Purdue Duds and Studs

Its time for the long awaited Purdue game review. Here it goes:

Duds:

Brian Smith: after earning praise from the Nasties last week, freshman linebacker Brian Smith was disappointing on Saturday, single handily giving the Boilermakers 20 yards in penalties on one drive (and it could have been more if officials called a cheap headshot he took on Curtis Painter). The positive is that all of his mistakes seemed to be mental; jumping offsides and committing stupid personal fouls are never acceptable, but it is understandable for a true freshman to make some mental mistakes every once and awhile.

3rd Down Defense: Notre Dame surrendered only 6 of 15 third down attempts to Purdue, but it was the untimely and improbable conversions that hurt the Irish. At the end of the first quarter, ND let up a 40 yard completion on 3rd and 29; the end result was Purdue punting the ball to the 2 yard line rather than the 40. There was also a drive in the second quarter where we let Purdue complete two third and longs en route to a touchdown to put them up 20-0, and the Irish were also unable to get Purdue off of the field on their last possession where they converted twice again on third down. For a defense as thin as Notre Dame's this year, it is imperative for them to get off of the field as quick as possible to rest up, and in order to do this, we must get better on third down, especially third and long.

Special Teams: with the exception of Eric Maust filling in for Price, the special teams looked awful. I won't even mention the kicking game (5 missed points from missed kicks and blocks), but our coverage was less than spectacular on returns and our blocking didn't give our returners much of a chance on both kick and punt returns. An improvement in special teams could help Notre Dame compete better immediately and Brian Polian better address this immediately if he wants to keep his job as special teams coach.

Studs:

ND Quarterbacks: With the loss of Jones, it makes having a capable backup that much more important as fans witnessed Saturday when Clausen went down. God knows how ugly that game could have been with Darrin Bragg under center for the second half. Both of them looked pretty good (ignoring their poor decisions on the interceptions), completing close to 65% of their passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns. Many other blogs have said it and I'll repeat it: Clausen starts if he's healthy. Sharpley deserves some props for his timely performance, but Jimmy's the man and there is no use in hiding it.

Wide Receivers: It's easy to point out Golden Tate with his highlight real long ball catches (3 for 104 yards and a score), but lets not forget about the others. St. Ignatius product Robby Parris had a solid performance with 7 receptions for 93 yards, most of them the result of excellent route running over the middle. Charlie actually discovered how to call a 3 step slant this week, and it worked well for Duval Kumara; he could have maybe held on to one or two balls that ended up incomplete, but its hard to bash 6 catches for 68 yards and a TD coming from a true freshman. Lastly, West and Grimes both contributed over 30 yards. It was nice to see the ball so spread out. Defenses could have a problem stopping us as these young players start to develop over their careers.

John Carlson: Nice work John. It was nice to see him get a couple of balls thrown his way, and it was even better to see that he could still make things happen with the ball in his hands. Highlights included catches on 4th down and a helluva good touchdown reception.

4th down offense: Weis displayed some of his testicular fortitude against Purdue, and for the most part, it worked out decently well with ND converting 4 of 6. Fans hurry to point out the excitement of Tate's long reception on 4th and 5, but my favorite conversion was a 4th and 1 where Sharpley kept the ball and the line was able to get the necessary push. For a team that has struggled immensely in short yardage situations, it was good for them to have a play like that to boost their confidence.

There you have it. Love em or hate em, those are the Duds and Studs for week 5. Go Irish.