 rushing yards and 6.7 yards per carry to Western Michigan. Five different Notre Dame rushers gained at least 40 yards against Rice in the opener — a first since the Irish defeated Boston College 48-21 on Nov. 9, 1996, in Lou Holtz's final season as head coach. The five were: sophomore running backs Tarean Folston and Greg Bryant with 71 yards apiece, sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire with 58, senior quarter- back Everett Golson with 41 and senior running back/captain Cam McDaniel with 40. Based on their advantages in experience and size, the Irish should have similar success against Purdue. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. PURDUE PASS DEFENSE The Boilermakers lost their top two cornerbacks, including Ricardo Allen who has caught on with the Atlanta Falcons practice squad. In his stead, junior Frankie Williams has taken on the lead role in the secondary. Williams, who moved to safety this year after two seasons at cornerback, started the season with seven tackles and an interception against West- ern Michigan, returning the pick 56 yards to set up a Boilermakers touchdown. But with a deep and balanced Irish receiving corps, Golson should be able to avoid Williams and pick the rest of the Boilermakers secondary apart. With se- nior DaVaris Daniels sidelined by the academic fraud investigation, sophomore Will Fuller and junior C.J. Prosise both made big plays against Rice, hauling in 75- and 53-yard scoring throws, respectively. Furthermore, senior tight end Ben Koyack will force Purdue to cover all parts of the field, rather