Notre Dame Week 2 Review

             Former Irish football coach Lou Holtz will occasionally say “a win, is a win, is a win”. I kept trying to tell myself that after Purdue nearly upset the #20 Fighting Irish Saturday afternoon. It took a last second field goal to break a tie and push Notre Dame to a 20-17 win and move to 2-0 on the season. A win, is a win, is a win, but this was not the performance you wanted to see right before Notre Dame travels to Michigan State in a few days and faces Michigan in two weeks.

            The 1^st quarter of the game left little to love. Both teams struggled on offense and weren’t able to tally any points. In the 2^nd quarter, both teams were able to finally get a touchdown and the score at halftime was 7-7. On the first drive after halftime, the Irish marched down the field and scored a touchdown to lead 14-7. On the ensuing Boilermaker drive, cornerback Bennett Jackson got an interception that would lead to the Irish getting a field goal. It seemed like the Irish were well in control of the game at the end of the 3^rd quarter up 17-7. Besides a Purdue field goal at the beginning of the 4^th quarter, the two teams remained scoreless. Then Purdue quarterback Caleb Terbush lead his offense down the field and tied the game with 2:00 minutes left at 17-17. What does Notre Dame do? Who do they turn to? The answer was something out of a movie, but it wasn’t exactly like Rudy. Onto the field came recently suspended and much maligned quarterback Tommy Rees. With no timeouts, the Purdue defense blitzing like crazy, and the Notre Dame fans booing him, Rees marched down the field and got the Irish into field goal range. Kyle Brindza then kicked a 27-yard field goal to win it.

            What Rees did should be applauded. I have no idea why fans were booing him or whether they were soley booing him or they disagreed with coach Kelly’s decision to replace starting quarterback Everett Golson. Two things I do know are that Golson had injured his hand on the previous Irish drive and Rees has way more experience in late game situations like the one he entered. Kelly has said there is no quarterback controversy and Golson will start against Michigan State Saturday night.

            It should be noted that I was Tommy Rees’ biggest supporter last year. I truly believe he was the best quarterback Notre Dame had available. However, I also believe he has reached his ceiling and Notre Dame will be better off with Everett Golson playing. Golson has unbelievable arm strength and the ability to make plays. He doesn’t look for just one receiver. He drops back, scans the field, moves around, and makes an accurate throw to his receiver. If Notre Dame is going to win it’s going to be with Golson as the quarterback.

3 Things I Liked

1- Quarterback: Obviously, I was impressed with Golson and Rees. Golson had a solid game and Rees played masterfully when it mattered most. The biggest difference I see between the two is that Golson is improving from week to this week. One of the negatives about Rees is that he has not improved from the first game he started in 2010. Golson finished the game with 289 passing yards and 1 touchdown and completed 21/31 passes. One play that really sticks out to me for Golson happened in the 1^st quarter. Golson dropped back to pass with the Purdue defense blitzing heavily. He stood in the pocket, made a powerful and accurate throw down the field, and then got leveled by a defensive lineman. It takes a ton of poise and courage to stand in the pocket like he did.

2- Pass Defense: Everybody knew this young, inexperienced group of players would be tested against Purdue. Well, they passed their test. Purdue’s tandem quarterbacks combined for only 198 passing yards. They were also able intercept two of Caleb Terbush’s passes. Starting safety Jamoris Slaughter was injured and missed the entire second half of the game. This didn’t cause any trouble for the Irish though, as a common theme for this season is suddenly becoming “next man up”. The players that make the secondary are gaining invaluable experience with each game and practice session. It’s important to realize that even though they struggle at times, they will get better.

3- Winning a Close Game: Notre Dame was 2-3 in games decided by 5 points or less in 2011. It was great to see them not collapse when Purdue battled back and tied the game. The Irish showed that you can still put the “Fighting” in their name and instead of dwindling under pressure; they fought until the final seconds to claim victory.

A final stat to celebrate is the Irish have committed only two turnovers in their first two games. Compare that to the ten they committed last year in their first two games and it’s easy to see why they started 0-2.

3 Things I Didn’t Like

1- Offensive Line: As great as their performance was last week against Navy, it was just as poor against Purdue. They did absolutely nothing to help the running game or Everett Golson. Running back Theo Riddick was only able to gain 53 yards on 15 carries. Golson was sacked five times and hit twice. Golson was also forced out of the pocket several times and had to make plays on the run. It’s imperative to let Golson get comfortable in the pocket since he is such a young quarterback.

2- Injuries: By the end of the game, nine players had left the game because of injury. Those players were: Everett Golson, Tyler Eifert, Davaris Daniels, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Manti Te’o, Jamoris Slaughter, Ishaq Williams, Sheldon Day, and Nick Tausch. Every one of those young men plays a large role on the team. That may be one of the reasons Notre Dame struggled so much in the 4^th quarter to stop Purdue’s offense.

Only going with two things I didn’t like in the Purdue game. It’s hard to find faults when your team wins. The running game struggled mightily, but I’m blaming that more on the offensive line.

A Look at the Schedule

Even though Notre Dame looked pretty beatable, so did some of the better teams on their schedule. We will really find out just how good the Irish are this week and next. Along with many of their opponents.

9/15- at #10 Michigan State (2-0): Blew Central Michigan out. They played a ranked Boise State team in Week 1 and barely won. They’ll have their hands full with Notre Dame

9/22- vs #17 Michigan (1-1): The Wolverines barely scraped by Air Force. They may have Denard Robinson, but they don’t have much else. I don’t expect them to be much of a challenge for the Irish.

10/6- vs Miami (1-1): Got demolished by Kansas State.

10/13- vs #21 Stanford (2-0): Defeated Duke 50-13. They host the USC Trojans Saturday night.

10/20- vs #25 BYU (2-0): Defeated a FCS team. Whooo. They travel to Utah on Saturday and then play Boise State the week after. We’ll know more about BYU after those games.

10/27- at #5 Oklahoma (2-0): Beat Florida A&M 69-13. Sooners haven’t played anybody good and I don’t think they deserve a #5 ranking. They host Kansas State this week. Upset special right there.

11/3- vs Pittsburgh (0-2): The Panthers are not good this year. They’ve gone through so many coaches recently that their lack of talent shouldn’t surprise anybody.

11/10- at Boston College (1-1): Won against the Maine Black Bears 34-3.

11/17- vs Wake Forest (2-0): They barely beat North Carolina but that’s still a quality win. The Demon Deacons travel to Florida State this week so expect them to get their first loss.

11/24- at #2 USC (2-0): They defeated Syracuse 42-29 but they should have won by way more than that. I am not sold on the Trojan’s defense and I don’t know why everybody else is.

Notre Dame travels to East Lansing to take on Michigan State this week. The game is at 8:00 p.m. Saturday night and will be televised on ABC.