Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: PURDUE than simply prevent against the deep ball. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Purdue's Cody Webster boasted one of the better legs in the Big Ten, but the punter has moved on, leav- ing relatively inexperienced junior Thomas Meadows to handle those duties. Williams returned two punts for 63 yards in the opener, another area where his speed can be put on display, just as Hunt does on kick returns. Given Notre Dame's punt and kick coverage woes in the past, either Williams or Hunt could flip field position very quickly. The Irish displayed an unexpected ability to return punts against Rice compiling 80 yards on five returns, but it will take more than one performance to elimi- nate residual worries from the previous four years. However, senior Kyle Brindza is as steady as the come as both a placekicker and punter. Advantage: Even COACHING Brian Kelly has beaten Purdue in each of his four years at the Irish helm, the only school over which he can claim a 4-0 record in his Notre Dame tenure. After a rocky first two years, Kelly has fared well in the last two at beating teams that his Notre Dame team should top. Purdue this year falls into that category. In his second season in West Lafayette, Darrell Ha- zell can only go up. Last season's 1-11 record featured a highlight of beating Indiana State, a member of the Football Championship Series, and that was only by the score of 20-14. Hazell needs to find a few wins this season before a daunting Big Ten schedule arrives at his doorstep. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Notre Dame's academic investigation has clouded the beginning of the season, but the Irish have made it a ritual to show up at the Shamrock Series focused and motivated, winning the five contests by an aver- age of 23.8 points. Though Indianapolis is barely a destination location for Indianans, the in-state rivalry aspect of this matchup marks the locale with bragging rights stakes. Purdue will need to play well beyond its experi- ence to stay collected in massive Lucas Oil Stadium, an environment far more similar to Notre Dame's weekly contests. Advantage: Notre Dame Junior Frankie Williams made the move to safety after two years at cornerback, and notched seven tackles, broke up two passes and intercepted another in his first game at his new position. PHOTO COURTESY PURDUE