No doubt, expectations have been raised thanks to the Irish’s convincing victory over Navy. But one win is a data point. Two would make a trend. And over the past few years, the trend has never been a good one for Notre Dame.
With a stout defensive line and strength in the secondary, quarterback Everett Golson will be challenged. After executing a mostly simple game plan against the Midshipmen, Golson’s learning curve with rise as Notre Dame welcomes in-state rival Purdue, a dark horse candidate to win its division in the big Ten.
As the Irish prepare to open their home schedule on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, here are six fun facts, tidbits, leftovers, or miscellaneous musings as No. 22 Notre Dame prepares to take on Purdue.
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1. After a mostly anonymous freshman season, sophomore Stephon Tuitt is already making his presence felt on a national level.
It seemed like most Irish fans were ready to call the defensive line a wash when Aaron Lynch departed during spring practice. But after a relatively quiet freshman season where his fellow classmate stole most of the media attention, Stephon Tuitt sprinted his way into the national headlines with his impressive opening performance.
The 6-foot-6, 305-pound defensive lineman is a dominant force along the front line, already showing his athleticism with his 77-yard fumble return. Mix that in with his physical tools and you’ve got draft gurus like Mel Kiper already singing Tuitt’s praises calling him, “Arguably the best defensive lineman virtually in college football, let alone the sophomore class.”
When asked what helped flip the switch, Brian Kelly pointed to an offseason where Tuitt transformed himself thanks to a tireless work ethic both on and off the field.
“The only word I remember him using was dominate,” Kelly said. “Dominate in the classroom -- which he did this summer, over a 3.5 (g.p.a). Everything he did, he wanted to be the very definition. He’s been on this mission of, whatever it is, and it’s not just football, it’s everything in life. He’s a very, very driven young man right now.”
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2. Brian Kelly wouldn’t name a backup quarterback, but expect Tommy Rees to slide into the backup quarterback role.
After not taking a single team rep during fall camp, Tommy Rees very quickly got reintroduced to the Irish offense, taking virtually all the No. 2 reps in practice this week, making up for lost time in Chuck Martin‘s tweaked offensive system.
Kelly talked about the junior quarterback’s return to the depth chart and how he looked.
“I just think he continues to get better in ball position and ball placement and putting it away from the defender. Obviously we had too many turnovers last year,” Kelly said of Rees. “He’s still got room to work on things mechanically. He’s got a low arm slot. Sometimes the ball comes out in an area where I don’t want it. We’re working mechanics because he’s got the mental end of it down. But some of the mechanics we’re still trying to clean up.”
While there weren’t any media viewing windows of practice, word from inside the Gug had Rees incredibly sharp in his first team reps, moving the team efficiently in his first significant practice snaps of the season.
With three quarterbacks essentially in the rotation for playing time, you can expect freshman Gunner Kiel to hold onto a year of eligibility this season.
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3. After a sloppy week one, both teams need to do a better job on special teams or it might cost them the game.
You think Notre Dame had a bad week on special teams? Wait until you get a load out of Purdue’s week one performance. The Boilermakers fumbled a punt, and had both an extra point and a punt blocked. To make things worse, they also had two kickoffs go out of bounds, giving away free field position to an undermanned Eastern Kentucky team.
Still head coach Danny Hope isn’t making wholesale changes.
“The changes we’re going to make are from an execution standpoint,” Hope said.
Hope’s comments are in line with what Kelly said Thursday afternoon when asked about the Irish’s special teams flubs, most notably difficulties in the kicking game.
“There’s always concerns when you start like that,” Kelly said of the kicking units. “But I think they were more about nerves than they were about anything else. I think they settled in after we had a PAT and a poor kickoff and not a great punt. I think it was settling in first time and they had a good week.”
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4. In addition to making Notre Dame Stadium a louder place, the Irish are working on making it a more familiar home.
The hallowed grounds of Notre Dame Stadium might be too hallowed. After a season of mixed results on their home turf, Kelly decided to spend Thursday’s practice inside the stadium Rockne built to help the players build familiarity and comfort inside.
After stepping foot in the stadium only six or seven times last year, Kelly plans on spending every Thursday in the stadium.
“It’s important that our guys feel comfortable in there. I felt our guys at times, we ran in the stadium like we were running into the Basilica or we were running into the grotto,” Kelly said. “It almost seems there’s too much of a reverence there. It’s Notre Dame Stadium, it’s a football game. Let’s have some energy. We talked about that today. We’ll continue to beat that drum.”
Obviously, the Irish laid a few big eggs at home last season, which could have been the product of Notre Dame not being comfortable at home. With a different locker room, tighter quarters, and a ton of history, it’s conceivable that a stadium filled with a century of history had the Irish too on edge to play to their potential.
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5. While Amir Carlisle has been cleared to practice, it still hasn’t been decided when -- or if -- he’ll play this year.
Notre Dame caught a break when the NCAA granted Amir Carlisle‘s waiver which earned him immediate eligibility. Now it’s unclear whether he’ll ever use it this season. The talented former Southern Cal running back was expected to add another gamebreaker at the hybrid running back receiver position, but a broken ankle suffered before spring camp has kept Carlisle away from taking significant reps.
“He’s not ready to play in the system of offense. He’s ready to play where physically we feel he’s going to get some reps,” Kelly explained. “But it’s going to take him a little bit more time. This was really his first week of true practice. We tried to make it akin to the first week of really preseason camp for him. That’s kind of where he’s at.”
With the Irish deeper than they ever expected in the backfield and in the slot, the idea of saving a year of eligibility hasn’t been lost on the Irish offensive staff.
“The rules are you’ve got to do it within the first six games,” Kelly said about a potential redshirt. “We’ll see where we are. We’re counting on playing him, but we leave all those options open for a number of guys.”
Carlisle is probably itching to see the field, especially considering it’ll be in front of his family and father, who’ll be working with the Boilermakers as the head of the team’s strength and conditioning program.
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6. It may be cliche, but expect turnovers to tell the story of the game on Saturday.
Danny Hope chose quarterback Caleb TerBush to start the game on Saturday mostly because of what he doesn’t do: Turn the ball over. TerBush might lack the flair of sixth-year quarterback Robert Marve, and the legs of quarterback Rob Henry, but Hope believes he gives the team their best chance to hang in this football game.
“He did a great job in camp and won the job hands down,” Hope said of TerBush. “He separated himself from the others. It would be to our best advantage, I believe, to start Caleb this weekend because I feel like a smooth start in the beginning of the game at South Bend could be very important to our team.”
After turnovers ruined the Irish’s 2011 season, putting together a +3 box score at turnover margin was a pleasant surprise. Meanwhile, the Boilermakers turned the ball over five times, winning against a mediocre Eastern Kentucky team in spite of its difficulties playing clean.
Of course, TerBush didn’t get the Boilermakers off to the best start last season against ND. His first play from scrimmage TerBush was picked off by Gary Gray, and two players later Tommy Rees hit Michael Floyd for a 35-yard touchdown. The Irish sprinted out to a 21-0 lead before Purdue could even manage a field goal and running back Cierre Wood’s 191 yards on the ground helped the Irish coast to a 28-point win.