Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Purdue Game Notes By Dan Murphy and Wes Morgan The Walking Wounded For the second week in a row, Notre Dame emptied its bench during the second half of the football game. This time around it was out of necessity. Notre Dame suffered a string of injuries during the second and third quarters that turned many of its top contributors into spectators for the dramatic finish of Notre Dame’s 20‑17 win over Purdue. Seven Notre Dame players exited the game at some point due to injury. “The story for me as the head coach is our mantra: next man in,” head coach Brian Kelly said. “We had two captains out and a leader in our secondary in Jamoris Slaughter, but our guys kept fighting. The next guy came in and battled.” Kelly didn’t have definitive word on any of the injuries immediately following the game, but the casualty list for the Irish reads something like this: fifth-year defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore strained his left calf early in the second quarter; Slaughter suffered a shoulder injury in a big collision while breaking up a pass play shortly before halftime; senior tight end Tyler Eifert was held out of play for the entire fourth quarter with a slight concussion; sophomore wide receiver DaVaris Daniels sprained his ankle in the end zone shortly before Notre Dame’s second touchdown of the game in the third quarter; sophomore linebacker Ishaq Williams suffered an elbow injury; freshman defensive end Sheldon Day went to locker room during the second half because of dehydration; and, finally, senior kicker Nick Tausch was scratched prior to the opening kick because of a groin strain. None of the injuries are expected to be long-term problems for the Irish, but they certainly took their toll on Notre Dame’s production on both sides of the ball against Purdue. Eifert and Daniels combined for eight catches and 168 yards before leaving the game in the fourth quarter. Without them, Notre Dame managed only two first downs in the fourth quarter before junior quarterback Tommy Rees entered the game for the final drive. The defense was better able to plug its holes late in the game. Sophomore Matthias Farley stepped in for Slaughter at the safety position. Sophomore defensive end Stephon Tuitt and junior linebacker Prince Shembo were able to apply a steady amount of pressure on the quarterback without Lewis-Moore, Day or Williams adding to the defensive front. On special teams, sophomore kicker Kyle Brindza was shaky in his first field goal attempt, hooking his kick far left of the uprights, but made up for it in a big way by later connecting from 30 yards and on the game winner from 27 yards. “Losing Kap and Slaughter early in the game was a big loss for our team,” senior linebacker Manti Te’o said. “But the guys who backed them up really came in and did a great job for us, and helped us come out with a victory today.” Golson On The Go When the Irish were healthy enough to move the ball through the air, they did their most damage when they put their young, mobile quarterback in motion. Sophomore Everett Golson used his feet both by design and in improvisation to extend plays and create big gains in the passing game. “He has the escapability, and he can throw the ball and keep his eyes downfield,” head coach Brian Kelly said. “Get ready for it. We’re going to have some growing pains, but we won today.” The added dimension of Golson’s ability to run away from trouble showed itself most clearly during Notre Dame’s first touchdown drive. Pinned deep in his own end on a third-and-nine, Golson froze two completely unblocked defenders when he rolled to his right. He then hit sophomore tight end Troy Niklas 30 yards downfield to give Notre Dame’s offense the kick in the pants it needed to get rolling. On Notre Dame’s next third down, he found daylight on a designed roll out play and connected with sophomore receiver DaVaris Daniels on a 41-yard bomb that set the team up on Purdue’s 9-yard line. Passes from a traveling pocket also set the stage for Notre Dame’s other touchdown drive against the Boilermakers. Golson and his entire offensive line shifted to the left on one play on their first drive of the third quarter. The shift bought Golson enough time to find senior tight end Tyler Eifert streaking down the center of the field for a gain of 22 yards. “We practice that so much, and he’s great on the run,” senior offensive tackle Zack Martin said. “We know that’s one of his strengths. He can do very well moving in the pocket. We adjusted to that, like you saw today.” Golson capped that play with a touchdown pass to junior receiver TJ Jones, also thrown on the run while moving to his right. In that case, the move gave the sophomore QB a clear line to find Jones three yards into the end zone for the score. Lots Of Laundry After playing a relatively clean game against Navy in its season opener, Notre Dame combined with Purdue for more than 100 penalty yards on 16 infractions. Each team was flagged eight times during the game — Notre Dame for 51 yards and Purdue for 52. “I was a little disappointed we had a couple sloppy errors,” head coach Brian Kelly said following the game. “Our communication has got to get better with our quarterback and the offensive line. We’ll make that a point of emphasis this week in making sure we’re communicating on the field with some of those cadences. We’ve got to do a better job there.” Five of the penalties against Notre Dame were false starts and another was an illegal procedure penalty that resulted from two players moving prior to the snap. In many cases, one of the team’s veteran leaders was the guilty party. Along with those miscues, two of the team’s leaders also committed silly personal fouls in key situations. Senior linebacker and team captain Manti Te’o cost his team 15 yards for a late hit during a punt return. Senior offensive tackle Zack Martin, another team captain, was also slapped with a personal foul for shoving a player out of bounds after the play was over. His mistake negated a 16-yard reception by senior running back Theo Riddick. Purdue declined another 15-yard penalty against Martin later in the game that would have pushed the Irish back to the shadow of their own goal posts. “I had a bad one early. I take responsibility for that,” Martin said. “It’s just the atmosphere here at Notre Dame, first home game. You’re looking to go out there and kind of make a statement. Emotions are flying. “You just have to do your best to take control of those.” Special Teams Keeps It Close Sophomore kicker Kyle Brindza’s two field goals played a crucial role in Notre Dame staying unbeaten this season, but Purdue came away the victor on special teams. The Boilermakers were able to keep the low-scoring game close with strong play from their punter and return teams. Junior punter Cody Webster pinned the Irish inside their own 20-yard line on six on his seven punts. He averaged 43.3 yards per kick, including a 55-yarder, and never gave up a return longer than eight yards to Irish freshman returner Davonté Neal. “Cody Webster has a very, very strong leg,” Purdue head coach Danny Hope said. “I’m not surprised to see him punt really well today.” Purdue’s lone touchdown in the first half was also sparked by a big-time special teams play. After Notre Dame scored with 3:45 left in the half, sophomore Raheem Mostert slipped outside the Irish coverage team for a 41-yard gain on the return. Mostert, who led the nation in kick return average as a freshman last year, averaged 32 yards on his two attempts against the Irish. His long one put Purdue in position to make a run at the end zone. They succeeded and tied the game at 7‑7 before heading to the locker room for halftime. “Our commitment is to have special teams be our edge,” Hope said. “We have a full-time special teams coordinator, one of the top instructors of specialists in the nation. So we should have an edge in regards to special teams.” Miscellaneous Notes • Senior inside linebacker Dan Fox was moved to the outside Saturday for the first time. Head coach Brian Kelly explained that sophomore Ben Councell, who started the season opener against Navy on the outside, really didn’t gain much by seeing his first action against the Midshipmen’s triple-option offense. “I won’t get into when the decision was made, other than that we wanted Ben to see the game first from the sideline,” Kelly said. “He had not seen the game in a manner against Navy, because it was a different game plan. We wanted him to see the game from the sideline, get kind of focused on his responsibility, then move him into the game.” Fox finished with five tackles, fourth on the team, against the Boilermakers. • After somewhat of a shaky debut at cornerback against Navy on Sept. 1, converted wide receiver Bennett Jackson registered his first career interception(s) versus Purdue. The junior jumped a Caleb TerBush pass in the third quarter that led to a Notre Dame field goal and a 17-7 advantage with 1:14 to play in the stanza. Jackson also added two tackles. • Since the Notre Dame-Purdue series resumed in 1946 — after a six-year hiatus — six contests, including Saturday’s, have been decided in the final five minutes. Sophomore kicker Kyle Brindza’s 27-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining was the decisive score in Notre Dame’s favor this time around. The Irish topped the Boilermakers 8-7 in 1971 when Purdue, backed up near its own goal line, botched the snap on a punt with around three minutes to play, and Notre Dame’s Clarence Ellis forced a fumble. Fred Swendsen recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown, and ND converted the two-point conversion to cap the rally. Purdue got revenge in 1981 with a 15-14 victory on a Scott Campbell touchdown pass and two-point conversion to Steve Bryant with 19 seconds remaining. In 1998, Notre Dame edged Purdue, 31-30, when Jim Sanson kicked a 17-yard field goal with 57 seconds left. Nick Setta booted a 38-yarder as time expired to give the Irish a 23-21 win in 2000. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen completed a two-yard TD pass on fourth down to tight end Kyle Rudolph with 24.8 seconds remaining in 2009 to secure victory. • Through two games in 2011, Irish punter Ben Turk averaged around 35 yards per kick. He only averaged 33 yards per punt against Navy to open this season (on two attempts), but registered five for a total of 218 yards (43.6 average) against Purdue. He booted a 50-yarder in the first quarter and a 54-yarder midway through the fourth quarter, and he now has 16 career punts of at least 50 yards. • Senior tight end Tyler Eifert caught four passes for a game-high 98 yards Saturday, making it 22 consecutive games with at least once reception — the most by any player at his position in the Football Bowl Subdivision. • Junior receiver TJ Jones collected his first touchdown reception of the season, as well as his first since playing Purdue on Oct. 1, 2011 in West Lafayette. Jones hauled in a three-yard pass from Everett Golson with 10:46 to play in the third quarter to give the Irish a 14-7 lead. • Sophomore defensive end Stephon Tuitt continues to make his mark for Notre Dame early in the season. Tuitt picked up his third and fourth sacks of the year against the Boilermakers, the first coming on third-and-goal from Notre Dame’s 6-yard line in the third quarter that forced Purdue into a field goal early in the fourth quarter. The second sack came in the final frame. • Saturday marked the first time Notre Dame captains (Zack Martin, Tyler Eifert, Manti Te’o and Kapron Lewis-Moore) wore a hockey-style “C” on their jerseys. • Mishawaka, Ind., mayor Dave Wood and South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg presented the national colors to the Notre Dame Color Guard before kickoff. Participation Chart OFFENSE QB: EVERETT GOLSON, Tommy Rees RB: THEO RIDDICK, George Atkinson III WR: TJ JONES, DaVaris Daniels WR: John Goodman, Daniel Smith WR: ROBBY TOMA, Davonté Neal TE: TYLER EIFERT, TROY NIKLAS, Ben Koyack LT: ZACK MARTIN LG: CHRIS WATT C: BRAXSTON CAVE RG: MIKE GOLIC JR. RT: CHRISTIAN LOMBARD DEFENSE DE: KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE, Sheldon Day, Tony Springmann NG: LOUIS NIX III, Kona Schwenke DE: STEPHON TUITT LB: PRINCE SHEMBO, Ishaq Williams ILB: CARLO CALABRESE ILB: MANTI TE’O LB: DAN FOX, Ben Councell CB: BENNETT JACKSON S: ZEKE MOTTA, Elijah Shumate (nickel) S: JAMORIS SLAUGHTER, Matthias Farley (dime) CB: KEIVARAE RUSSELL, Jalen Brown SPECIAL TEAMS Kick Returns: George Atkinson III, Cam McDaniel, Dan McCarthy, Matthias Farley, Elijah Shumate, Chris Salvi, Nicky Baratti, Chris Brown, Romeo Okwara, Jarrett Grace, Ben Koyack, Justin Ferguson Kickoff Coverage: Kyle Brindza, Nicky Baratti, Dan McCarthy, Josh Atkinson, Jarrett Grace, Elijah Shumate, Kendall Moore, Romeo Okwara, Jalen Brown, Chris Salvi, Carlo Calabrese, Matthias Farley Punt Returner: Davonté Neal Punter: Ben Turk Placekicker: Kyle Brindza Hold: Ben Turk Long Snapper: Jordan Cowart Short Snapper: Jordan Cowart Gunners: Josh Atkinson, Bennett Jackson Others: Matt Hegarty, Nick Martin