Blue and Gold Illustrated

Sept. 29. 2014 Issue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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IN THE TRENCHES ANDREW OWENS O nce again, Notre Dame left the field against Purdue wanting more. For the third consecutive year, the Irish struggled to put away the Boiler- makers despite Purdue's futility — this season, look no further than the pre- vious week's 38-17 blowout defeat at home to Central Michigan. After Notre Dame pitched the first shutout any program had achieved against Michigan in 30 years, Irish fol- lowers hoped for — and expected — them to cruise to an easy win the fol- lowing week against Purdue at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. That didn't happen. While the Irish eventually won 30-14, winning was not as easy as the score may indicate. Notre Dame trailed for the first time this season when Purdue scored to take a 14-10 lead with three minutes left in the first half. Short-term ease might not have rep- resented the long-term benefit for a young Irish team still finding itself. "Absolutely," replied head coach Brian Kelly when asked whether early adversity can be a positive. "You know you're going to face it. At some time, it's going to present itself to you. So it's a matter of how are your teammates going to respond and how are your players going to respond. "I thought [against Purdue] they re- sponded very well. You know you're The Irish Persevere Despite Adversity Head coach Brian Kelly believes the early dose of adversity his young team faced against Purdue could benefit it later in the season. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA

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