Notre Dame Football: Why Irish Deserve Respect Following Win over Purdue

Expectations were quite high for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish entering the 2011 college football season, as evidenced by their lofty No. 16 ranking.

Unfortunately for them, things got off to a nightmarish start.

Losses to unranked squads like South Florida and Michigan dropped the Irish out of the Top 25 altogether, and most left them for dead. Notre Dame has stormed back with wins over Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Purdue in recent weeks, however, and currently sits at 3-2 with Air Force next on tap.

Despite Notre Dame's clearly improved play, the voters have yet to take notice as the Irish remain outside the Top 25. While the Top 25 is more symbolic than anything, I think it's safe to say that Notre Dame is among the nation's 25 best teams at this point.

Notre Dame's 38-10 thrashing of Purdue only further proved that the Irish have turned the corner after an extremely disappointing start. While various areas of Notre Dame's game failed them over the first two weeks, the most glaring was turnover differential.

Even in their wins over Michigan State and Pittsburgh, the Irish lost the turnover battle, so a 2-2 record was a minor coup in a lot of ways. It's understandable why some observers still weren't believers because of Notre Dame's caution-to-the-wind play, but the Irish were clean as can be against Purdue.

Not only did they protect the ball and turn in their first no-turnover game of the season, but the Irish also won the turnover battle by picking off Caleb TerBush. That wasn't all, as the Irish were also incredibly well-balanced and potent on offense.

Quarterback Tommy Rees threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns, while Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray combined for nearly 300 rushing yards. The Notre Dame defense has also improved markedly since getting burned by quarterback Denard Robinson and Michigan in Week 2.

Obviously, one game does not a season make, but the Irish finally proved that they are capable of putting together what was essentially a flawless 60-minute effort.

If they can continue to play with great balance and protect the ball on offense, then the sky is the limit.

The schedule looks extremely friendly moving forward with just one ranked team left to play—that being the No. 7 Stanford Cardinal in the season's final week. Not every game will be easy, but from a talent standpoint, the Irish are probably the best team in every game leading up to their clash with Stanford.

The college football world has seen what Notre Dame is capable of, but it's up to them to sustain it and perform consistently, which is something that has eluded them in recent years.

Everything is setting up for a final-week showdown against Stanford for a possible BCS berth. There are sure to be bumps along the way, but if the Irish continue to play the way they did against Purdue, there aren't too many teams they can't beat.