Notre Dame at Purdue Preview

            
            The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette Saturday night in the Battle for the Shillelagh Trophy. Notre Dame leads the all-time record with 53 wins to Purdue’s 26. Notre Dame has also won seven of the past 10 games. Notre Dame comes into the game on a two-game winning streak and wins over Michigan State and Pittsburgh. Purdue has a 2-1 record, with wins over powerhouse teams Middle Tennessee St. and Southeast Missouri State. Their one loss is to Rice. Yes, there is a school that shares the name of an Asian cuisine, and the Boilermakers lost to it.

Keys for an Irish Victory

Balance on offense- This was one of my keys in the game against Pittsburgh, in that instance and this one Notre Dame is playing an inferior opponent. So the reason I put this is because there is no need to try and win the game on every drive, or try passing every down to get the ball down the field. Just run the offense and spread the ball around. Purdue gave up more than 400 total yards to Middle Tenn. St. and more than 300 to Rice. They do not have the defense to slow down the Irish’s offense.

Stop the Pass- Notre Dame’s defense has proved that they can shut down a team’s run offense, so now it’s time to shut down the passing game. The Boilermakers are expected to use two different quarterbacks, so it’s imperative for the Irish to be ready to take on whoever is under center.

No Turnovers- Alright, it seems like Notre Dame’s offense is finally starting to understand the idea of “protect the football”. In 4 games they have turned the ball over 15 times, but the number is decreasing each game. In the first game they turned it over 5 times, in the second game 5 times, third game 3 times, fourth game 2 times. 5, 5, 3, 2, _? _. Maybe this week it’ll just be one turnover! My hope is that they turn it over ZERO times.

            Purdue is nowhere near as talented as Notre Dame is. The Irish just need to go into Ross-Ade Stadium and take care of business and win the game. No turnovers, no stupid penalties, no frills. This is the kind of game that great times win with ease.

My predicted score: Notre Dame- 31, Purdue-14