Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Taking A Closer Look What Worked • Next man in. Notre Dame suffered a series of injuries during the contest against Purdue and needed to rely upon reserve players in an effort to finish the game with a victory. Sophomore defensive lineman Tony Springmann, sophomore safety Matthias Farley, senior wide receiver Robby Toma, sophomore tight end Ben Koyack and others all answered the bell when they were called upon to fill in for key players on the Irish roster. • Added pressure. The Irish had to prepare for two different quarterbacks in fifth-year senior Caleb TerBush and sixth-year senior Robert Marve, but had no issues applying pressure on both of them through the game. A number of blitzes and line stunts were used, but the majority of the quarterback hurries were man-on-man situations with junior Louis Nix III making a strong push up the middle and forcing Purdue’s signal-callers outside to junior linebacker Prince Shembo and sophomore defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who recorded two quarterback hurries apiece. • Spreading the wealth. Senior tight end Tyler Eifert may be considered the go-to target in Notre Dame’s offense, but first-year starter Everett Golson certainly hasn’t locked in on the future first-round draft pick as his only receiving option. Four different pass catchers — Eifert, sophomore wideout DaVaris Daniels, running back Theo Riddick and wide receiver Robby Toma — notched four receptions each. What Didn’t Work • Procedures. Notre Dame was commendable for the limited amount of mistakes and penalties it had in the season opener against Navy. However, the home opener had a different result. In addition to two of the Irish captains — senior linebacker Manti Te’o and senior offensive tackle Zack Martin — receiving personal fouls on careless plays, Notre Dame made a number of mistakes. Notably, the Irish had an illegal shift that took away a first-down opportunity, had difficulty managing the clock, lined up late defensively when Purdue was ready to snap the football, burned two timeouts in one possession in the first quarter, fumbled a short snap during the center-quarterback exchange and was guilty of multiple false starts despite playing at home. • Protecting the quarterback. Purdue loaded up the box after seeing the Irish primarily use the running game to pound Navy, which forced Notre Dame to pass more in week two, but there weren’t many moments where Golson could get completely comfortable in the pocket without feeling pressure from the backside. The Boilermakers registered five sacks, only one of which wasn’t by a defensive lineman, and still managed to stifle the Irish rushing attack. • Big-down stops. The Notre Dame’s defense kept the Irish alive through the second half with multiple three-and-outs to get the offense right back on the field, but in moments where it mattered most the unit faltered. Purdue was able to enter the red zone on three occasions and scored on each one — two touchdowns and one field goal. All told, the Boilermakers converted three fourth-down plays, including the tying touchdown on fourth-and-10. — Jason Sapp By The Numbers By Lou Somogyi 0: Dates on which Notre Dame, in its 125-year football history, has not won at least one game in the sport’s main calendar days from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30. The two dates it had never won on entering this season were Sept. 1 and Sept. 8. The Irish took care of that with victories over Navy and Purdue. Until this season, Notre Dame had been 0-1 on Sept. 1 and 0-3 on Sept. 8. 2: Sacks recorded by sophomore defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt for the second straight game. That is the first time since 2006 that a Notre Dame defender recorded two QB takedowns in two consecutive contests, with Victor Abiamiri achieving it most recently against Navy and North Carolina. 5: Straight victories against Purdue. That is the fourth-longest winning streak by the Irish versus Purdue in the 84-game series history. The top mark on the list is 11 straight from 1986-96 during the Lou Holtz era, followed by eight straight from 1906-23 and six in a row from 1934-49. 7: Seconds left when sophomore kicker Kyle Brindza drilled the game-winning 27-yard field goal in the 20-17 victory. Notre Dame has recorded only nine victories in school history with less time remaining in regulation, the most recent in 2003 when D.J. Fitzpatrick kicked a 40-yard field as time elapsed to defeat Navy 27-24. 8: Difference in turnovers between Notre Dame’s 2-0 start in 2012 and its 0-2 beginning in 2011. The Irish committed one apiece against Navy and Purdue this year. Last season, they had five each in the setbacks against South Florida and Michigan. 98: Yards receiving by senior All-American Tyler Eifert, a career high. He did it on just four receptions and without the benefit of playing in the fourth quarter because of what was reported to be a slight concussion. His previous high was 93 yards on six catches in last year’s season-opening loss to South Florida, and he also nabbed six passes for 90 yards in the Champs Sports Bowl loss to Florida State. 241: Rushing yards disparity by Notre Dame from the opener against Navy (293) to the ensuing week versus Purdue (52). The Irish actually had 287 yards rushing at Purdue last year, but the Boilermakers’ game plan centered on shutting off the run this time. 289: Yards passing by sophomore Everett Golson, the second most by a Notre Dame quarterback making his first start in Notre Dame Stadium. Terry Hanratty holds the record with 304 in a 26-14 victory versus No. 6 Purdue in 1966, and Golson just nudged ahead of Tom Clements 1972 effort of 287 yards in a 35-14 Irish win versus Purdue.