Purdue next

[Guest WeisGuy05]

I watched that Minnesota and Purdue game. Can the real Purdue defense with all eleven starters please stand up?? Do you guys really think they are going to stop our offense? We went into the Big House so I am sure the guys can handle 64,000 @ Ross-Ade. Purdue's quarterback Kirsh threw two interceptions against Minnesota. Kirsh is not Brees or Orton...repeat that and bank on it. That is why Tiller has adjusted the offense to what Kirsh can do, which is a good move on his part. Not to mention excluding OT, Purdue only scored what 3 TD's against Minnesota defense. We are going to get the ball first possesion and put up 7 early and win by 14-10 points. Purdue just has not impressed me so far this year guys. We protect Quinn from #10 Edwards and it's over. Spack has not seen an offense like this either. Weis will keep him guessing so much it will not be funny. Not to mention, I hope Weis shows the team some film of Purdue and at the end puts the Stubblefield TD (when he pumped his fists in the air) in there for a little more motivation for the week.

[Guest SirJohn]

Weis you just proved you/we/DD got a better handle on an upcoming game then these 'sports experts'. Keep it coming It's more then winnable. I just don't know what the Coach will be doing... who the H*** does?

 

I do recall him saying disguise your weaknesses.. Well we all know it's defensive secondary and how? Now? Chewing nails)

[Guest SirJohn]

Not to rain on anyones parade. We have to slow some of the bombing we are getting This bugs me, can we look like a zone but make it man to man or vice versa? We really can't disguise our inadequacies there.. Someone has to shine like 'Rodger young.' Shines the name.

[Guest Weisguy]

purdue has been running the ball more, but if they go to the air i think a good amount of zone blitzes could do wonders, get heavy pressure and try to force the qb to throw to a bad spot. Will it always work? No, but there would be a good chance that we would have someone near the ball to make a play.

[Guest SirJohn]

From ForWayne.com

 

What Notre Dame is saying about facing Purdue:

 

SOUTH BEND – It’s like trying to figure out one of those massive mathematical equations from “Good Will Hunting.”

 

The Boston theme is even prevalent, with Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis playing Matt Damon’s role as the hopeful master solver.

 

Purdue’s offense is the equation, with all of its option and throwing and running and you-never-really-know-what-is-coming-when head-spinning movement.

 

“Yeah, I’d say that, with the way they spread it out as they do, plus the option, it’s pretty hard to defend against,” junior cornerback Mike Richardson said. “As a team, we’ve been preparing as much as we can for it. We’ll see how it goes once we get down there.”

 

When the No. 13 Irish travel to No. 22 Purdue, who knows what they’ll see.

 

Could be an option attack featuring any one of the Boilermakers’ running stable.

 

Could be an all-out aerial attack off the arm of Brandon Kirsch.

 

More than likely, though, it’ll be a scary balance of both.

 

“They are always going to give you everything you can handle,” said Notre Dame defensive coordinator Rick Minter, who faced Purdue once, and lost, while the head coach at Cincinnati. “Be it from personnel to style, and what they try to do is exploit you a little bit.

 

“It’s a system that has been in place a long time. They tweaked it a little bit, you know, in the new year, but all in all it’s hard to beat the success they’ve encountered in West Lafayette in the eight or nine years that Joe’s (Tiller) been there.”

 

This year, Notre Dame coaches say, they’ve added more option and that makes the Boilermakers scarier.

 

Much, much scarier.

 

“Lou Holtz always said the option is the great equalizer,” Minter said. “It bases you up a little bit. Urban Meyer got a good trend started. Rich Rodriguez, Tommy Bowden, they all feed off each other.

 

“It’s basketball on grass. It’s about matchups and playing in space and making a 1-on-1 play. That’s their intention.”

 

It makes it difficult to stop, especially with Kirsch, who has thrown for 638 yards and four touchdowns while gaining 81 yards on the ground.

 

How they do it – and what Notre Dame must stop – is by spreading the field and essentially running the option from five yards behind the line of scrimmage.

 

“It puts as much strain on a defense as possible,” Notre Dame defensive assistant head coach Bill Lewis said. “They are going to make you defend the whole field and they are going to do it with good players, and when they force the amount of space you have to play, it challenges the players.

 

“Purdue runs all this spread offense with what amounts to be the old triple option football, the old wishbone football, but it doesn’t resemble anything like the wishbone.”

 

Instead, it becomes this mesh of an option game with a spread offense that leaves potentially five wide receivers out there on every play.

 

This makes it much more difficult for the Irish to pick up exactly where the ball will end up.

 

They’ve always tossed the ball around, with NFL starting quarterbacks Drew Brees and Kyle Orton helming the game.

 

Now, though, the option is the wrinkle.

 

Notre Dame’s salvation: It plays Navy every year, and Navy runs the option.

 

“It’s definitely worked for them,” said senior linebacker Brandon Hoyte, who leads the team with 37 tackles. “It’s not anything new.”

 

It is, though, a new addition to an old system.

 

“They go five wide, shotgun, option, they have it all,” sophomore linebacker Maurice Crum Jr. said. “Each team has their own points, but Purdue, with their style, the option adds a new element to it.

 

“It’s more complete.”

 

Making it about as complicated as calculus.

 

(OUCH! Come on guys GO IRISH!)

[Guest SirJohn]

A bit more on Purdue from the Observer

 

While parallels can be drawn between the hybrid option running-passing attack and the triple-threat wishbone offense, Purdue brings a different flavor to the old formation.

 

"Purdue combines all of this spread offense with what amounts to be the old wishbone, though it doesn't resemble anything like the wishbone, because they've got people spread out," defensive backs coach Bill Lewis said. "But they've taken the quarterback and put him back at a level of five years, and what he does is function up and down his line of scrimmage at the depth of five yards, doing what the conventional option quarterbacks do on the line of scrimmage.

 

"They still have all the triple option reads with the pitch, and they've got all the triple option playaction passes off the option, and they do it from back where at any time they can snap the ball and be in the gun with potentially five receivers."

 

Ultimately, more so than other offensive systems, Purdue's style of play caters to the exploitation of one-on-one match-ups within the defense.

 

"It's basketball on grass when you think about," Minter said "It's about match-ups and playing in space and making the one on one play - that's their intention. It's also caused them to become a little more physical in that they are committing themselves to run the ball a little more, so it was an addition they probably thought they needed."

 

For Weis, the incorporation of the option presents more challenges than those that naturally accompany defending such a quick, multi-faceted style.

 

"They have evolved that offense into such a more balanced offense than they have been in the past," Weis said. "It causes a whole bunch of problems. When a team is basically a throwing team first, if you can go in there and make sure that they don't run the ball on you, at least you'll have a fighting chance because you can play a mentality where they are just going to throw it on every down. Now, you no longer can perceive their offense as one-dimensional."

 

Building on an already well-respected Tiller offense, the Boilermakers hope to confuse Notre Dame defenders with the inherent difficulty of the offense, an intention acknowledged by cornerback Mike Richardson.

 

"With them being able to spread out as much as they do, and then be able to incorporate the option into it, it's going to be pretty complex to defend against," Richardson said. "As a team, we've been preparing for it as much has possible."

[Guest SirJohn]

They are going to be also fired up because they lost last week

 

AP via Yahoo

*****************

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue knows the importance of its upcoming game with Notre Dame.

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

The Boilermakers consider the Fighting Irish their top rival, affecting everything from in-state recruiting to Purdue's reputation outside the Midwest.

 

"It's a really, really big game," Purdue quarterback Brandon Kirsch said. "All eyes are on that game. We want to prove to people that we can compete with the upper echelon of college football."

 

The Boilermakers (2-1), who fell from No. 11 to No. 22 in the AP rankings after last week's double-overtime loss at Minnesota, hope to bounce back Saturday against the 13th-ranked Irish (3-1).

 

"There are 117 Division I programs in America," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "Two will be hooked up here at Ross-Ade, and the rest will wish they could be here.

 

"I tell the guys this is a national stage. What competitive person wouldn't want to be in this environment?"

 

Saturday's game is just 10th time in 77 meetings that both teams will enter the game ranked, and the hype has been building steadily. Media crews flocked to Tiller's weekly news conference on Tuesday.

 

"We never have six television cameras here and we have them today," Tiller said during his news conference. "The stage is different."

 

The Notre Dame matchup is the season's highlight for Purdue, which doesn't play Ohio State or Michigan this year. The Irish have higher-profile rivalries against USC and the Wolverines.

 

Still, the Purdue game is a matter of pride for the Irish.

 

Notre Dame leads the overall series 49-25-2, but Tiller is 3-1 at home against the Irish and 4-4 overall. Purdue has won the past two matchups, including a 41-16 blowout last year in South Bend. A victory Saturday would mark the first time since the 1960s the Boilermakers have won three games in a row against the Irish.

 

The Irish are trying to keep the game in perspective.

 

"Like we say every week, this game is all we're focusing on right now," quarterback Brady Quinn said. "It's the biggest game of the year because it's our next game. That's how we look at it."

 

But players acknowledge the sting hasn't faded from the last two losses to Purdue.

 

"It's always in the back of your mind, knowing they got the best of you the last couple of years," defensive tackle Trevor Laws said. "We're going to go out and try to get the best of them this year."

 

Tiller's primary concern Saturday will be slowing the Irish passing game.

 

Quinn's 1,181 yards passing rank him fifth nationally, and Jeff Samardzija leads the Irish with 21 catches for 346 yards and six TDs. Tight end Anthony Fasano, who caught eight passes for 155 yards in last year's game, has 21 receptions this season.

 

Purdue's Kirsch has completed 44 of 84 passes for 638 yards. The Boilermaker defense ranks 113th out of 117 teams in yards passing allowed per game and has given up 30 points a game.

 

But the Boilermakers have had a 100-yard rusher in all three games this season. Jerod Void leads the way with 234 yards and five touchdowns, while redshirt freshman Kory Sheets has added 195 yards and three scores on 32 carries.

 

The Boilers hope that consistency — and the addition of the option to their offense — gives them an edge Saturday.

 

"It's bragging rights for the whole year," Purdue defensive end Ray Edwards said. "You've got to make sure you bring your 'A' game."