Notre Dame vs. Purdue: 5 Things We Learned About the Fighting Irish

After starting the season with two tough losses to South Florida and rival Michigan, the Fighting Irish have a found a groove since then in winning three straight games with an upset of then-ranked 15th Michigan State along with two easier games against Pittsburgh and Purdue.

With Notre Dame favored to win the rest of the way out until their meeting with Stanford in the season finale, the five things in this slideshow we learned about Notre Dame will definitely be needed if the Irish want to win those games.

No Turnovers

Yes, you didn’t read the title of this slide wrong about the Fighting Irish and their turnover problems in 2011.

Notre Dame was able to hold on to the football for an entire 60 minutes Saturday as they went on the road and defeated their instate rival Purdue to move to a game over .500 after a rough beginning this season.

An Effective Tommy Rees

Just like the turnover slide previously, Notre Dame got a no-turnover game from their young quarterback Tommy Rees as he completed 24 of his 40 pass attempts Saturday versus the Boilermakers as he finished with 254 yards passing in addition to three touchdowns for the Irish.

Cierre Wood

While Tommy Rees continues to grow in his role as starting quarterback for the Irish, junior running back Cierre Wood has been able to take some of the pressure off the growing pains that Rees has been experiencing, with his strong running in the first part of the season.

Michael Floyd

With yet another 100-yard receiving game for the Irish Saturday, receiver Michael Floyd is proving each week that he is one of the best playmakers in college football this season in addition to being one of the best receivers to every play for the Fighting Irish.

Defense

Even though Purdue isn’t a powerhouse in any offensive category this season, the Notre Dame defense was able to continue their unit’s strong play in 2011 by holding the Boilermakers to 276 total yards in their game with their Big Ten rival Saturday.

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