Have not looked at the stats closely but we did not play our best game on Saturday. But good teams find a way to win even when they are not playing great and the Irish did that unlike some other top 20 teams as pointed out by the Colonel. Holy Smokes we are up to #9, things are getting kind of interesting now.
We saw a little sloppiness on both sides of the ball against Purdue and let's give the Boilers some credit for coming out with some attitude. They seemed pretty fired up most of the game and came to play. I never really felt nervous about the outcome, even the Purdue fans I sat with were convinced we had way too many horses to fall to the Black & Gold. NBC had to love that it was actually a close game until very late and the many Purdue fans in attendance had plenty to cheer about.
Very nice stadium in Indy and we enjoyed the easy driving, parking and walking in the city. Probably a perfect day for football though cool for September and the open roof was a nice touch that was kind of neat. Indianapolis played great hosts as these Shamrock cities always do, shutting down streets for parades and pep rallies and advertising the Irish in town everywhere you looked. A few dollars came to the city from the Notre Dame faithful who made the trip from South Bend and other cities. Actually we had some friends that realized this would be an easier and better ticket than home games in terms of seats and travel so we ran into folks that picked this as their one trip to Indiana this year. My favorite line of the weekend came from Indy's Archbishop who closed the ND mass by thanking ND alumni and others before stating "I also want to thank Notre Dame for the religious experience I had last Saturday evening" (referring to the Michigan game of course).
Some great trends are emerging for this Irish team including a spectacular turnover ratio (+8 so far), a smart-athletic-mobile QB, and lots of play makers on offense. We are averaging 36 points per game so far and will continue to cause problems for even the best defenses. I agree with the Colonel that the running game was lackluster on Saturday, would like to see that improve and also wish we had one true bruiser back that could crash the line for those short yardage plays. That would have helped when we had first down at the 2 yard line. Offensive line had its worst game but it did not change the outcome.
On defense, our depth is really the star so far considering the ejections, injuries and suspensions. Lots of young guys have had to step up and "next man in" has real meaning on that side of the ball. I like the aggressive blitzes and tackling had been pretty good before Saturday. Once again Jaylon Smith had his name called many times and how nice that Joe Schmidt grabbed an interception. Injuries could end up killing us on defense if we do not get a couple guys back.
Anyway put it in the W column and we move on. Should be able to handle Syracuse then a big juncture in the road against Stanford. But I will be there to play "Let's Go" so we should be OK.
GO IRISH. Beat Orangemen.
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