Cardinals All-Pro receiver Larry Fitzgerald said after April’s draft that he was excited to play across the field from No. 13 overall draft pick Michael Floyd. But Arizona’s wideout depth chart isn’t shaping up to make that especially likely. Floyd ran with the backups in the Cardinals’ first two preseason games, and he remains behind [...]
The term “next man in” has joined the ever-increasing number of phrases in the coach-speak dictionary. It's a way of softening the blow of losing impact players, at least to the fans and media. For Notre Dame, some key impact players are gone, including all-time leading receiver Michael Floyd and Cat linebacker Darius Fleming.
Replacing such elite players as Floyd, Fleming and others will require some of Notre Dame's young players to take their games to the next level. Some got a taste of major college football last year, while others will see the field for the first time next month.
Here are five Fighting Irish freshmen and sophomores who will soar to new heights in 2012 as the “next man in.”
Begin Slideshow
As the clock continues to tick toward the deadline for 2012 franchise players to complete long-term deals, a franchise player who never found himself restricted by the franchise tag is feeling the pressure of his career biological clock. Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald knows that he’s running out of chances to be a champion. “Michael Irvin…
As the clock continues to tick toward the deadline for 2012 franchise players to complete long-term deals, a franchise player who never found himself restricted by the franchise tag is feeling the pressure of his career biological clock. Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald knows that he’s running out of chances to be a champion. “Michael Irvin…
The Browns using a second-round pick (which they’ll lose in next year’s draft) to take wide receiver Josh Gordon in Thursday’s Supplemental Draft has been described as risky. It’s Gordon’s off-field problems, more so than his on-field lack of polish, that worries teams. In a detailed look at the quandary Gordon presented for NFL teams…
You can’t blame Jack Swarbrick for taking a vacation. With his work helping to put together a college football playoff done, Swarbrick and his family took a much needed vacation. But that didn’t stop word getting out that Notre Dame was in discussions with the ACC about in-roads to the Orange Bowl. Earlier in the…
Buffalo could be the landing spot for former Baylor WR Josh Gordon in the supplemental draft. The Dolphins are also in the mix for Gordon, but are they desperate enough to upgrade at wide receiver to use a high pick on him? Patriots QB Tom Brady made a surprise appearance at a New England drugstore.…
For the first fall since 2007, there won’t be a shiny golden helmet on Michael Floyd’s head. Rather, a beady-eyed cardinal will be gracing the helmet of Notre Dame’s all-time leading receiver when toe once again meets leather.
The loss of Floyd leaves a glaring hole on the outside of the Irish offense. Floyd was tall, fast and physical—the three most important attributes for a wide receiver. And three of the main reasons the Arizona Cardinals made him the No. 13 pick in April’s NFL Draft.
While preseason All-American tight end Tyler Eifert is expected to shoulder much of the load, Notre Dame still must find some production from its wide receiving corps if it has any hopes of exceeding last year’s eight wins.
The most talented of the currently unheralded bunch is sophomore DaVaris Daniels, who did not see the field as a freshman. The son of longtime NFL defensive end Phillip Daniels, the younger Daniels was ranked as the top prospect in Illinois in the 2011 class by 24/7 Sports.
Head coach Brian Kelly singled out Daniels in the spring as a player who had taken a leap forward from the end of the 2011 season and expects him to be a key contributor to the Irish offense this fall. A leg injury limited him early in the spring, but his grasp of the offense and understanding of the intricacies that come with playing wide receiver in major college football became more and more apparent, culminating with a pair of catches for 47 yards in the Blue-Gold Game.
A chronic hamstring issue has hampered the development of junior T.J. Jones. Other than Jones, no returning Notre Dame receiver can match the raw talent of Daniels. Making reference to a player’s raw talent can often have a negative connotation for veteran players, in that he may not be living up to his natural ability, but for a young player like Daniels, it’s a compliment.
He can catch. He can jump. He can run. However, becoming an elite receiver requires more than that. Route running, blocking and reading coverages are just as important at this level. Even the great Floyd didn’t arrive in South Bend as a master of all trades, so much of that simply comes with time and game experience.
Players like Theo Riddick, George Atkinson and Robby Toma can help the Irish stretch the field horizontally, but Daniels is vital to doing the same vertically. Kelly will turn to Daniels to create big plays comparable to those of Floyd from a year ago, such as his touchdown receptions against USF and Purdue.
Daniels will likely be the beneficiary of playing with a quarterback who can be an effective downfield thrower. Junior Andrew Hendrix and sophomore Everett Golson both possess more of a “laser, rocket arm” compared to incumbent Tommy Rees, who played the majority of snaps in Floyd’s final season at Notre Dame.
At 6’2” and just under 200 pounds, Daniels is still physically inferior to Floyd, but has the frame to add more weight and improve at getting off of blocks and breaking tackles. A strong summer under the guidance of strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo should help Daniels progress towards that point.
Kelly believes in Daniels. Daniels believes in Daniels. Even Irish fans believe in Daniels. But is that simply wishful thinking because his development is so critical to the effectiveness of Notre Dame’s offense this season?
We’ll find out in less than eight weeks.
Read more Notre Dame Football news on BleacherReport.com
Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald said before the NFL draft that he was hoping the Cardinals would select receiver Michael Floyd, noting that the two of them are both Minnesota natives and that the two of them could work together during the offseasons. Now Floyd is finding out that Fitzgerald is serious about his offseason work. [...]
Notre Dame Fighting Irish News
Lynch practices! (And other spring headlines) Rest easy, Irish fans. Aaron Lynch practiced with the Irish today. If everything we could possibly talk about wasn’t discussed here or here, well — feel free to fill the comments here or take to the message-boards with your thoughts.
Spring game halftime to offer few breaks A quarterback decision will not likely be made by halftime of next Saturday’s Blue and Gold spring game, though the hitting and live action will be a welcome refreshment after four months of no game action.Still, don’t expect a break in physicality…
McShay mock: Floyd, Smith first-rounders Scouts Inc.’s Todd McShay breaks down the first round of the NFL draft this week by scenario , presenting as many as five situations for some franchises.While certain scenarios could result in Michael Floyd going to Minnesota, Miami, Carolina, Buff…
Notre Dame Contacts Florida CB Reggie Wilkerson was a name on Notre Dame’s board early in the recruiting of the 2013 class, but the contact between the Irish and the Florida cornerback stopped when Tim Hinton left South Bend for a job with Ohio State.The lines of communication…
MT @SWiltfong247: More from Westerville (OH) South’s dynamic ATH Marcus Ball on his upcoming visit to #NotreDame (VIP) bit.ly/HznaSj
— Jason Sapp (@BGI_JasonSapp) April 12, 2012
Four-star #Irish offered WR targeting summer visit, stays in regular contact with #NotreDame (VIP) bit.ly/IXmJkb via @BGI_WillBiggers
— Jason Sapp (@BGI_JasonSapp) April 12, 2012
NFL Football News
NFL.com – Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd will have a busy schedule leading up to the 2012 NFL Draft.
Floyd will be one of the players attending the draft in New York City, NFL.com’s Gil Brandt said Sunday on SiriusXM Radio.
“My dream is to be an NFL superstar — to make it into the NFL,” Floyd said. “I don’t think the whole excitement has hit me yet. Once I’m there in New York and I hear my name called out, I’ll be jumping up and down because the dream came true.”
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Michael Floyd didn’t get to talk much about the 100-catch season he had at Notre Dame.
He didn’t field many questions about the 1,147 yards and nine touchdowns he piled up last season, or the fact that he’ll likely be a high draft pick in April. Instead, Notre Dame’s career leader in touchdown catches spent much of his podium time Friday at the NFL combine talking about his arrest last March for drunken driving. The 6-foot-3 receiver isn’t worried about explaining the situation to teams over the weekend.
“All I can do is be honest and tell them exactly what happened,” he said.
Notre Dame’s disciplinary arm chose not to suspend him, even though it was his third alcohol-related brush with the law in two years. Floyd pleaded guilty last June to misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to a year of probation. Prosecutors said a breath test showed Floyd had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Indiana’s legal limit for driving.
Floyd attended classes and said he learned from the experience.
“You grow from it,” he said. “It’s behind you. It’s a mistake that happened in the past and just moving forward.”
Floyd made changes after his latest issue.
“I went out less, and just kind of changed the whole environment around me, friends, just guys that I was going to have to be in that position of having to do things that would potentially put me in a troubled position,” he said.
He knows he can’t have more lapses in judgment if he wants to excel in the NFL.
“It’s a professional sport, and you’ve got to act like a professional,” he said.
Both Oklahoma State Cowboys WR Justin Blackmon and Notre Dame Fighting Irish WR Michael Floyd put up big numbers during their time in college football.
Floyd was very consistent in his four years in South Bend. Blackmon has had two huge years in a row to end his career.
Justin Blackmon
Year School Class Rec Yds Avg TD
2009 Oklahoma State FR 20 260 13.0 2
2010 Oklahoma State SO 111 1782 16.1 20
2011 Oklahoma State JR 121 1522 12.6 18
Career 252 3564 14.1 40
Michael Floyd
Year School Class Rec Yds Avg TD
2008 Notre Dame FR 48 719 15.0 7
2009 Notre Dame SO 44 795 18.1 9
2010 Notre Dame JR 79 1025 13.0 12
2011 Notre Dame SR 100 1147 11.5 9
Career 271 3686 13.6 37
The Notre Dame-Florida State matchup in the Dec. 29 Champs Sports Bowl is a toast to epic college football history and, for a second-tier bowl, fairly cool.
Asked about the 1993 showdown between the No. 1 Seminoles and No. 2 Irish, receiver Michael Floyd described his familiarity this way Sunday:
“I’ve seen it on YouTube,” Floyd deadpanned.
In the present tense, two teams that began the year in the Top 25 with BCS hopes, then flopped early only to recover for 8-4 seasons, will reconvene in Orlando, Fla., to determine who puts a happy punctuation mark on things.
“Having two teams like Notre Dame and Florida State that overcame adversity to play really good football makes for a marquee matchup,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. “It’s a nice way to finish the season.”
Story at Chicago Tribune
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Andrew Luck walked back into the overcrowded home locker room at Stanford Stadium, greeted by hugs and handshakes and serenaded with a chant that suited him just perfectly.
“Macho, Macho man!” teammates bellowed, singing the lyrics to the Village People’s famous song. “I want to be a Macho man!”
Only one has earned that title on The Farm.
Luck set the school record for the most career touchdown passes and eclipsed his own single-season mark, throwing for 233 yards and four scores to lead fourth-ranked Stanford past No. 22 Notre Dame 28-14 in his home finale Saturday night.
Luck topped John Elway’s record of 77 touchdown passes and helped the Cardinal (11-1) build a 21-0 halftime lead. He has thrown for 80 touchdowns in three years – while it took Elway all four – and 35 this season.
“There’s no player in America like Andrew Luck,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “Forget about the stats. Forget about the comparisons of other guys. It doesn’t matter.”
Luck of the Irish? Forget it.
Luck is on Stanford’s side.
The victory likely vaulted the Cardinal into consideration for an at-large BCS bowl bid for the second straight year – with the Fiesta Bowl among the leading possible destinations – but they will not play for a major championship this season. The lone loss to Oregon put the Ducks in the Pac-12 title game out of the North Division and crushed Stanford’s dreams of a national title.
“I think one loss, that’s great,” said Luck, who turned down a chance to be the NFL draft’s top pick this year. “We’ve been on a 23-2 run for a while, I think it’s pretty impressive. We put ourselves in position to be in a good bowl game, and that’s what we wanted to do.”
Notre Dame’s stumbled at the finish line again.
Tommy Rees threw an interception, lost a fumble and took a bruising blow to the ribs for Notre Dame (8-4) before getting benched. Andrew Hendrix threw for 192 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in a second-half rally for the Fighting Irish that came up short.
Keeping Stanford close gave the Irish little satisfaction.
“We didn’t come here for second prize,” said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, who would not name a starting quarterback for the bowl game. “We got off to a slow start and battled against it. To me, the scoreboard showed 28-14 and that’s not good enough. The slow start put us in a tough position.”
Stanford coach David Shaw shined the spotlight on his program and his quarterback’s Heisman Trophy campaign with a calculated rip of the “flawed” BCS system this week. The Cardinal’s play matched his words for 30 minutes.
A sloppy second half almost took everything else Stanford had worked for this season.
Kelly benched Rees in favor of Hendrix to start the third quarter, and the move pumped some life into a stagnant Irish offense. Notre Dame took advantage of pass interference and roughing the passer penalties for its first score.
Hendrix threw a 6-yard TD to Michael Floyd to slice Stanford’s lead to 21-7 halfway through the third quarter. Floyd finished with 95 catches on the year, breaking the single-season mark of 93 set by Golden Tate in 2009.
The Irish were driving for another score when Hendrix overthrew a receiver, the ball was tipped and intercepted by Michael Thomas. When Notre Dame regained possession, Hendrix was sacked by A.J. Tarpley for a 13-yard loss that sent another drive tumbling.
“Consistency is the one thing I have struggled with the most,” said Hendrix, who completed 11 of 24 passes.
Only room for one quarterback to steal the show.
Luck quickly connected with Coby Fleener for a 55-yard TD pass to extend Stanford’s lead to 28-7 with 5:40 remaining to put the game out of reach. Fleener also caught a 28-yard TD in the first half that gave Luck every major school touchdown record.
Stanford’s Senior Day belonged to the redshirt junior.
Luck lobbed a fade to the short corner of the end zone to complete a 3-yard score to Levine Toilolo, giving Stanford a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Even he had to hold back a smile running to the sideline to a swarm of well-wishes from teammates for the records-tying toss.
But Luck lost his rhythm when a back-side blitzer closed the pocket, and he tossed a short pass that Darius Fleming intercepted and returned 35 yards. Notre Dame took over at the Stanford 10 after a 15-yard penalty on Fleener for a horse collar.
Stanford stifled the Irish on consecutive plays and forced a 20-yard field goal that David Ruffer missed wide right.
Luck followed with a 28-yard TD pass to Fleener. The tight end dragged cornerback Robert Blanton the final 10 yards into the end zone, sealing Luck’s marks in the school record book.
“I think it’s something I’ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids when I’m watching Andrew on TV someday,” Fleener said. “He’s got my Heisman vote.”
© 2011 The Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Brian Kelly likes to tell his Notre Dame players to block out the noise.
This week, the same rule applies to him.
Kelly grew up in an Irish-Catholic family in the Boston area. That makes No. 24 Notre Dame’s game against Boston College on Saturday the equivalent of the Super Bowl for the extended Kelly clan.
“There’s a lot of requests for tickets,” Kelly said Tuesday. “I don’t even pick up the phone.”
The rivalry may not have quite the same buzz it’s had in other years — Boston College is just 3-7 and struggling through its worst season in 13 years — but the game is still an important one for the Irish (7-3). They’ve climbed back into the Top 25 with three straight wins, and could equal last year’s victory total by beating Boston College. Though they’re likely to miss a BCS bowl for a fifth straight year, the Irish would match their best record of the last decade if they beat Boston College and Stanford, then win their bowl game — wherever it may be.
Oh, and Saturday is Senior Day, too, the last game at Notre Dame Stadium for key contributors such as captain Harrison Smith, Michael Floyd, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Ethan Johnson and Jonas Gray.
Though Kelly said he’s already talked to the seniors about some of the challenges the week will bring — “Get your tickets taken care of early” — he doesn’t expect any of them to be overwhelmed by the emotions of the day.
“Emotions are fine because it’s your last home game, and you should feel those things naturally. I think when you get emotional is where you can run into problems,” he said. “We talk about our players staying within themselves all year. So I’m not really concerned that we’re going to come outside of who we are. … You should be able to handle those emotions appropriately so you can enjoy the moment, but yet go out and execute.”
Kelly did not recruit any of the seniors, and at least a few were offended last month when the coach talked about having to retrain some of the players he inherited from Charlie Weis. But several have been critical to Notre Dame’s resurgence, and Kelly’s fondness for Smith and Floyd was evident when he talked about them Tuesday.
Smith has anchored a Notre Dame defense that is giving up just under 21 points a game, and he leads the Irish with nine pass break-ups. Smith’s leadership is prized even more, the only player appointed captain for the entire season.
“He’s the kind of guy that you can model as to what your programs look like because of the way he handles himself all the time,” Kelly said. “When you’re in the mix of changes going on in your program, he has to be a great communicator to the other players, as well. He sometimes has to carry the water, so to speak, in terms of the messages. He’ll always be welcome here because of what he’s meant to us.”
Floyd’s time at Notre Dame has been more turbulent.
Kelly gave Floyd a rare chance at redemption after the star receiver’s drunken driving arrest in March — his third alcohol-related brush with the law in two years. Floyd was suspended for spring practice, and it was up to Kelly to decide when — or if — Floyd would play again.
Convinced the senior had truly changed, Kelly reinstated him before the season began. Floyd has proven that Kelly’s faith in him was warranted, a model of good behavior on and off the field this year.
Floyd ranks ninth in the nation with 7.7 catches a game and is a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top receiver. He already holds the Notre Dame career records for receptions (248), yards receiving (3,461), touchdown receptions (35) and 100-yard receiving games (17).
“This is why I coach,” Kelly said. “To see a young man change the course of his life, and see that on a day-to-day basis, it’s probably as rewarding as any singular victory. And that’s what Michael Floyd has done. And that feels good as a coach that you can see a young man who is in a good place. He wasn’t in such a good place, but now he is, and that’s important.”
Notes: Kelly said he’ll know more after Tuesday’s practice about WR Theo Riddick’s status. Riddick missed last weekend’s game against Maryland with a hamstring injury. “We’ll run him around today,” Kelly said. “We’ll get a chance to see a little bit better today where he is.” … LB Manti Te’o, who played against Maryland after re-injuring his ankle in the Wake Forest game, should be back to full strength. “He looked really good running out yesterday, so I’m sure that the time off helped him,” Kelly said. “We expect him to be in good shape.”
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Notre Dame running back Jonas Gray joked that coach Brian Kelly “wants us to win the ACC.”
Of course, the Fighting Irish aren’t in the Atlantic Coast Conference — though you couldn’t tell that from their November schedule.
They begin a stretch of three straight games against teams from the same ACC division Saturday night when they visit Wake Forest. Following that are matchups with fellow Atlantic Division members Maryland and Boston College.
“Now that you mention it, it seems like Notre Dame may be trying to make a statement to the ACC,” Wake Forest receiver Terence Davis said, laughing. “It’ll be a tough stretch for them. The ACC is no easy conference.”
That league certainly hasn’t offered much resistance to Notre Dame through the years. The Irish are a combined 78-31-2 against the 10 current ACC teams they’ve faced, and are .500 or better against eight of them.
In the first of three scheduled meetings between the schools through 2014, Wake Forest (5-3) hopes to at least give the Irish (5-3) a tougher test than last week’s opponent did. Notre Dame rolled up 442 total yards in a 56-14 rout of Navy in which nearly everything clicked.
The Irish scored on five of their first six possessions, and their seven rushing touchdowns were a 19-year high. Gray scored three times and Cierre Wood added two more, and the offensive line didn’t allow a sack for the fourth straight game.
“You start with five good players. You’ve got (a) really good offensive line coach in Ed Warinner,” Kelly said. “Then you have backs that are committed to blocking. Because this doesn’t work without Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood. Then Tommy Rees gets the ball out of his hands really, really quick.
“So you got a number of things coming together there. You do not give up a sack in October just because you got five guys. They are, no question, the core and the center of this, but there are some other pieces (that) work together.”
Both teams have sophomore quarterbacks who want to get the ball in the hands of big-play receivers and can’t afford too many mistakes.
For Notre Dame, Tommy Rees has progressed since taking over from senior Dayne Crist and threw for 237 yards against Navy. That included a 56-yard TD pass to Michael Floyd. But the Irish have had trouble taking care of the ball, ranking 118th nationally in turnover margin — both of Navy’s touchdowns last week were set up by Irish turnovers.
Wake Forest counters with Tanner Price, a lefty who is looking to bounce back from a three-interception performance against North Carolina and has thrown seven passes of at least 35 yards to deep threat Chris Givens.
“They’re both learning,” Kelly said of Rees and Price. “They’re both experiencing. They’re both young in the process, but they’re both the starting quarterbacks. Both teams are having some success. We want more. They want more. But I think that’s the nature of a quarterback that’s gaining experience. So I think there are some similarities there.”
The Demon Deacons have lost two of three following their upset of Florida State, and are coming off their worst performance of the season, a 49-24 thumping at North Carolina in which they committed a season-high five turnovers. Wake Forest was routed by Coastal Division leader Virginia Tech and in between needed a critical big play in the fourth quarter to hold off an upset bid by Duke.
Coach Jim Grobe’s team can’t afford to let one loss turn into two, something that happened all too frequently during a miserable 3-9 finish in 2010 in which the Demon Deacons lost nine in a row.
“That’s what happened last year, and that’s one thing we’re not going to let happen again,” Givens said. “We’re not going to let one loss spiral and affect us for the rest of this season.”
In fact, the Atlantic Division title remains a possibility for Wake Forest. Next week’s visit to division leader Clemson could go a long way toward deciding the matchup for next month’s ACC championship game down the road in Charlotte.
So, is it possible that the Demon Deacons could do the unthinkable — and look past Notre Dame and ahead to the Tigers?
“Oh, do we have Clemson? I didn’t even know that,” Davis quipped. “I play it week by week. I mean, even if we played Gardner-Webb this week and we had Notre Dame next week, I would look at Gardner-Webb and be like, ‘We’ve got to take on Gardner-Webb and stay focused on them.’ Because we can’t game-plan for Notre Dame and play Gardner-Webb. We’d be thrown all out of whack.”
Notre Dame beat Purdue 38-10 in dominating fashion to improve to 3-2.
Tommy Rees – 24/40 254 yards 3 TD…Pretty efficient night for Rees, the key being 0 turnovers.
Cierre Wood – 20 carries 191 yards 1 TD
Jonas Gray – 15 carries 94 yards 1 TD
Michael Floyd 12 catches 137 yards 1 TD
The Notre Dame defense gave up 84 yards rushing to a Purdue team that was averaging 250.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — For all the progress Notre Dame has made the past two games, the Fighting Irish could be back in the doldrums with another rash of mistakes Saturday at Purdue.
Notre Dame is coming off wins against Michigan State and Pittsburgh, but the Fighting Irish (2-2) might have a better record if not for their 15 turnovers. The team ranks last nationally in turnover margin.
“They are an excellent football team and loaded with talent,” Purdue coach Danny Hope said. “They have turned the ball over a lot in their first four games, and that’s probably why they are not undefeated. But they certainly have the talent and play like a top 10 football team.”
Quarterback Tommy Rees is directly responsible for nine of Notre Dame’s turnovers — six interceptions and three fumbles. More miscues could give the underdog Boilermakers (2-1) a boost under the lights at Ross-Ade Stadium.
“It’s not a secret, I need to cut down on some of the turnovers and some of the mental mistakes,” Rees said. “I think each week with different defenses, different situations, I keep growing as a player. The last two games, we’ve come out with wins, so you can’t be too upset after those. I think the more experiences, the more games that come, I can keep developing things and work on limiting some of those mistakes.”
Rees took a giant leap in the fourth quarter against Pittsburgh. He completed all eight passes on the go-ahead drive, including a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Eifert with less than 7 minutes remaining in a 15-12 win.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said the effort was a sign that Notre Dame is moving in the right direction.
“It was the first game that we exhibited what I consider necessary ingredients, absolutely crucial ingredients, to being a consistent winner, and that’s poise and confidence,” Kelly said.
Eifert’s development as a target is a key because teams have gone to great lengths to stop receiver Michael Floyd. He ranks second nationally among tight ends with 20 catches and 244 yards.
“He provides a mismatch for us out there,” Rees said. “He does a good job of feeling throughout the zones, making himself open. He’s a big, athletic target. He can go up and get a lot of the balls.”
Floyd still has 35 catches for 424 yards. Theo Riddick and TJ Jones have two receiving touchdowns. Running back Cierre Wood has rushed for 393 yards and four touchdowns and Jonas Gray has 232 yards on just 25 carries, giving the Irish balance.
“They have great players,” Hope said. “That’s a real challenge for our defense that we have to spread out and match up; we have to, and we have to do something to slow down the production.”
Purdue is a blocked kick in the closing seconds against Rice from being undefeated this season. The Boilermakers know what a win could do for their national profile.
“Obviously, we have to keep things in perspective,” Hope said. “The game is always circled on our schedule and on our calendar. We want it to be our night.”
Purdue will play two quarterbacks.
Caleb TerBush is the starter. He led a game-winning drive in the 27-24 win over Middle Tennessee State in the opener, then led Purdue down the field in the final minutes against Rice before Carson Wiggs’ field goal was blocked in the closing seconds of a 24-22 loss. He completed 14 of 17 passes for 143 yards in a 59-0 win over Southeast Missouri State.
Robert Marve, the backup, has played once since missing a year after ACL surgery, but the former University of Miami quarterback is familiar with big-time environments. He opened his Miami career at Florida in 2008, led the Hurricanes to a win at Texas A&M the next week and started against Florida State later in the year. After transferring, he started Purdue’s opener at Notre Dame last season and completed 31 of 42 passes for 220 yards in a 23-12 loss. He completed 18 of 24 passes for 134 yards in the second half.
“TerBush is more capable relative to running the football,” Kelly said. “Robert really has good escapability, but he’s had the two knee injuries. Accurate thrower, can really sling it around the field, very live arm. So we’ll have to be very aware of TerBush in there in terms of his ability to run, but Marve can come in and really throw the ball around very well.”
TerBush and Marve will face a defense that has been solid other than a loss at Michigan. The Irish allowed South Florida 254 yards, Michigan State 358 yards and 13 points and Pittsburgh 268 yards and 12 points.
“We’re just worrying about what we do,” Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o said. “We obviously know and understand what the different quarterbacks are capable of doing. But we just worry about ourselves. We’re worrying about doing our job, and everything will fall in its place.”
Because of the way Notre Dame started the season, Kelly is just concerned about leaving with a victory.
“I look at the first two weeks where we averaged over 500 yards in offense and we lost both games, so really for me, it’s about winning games and making certain that we do that,” he said. “I’d rather do that and be out coached and, you know, win ugly and do all those things but at the end of the day win the football game. Beauty points, style points I’m not really interested in those things.”
Tommy Rees shrugged off a miserable start to hit tight end Tyler Eifert on a 6-yard touchdown pass with less than 7 minutes to go and lift Notre Dame to a 15-12 win on Saturday. The score and subsequent two-point conversion — also to Eifert — capped 4:40 of perfection from Rees as the Irish (2-2) won their second straight.
Rees went 8-for-8 on the game-winning drive, remaining patient even as the Panthers (2-2) bottled up Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd.
Rees finished 24 of 41 for 216 yards with a touchdown and an interception and running back Jonas Gray scored on a 79-yard touchdown run for Notre Dame, which overcame eight penalties and two costly turnovers.
Cierre Wood ran 23 times for 96 yards for Notre Dame.
Source: ESPN
The Notre Dame defense bent but didn’t break giving up only 12 points on the road to a Pitt team that uses a nice misdirection offense.