Sept. 30, 2006
By Tim Connor
So what do the Irish do for an encore this week? It will be hard to match what college football fans saw last weekend from rain-drenched Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich. Trailing by 16 with just over eight minutes to go, Notre Dame used some Brady Quinn passing magic and two clutch interceptions by Terrail Lambert to pull out a 41-37 win to go to 3-1 on the year.
This afternoon, the Purdue Boilermakers bring a 4-0 record to Notre Dame Stadium for what will be a battle of two high-powered offenses that haven’t had much trouble this season putting points on the scoreboard. The Irish and Boilermakers will clash for the 78th time in the all-time series this afternoon with Notre Dame holding a 50-25-2 edge in the first 77 meetings, including a 25-11-0 mark at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish have played only Navy (79) and USC (77) more times in their storied football history. The 50 wins they have against Purdue is topped only by the 60 that Notre Dame has recorded versus Navy.
Despite the long-term success, the Irish are just 1-2 against Purdue in the last three games, having broken a two-game losing streak last year at Ross-Ade Stadium with a 49-28 win.
The last time the two teams met in South Bend, Purdue hung a 41-16 win on the Irish for the Boilermakers first win at Notre Dame Stadium since 1974, a span of 13 games.
Notre Dame will look to build on the momentum from last Saturday night’s win against Michigan State. Purdue is off to a fast start with wins over Indiana State, Miami (OH), Ball State and a Big Ten opening win last weekend at home against Minnesota. This one has all the ingredients for a high-scoring affair.
The Coaches
Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis believes in his players and they believe in him and the two have produced 12 wins in his first 16 contests at Notre Dame. Included in that are seven consecutive road wins, the most by an Irish coach to open his career since Frank Leahy started his magnificent run as a Notre Dame head coach with 10 straight road victories. Weis faces Purdue for the second time as the Irish head coach and will look to duplicate last season’s 49-28 road win versus the Boilermakers.
Joe Tiller is in his 10th season directing the Purdue Boilermakers and owns a record of 71-43 (.623) at Purdue and a 16-year career mark of 110-73-1 (.571). While at Purdue, Tiller has guided the Boilermakers to eight Bowl game appearances in his first nine seasons, missing a postseason game for the first time last season with a 5-6 mark. Tiller has a 4-5 mark in nine meetings with Notre Dame since taking over for the 1997 season. He spent his first six seasons as a head coach at the University of Wyoming where his teams were 39-30-1 during his tenure.
A Look At The Irish
The Irish come into this week’s game with Purdue averaging 29.0 points per game while surrendering 27.8 per contest. Through the air, Brady Quinn and his cast of receivers have averaged 273.2 yards-per game while on the ground, the Irish have rushed for just 74.8 yards-a-game. After struggling in the loss to Michigan two weeks ago, Quinn got back on track at Michigan State with a big game, completing 20-of-36 passes for 319 yards and five touchdowns, the third time he has done that in his career. On the season, Quinn has completed 98-of-158 for 1,086 yards with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions.
He has distributed the ball evenly among four receivers as Jeff Samardzija and Darius Walker each have caught 23 passes. Samardzija is averaging 11.9 yards-per-catch and has four TD grabs. Walker has one touchdown catch and gains 6.1 yards-per-grab. Right behind them is Rhema McKnight with 22 catches and 14.2 yards with four touchdowns and tight end John Carlson has 17 receptions for a team-best 17.5 yards-per-catch and one touchdown.
Defensive tackle Trevor Laws has recorded 11 solo and 10 assisted tackles this season to rank fourth on the Irish. He is tied for the team lead with two quarterback sacks on the year. (Photo by Matt Cashore)
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On the ground the Irish have rushed for just 299 yards in the first four games. Walker has 63 of the team’s 110 carries for 227 yards. Despite giving up 388 total yards to Michigan State and 37 points, Notre Dame’s defense came up with big plays in the win over the Spartans in the second half. Defensive tackles Trevor Laws and Derek Landri combined for 10 solo tackles and three assists and both had two big tackles for losses to help grind the Spartan attack to a halt late in the game. Landri’s 15-yard fourth-quarter sack of Drew Stanton turned the tide and he later got a hand in the quarterback’s face on Terrail Lambert’s 27-yard interception return for the winning score. Lambert had two big pickoffs in the game for the first two of his career. Overall, Notre Dame is giving up an average of 161 yards rushing and 181 passing to its opponents this season.
The Boilermakers
Purdue will bring a balanced attack to Notre Dame Stadium this afternoon as the Boilermakers are averaging 40.0 points-per-game. They have rushed for an average of 164 yards on the ground while throwing for 298 yards per contest for 462 yards-per-game.
Junior quarterback Curtis Painter has put together a strong season guiding the Purdue offense. He has completed 82-of-128 passes for 1,140 yards and eight touchdowns while throwing five interceptions. He also has run for three touchdowns.
Painter has a variety of receivers at his disposal with junior Dorien Bryant being his favorite in the early going. Bryant has 27 catches for 351 yards and has been on the receiving end of three Painter touchdown strikes. Bryant also has run the ball seven times for 12.4 yards-per-carry. Senior tight end Dustin Keller has 18 receptions and leads the team with 19.9 yards-per-catch and has one touchdown catch. Sophomore Greg Orton (12) and junior running back Kory Sheets (11) give Purdue four receivers in double figures with Orton catching a pair of touchdowns and Sheets one.
On the ground, Sheets leads the Boilermaker rushing attack with 321 yards on 59 carried (5.4 avg.) and eight touchdowns. Sophomore Jaycen Taylor has been a breakaway threat with 227 yards on 29 carries for a 7.8-yard average and one touchdown.
The Purdue defense is giving up 28.8 points and just under 411 yards-per game through the first four games. Opponents have run for an average of 126 yards each time out while passing for 285 a game. Junior linebackers Dan Bick and Cliff Avril lead the team in tackles with 38 and 31 respectively. Senior defensive end Anthony Spencer is third in tackles with 28, but leads the team with nine tackles for loss and five sacks. Purdue has recorded 12 quarterback sacks this season. Six different players have one interception each.
Big Target
Senior tight end John Carlson’s 62-yard touchdown catch last weekend against Michigan State was the longest of his career and the longest Notre Dame TD grab since Jeff Samardzija went 80 yards against Stanford last November. Carlson had a career-high 121 yards on four catches to make him the first Irish tight end to have over 100 yards receiving since Anthony Fasano had eight catches for 155 yards against Purdue on Oct. 2, 2004. Carlson came into the season with 13 career catches for 87 yards. In four games this year, he has 17 catches for 297 yards.
For Starters
Senior quarterback Brady Quinn comes into today’s game having made 37 consecutive starts in his career. Other Irish players with extended streaks as a starter include: senior offensive tackle Ryan Harris (28), senior defensive tackle Derek Landri (27), senior safety Tom Zbikowski (28), senior defensive end Victor Abiamiri (17) and senior wide receiver Jeff Samardzija (17).