ND @ PU notes:
PU's CB Brandon King returns to the field Saturday night against Notre Dame at Ross-Ade Stadium. King has missed the last two games because of a deep thigh bruise. King said he was close to seeing action against the Huskies but wasn't 100 percent. Without the 5-foot-11, 192-pound King, the Boilermakers have rotated players at the cornerback position.
Sixth-year senior Torri Williams moved from his free safety spot to start at cornerback during King's absence. Junior Josh McKinley has earned the start at free safety the last two games.
Senior Royce Adams and freshman Josh Johnson has also played the cornerback position.
"We had three or four different ways to manufacture that corner position and that took away from our defense not having Torri back there at safety," Purdue coach Danny Hope said.
"If we can keep the same guys in there, and get some continuity, I think we would pick up our level of play. (Brandon) coming back would be big for us."
The Boilermakers missed King's vocal leadership and his experience against Oregon and Northern Illinois. It's no secret Purdue has been plagued by numerous missed tackles in the first three games, and King said it's a glaring issue right now.
PU QB Joey Elliott knows the blitz is coming. It's just a matter if Purdue's fifth-year senior quarterback can handle what Notre Dame plans to throw at him Saturday night in Ross-Ade Stadium.
"After the first two weeks, a lot of teams came after us and we saw a lot of blitzes," he said. "I think I'll have the confidence in my offensive line and we'll be fine. Anytime they come with something different, it's my job to check us out of a bad play."
Hope hasn't heard from the Big Ten office regarding offensive lineman Zach Reckman's end-of-the-game hit on Northern Illinois' Sean Progar. If Reckman isn't available, Hope said redshirt freshman Rick Schmeig would take over.
UPDATE: Park Ridge, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference office announced that it will impose a one-game suspension on Purdue University offensive guard Zach Reckman for violating the Big Ten Sportslike Conduct Agreement during Purdue's game against Northern Illinois on Sept. 19, 2009.
The Boilermakers are 10 of 11 when reaching the red zone, scoring nine touchdowns.
Averaging 44 points and nearly 500 yards against Toledo and Oregon, the Boilermakers were stymied by Northern Illinois's defense. Purdue only had one legitimate scoring drive and struggled to sustained any rhythm.
The Huskies held Ralph Bolden, the nation's leading rusher, to 64 yards on 12 carries. The sophomore said he was limited in practice with an injury to his lower body but it didn't factor into his performance.
Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen will have two nagging problems to deal with against Purdue on Saturday: a painful right big toe and a missing receiver who was averaging 27.5 yards a catch and more than a touchdown a game.
Clausen hopes a shoe insert will help him deal with his turf toe, and that his backup receivers will help offset the loss of Michael Floyd to a broken left collarbone.
"That just means guys have to step up," the junior quarterback said.
Clausen walked a bit gingerly into his weekly news conference Wednesday, wearing high-top sneakers instead of his usual flip-flops, but that marked an improvement over the protective boot he had been wearing since injuring the toe during Saturday's win over Michigan State.
Clausen didn't practice Tuesday but planned to take part in Wednesday's practice and get in more work today.
Coach Charlie Weis said he expects Clausen, second in the nation in pass efficiency with a rating of 188.55, to play against Purdue (1-2). Clausen said the injury could affect him because he plants with his right foot to throw.
"Saturday I had to adjust that a little bit. I really wasn't using my legs too much because it was that painful," he said.
Clausen was 12-of-21 passing for 171 yards after being injured when he was sacked in the second quarter. Before that, he was 10-of-10 passing for 129 yards.
The Irish (2-1) are hoping Duval Kamara, Robby Parris or a lesser-used receiver will help fill the void left when their top receiving threat, Floyd, went down. That did not happen last season, when Floyd missed two games and most of a third with a knee injury and the Irish threw for 138 fewer yards per game.
Weis also said halfback Armando Allen both suffered a foot injury last week, however is expected to play Saturday.
Allen, the nation's 15th-leader rusher, has a gimpy right ankle and was also held out of Tuesday's practice, Weis said Allen will be eased back in on Wednesday, then amped up to a full practice Thursday with the hopes of being full-go by Saturday night.
Fullback James Aldridge, out since the second half of the season opener with Nevada (Sept. 5) with a shoulder injury, will miss at least two more games, Weis said.
An MRI Monday revealed that Clausen suffered turf toe in the Irish’s win against Michigan State Saturday. He missed two plays, but finished the game. Clausen initially hurt the foot in the second quarter Saturday while being sacked for the first time this season. He alluded to playing in considerable discomfort for the rest of the game.
Reports have said Clausen was seen walking around campus in a protective boot this week.
“I’ll probably hold him from practice today because when you get a turf toe, one of the things you do is they get one of these plates put in their shoe that kind of lifts your toe up so that you are not getting pressure on your foot when you are there,” Weis said. “We’re getting that plate in today. Our plan is to give Jimmy some of it on Wednesday, all of it on Thursday, and see how it goes from there.”
As far as who might test the Irish defense the most this season, here are where all 12 of ND's opponents rank nationally in total offense
Purdue 25th, Michigan 28th, USC 34th,
Michigan State 38th, Stanford 40th, Washington 56th, Pitt 59th,
Nevada 71st, Washington State 79th, UConn 92nd, Navy 97th and Boston College 107th.
Bottom line: Michigan scored 38 points and had 430 offensive yards; Michigan State had 30 points and 459 yards.
Troublesome numbers that aren't skewed. Numbers that have to be fixed in time for this week's prime-time visit to Purdue.
Oddity:
Outing themselves
The Purdue University athletic department is declaring a “Black-out” for Saturday night's game with the Irish, in which Boilermaker fans are not only being coaxed to wear black, but encouraged to spend just $18 for the privilege.
The Purdue bookstore is selling glow-in-the-dark black shirts featuring Purdue-Notre Dame over a football field with
the Boilermakers' "P" logo in the center on the front, and the words "Boiler Up!" on the back.
Notre Dame typically hasn't done well in these “-out” games.
The Irish lost to Michigan on Sept. 12 in a Maize-out in Ann Arbor, and at Penn State in 2007 in a White-out that was Irish quarterback Clausen's first collegiate start.
Squib:
Notre Dame, in three games so far this season, has recorded seven touchdown drives of 75 yards or more. In all of 2008, the Irish had 15. In 2007, they had six.
Well, all things point to a shootout as both D's are pretty porous. ND's loss of Floyd is huge, but Tate's had two very good games vs PU. CB Pender has defended Tate both times, so maybe 3's a charm. Throw in Clausen's turf toe and RB Allens' ailments, coupled with the return of PU's CB King, trifected with ND just 7-5 SU L12 in series, quadruplified(?) with Pags' pick on PU+8'( now +7), and quintuplified with game at Ross-Ade....takin PU+.
wk4 notes
and lost to LSU by 8 TY. Stan 3-0 ATS L3g while being F by -18',17, and 28.
