Notre Dame Football: Irish Trek to Purdue Seeking to Break .500

After staggering and scuffling their way around Heinz Field on Saturday, the Irish made all the right moves late in the game and escaped Pittsburgh with a 15-12 victory. 

This week the Irish will attempt to break .500 and hopefully begin building momentum for a strong finish to a slow-starting season.  Standing in the way of these goals will be a tricky night game at Purdue.  The Boilermakers are always up for Notre Dame and the Irish are just 2-2 in their last four trips to Ross-Ade Stadium. 

What can we expect on Saturday night?

Notre Dame (2-2) at Purdue (2-1)

8 p.m. EST

Purdue Offense vs. Notre Dame Defense

Purdue features a veteran offensive line as Nick Mondek, Peters Drey and Dennis Kelly each have at least 15 career starts under their belt.  Center Rick Schmeig has five career starts and Justin Kitchens is a first-year starter. 

The offensive line helped Ralph Bolden nearly eclipse 1,000 yards rushing (935) on a very bad Purdue team in 2009.  QB Caleb Terbush will be making just his fourth career start while Antavian Edison and O.J. Ross, who started four games last season as a true freshmen, will look to provide improved production at the wide receiver position. 

I believe the key to this game will be the Purdue offensive line vs. the Notre Dame front seven.  If Purdue is able to run the ball behind a physical Big Ten offensive line, their chances to win improve greatly.  If the Irish stop the run effectively, I believe it could be a very long night for a young quarterback playing in his first big game.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

The Irish have only allowed 93 yards per game on the ground through the first four weeks against some pretty good competition.  I'm excited to see the matchup between the Purdue offensive line and Notre Dame front seven.  I think over the course of the game, the Irish will win more battles than they lose.

Notre Dame Offense vs. Purdue Defense

Through four weeks, the best team at stopping the Notre Dame offense has been Notre Dame. 

Turnovers have continued to plague the Irish as they lost the turnover battle again on Saturday at Pitt.  When you consider that Notre Dame has lost the turnover battle in every football game this season, it is remarkable that they are actually 2-2. 

Pitt did slow the Irish passing game on Saturday and did a good job of trying to negate Michael Floyd, however the Irish were able to run the ball for nearly 200 yards.  It will be critical for the Irish to run the ball and find other receivers in games where teams gear up to slow down Floyd. 

Purdue is actually ranked higher than Notre Dame in some defensive categories, which not surprising considering an early season schedule that featured Middle Tennessee State, Rice and Southeast Missouri State. 

Good news for Purdue fans: The Boilermakers return nine starters on defense from a season ago.  Bad news for Purdue fans: That defense was shredded in several Big Ten games last season.  Saturday will likely provide a good barometer for how much the Boilermakers defense has improved.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

As I mentioned earlier, experience abounds for Purdue on defense as they have three fifth-year seniors to go along with the nine returning starters I previously mentioned.  That being said, the Irish have demonstrated the ability to move the ball at will through four games.  Until someone (besides themselves) shuts down that offense, I will give them an edge against almost anyone.

Special Teams

Special teams has been a big disappointment for the Irish this year as a different problem seems to surface almost weekly. 

This week, a roughing the punter penalty, botched snap leading to a missed chip shot field goal, and continued struggles in the return game were the most obvious problems.  An area of improvement has been the recent play of Ben Turk. 

Since the fourth quarter of the Michigan State game, Turk's improvement has been noticeable.  On Saturday, he put three punts inside the 20 and had a long of 47 yards.  Consistency here will be of great importance in the coming weeks as Turk will have the opportunity to lengthen the field and help an already stingy Irish defense. 

Much was made of Kyle Brindza's huge leg, however, he has just four touchbacks in 18 tries to start the season.  Both he and David Ruffer will look to improve as the season progresses.  Purdue's punter Cody Webster is averaging more than 47 yards per boot and kicker Carson Wiggs is 5-7 on field goals with a long of 50 yards. 

In the return game, Purdue exceeds Notre Dame in both kick return and punt return average, which shouldn't be surprising if you have followed Notre Dame.

EDGE: PURDUE

As Notre Dame continues to struggle in this area, it is hard to rank them above anyone, let alone a team that has been statistically better regardless of who their opponents have been. 

Intangibles

It is the Gold & Black Game at Purdue and the 8 p.m. start and national TV audience will have the coeds juiced up with upset on their mind. 

The last time Notre Dame traveled to Purdue, they needed a fourth-down conversion to score the winning touchdown.  A hostile crowd and that annoying train will have the Boilers come out playing inspired ball. 

Many people probably don't realize this, but Purdue returns 18 total starters, which is the 13th highest in Division I football.  Despite coming off a 4-8 season, the Boilermakers appeared to improve at the end of last season, taking Michigan State to the wire and losing to Indiana in overtime. 

Despite a stumble against Rice, they are 2-1 and hoping to return to the bowl scene.  A win against Notre Dame would certainly help their cause.  I would like to think the Michigan debacle and struggle at Pittsburgh will get Notre Dame off to a fast start, quickly dashing any upset hopes from the partisan crowd at Ross-Ade Stadium.  However, I've come to expect the unexpected from this team.

EDGE: PURDUE

The hostile crowd, rivalry and Gold & Black Game designation will provide a wave of emotion for a team badly in need of some momentum.  The Irish will be wise to be on upset alert.

Final Analysis

I would like to predict a blowout, which might ease the minds of some fans, however, I think this is a very tricky game for Notre Dame. 

Given how the Irish have played, I think we are going to see many more games reminiscent of Saturday's game at Pitt.  I like the Irish on Saturday, but by a slim margin.

Notre Dame 19, Purdue 17