Baby Steps

And, by "baby", I mean true freshmen...

Associtaed Press recap [here]. und.com [here].

True freshmen statistics:

Jimmy Clausen, QB: 18 for 26, 169 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 3 rushes for 13 yards.
Armando Allen, RB: 6 carries for 24 yards, 1 catch, 80 yards on 4 kick returns. Duval Kamara, WR: 6 catches for 68 yards, 1 TD.

...and, coming up especially big...
Golden Tate, WR: 3 catches for 104 yards, 1 TD.

Unfortunately, the Irish offense dug themselves a 23-0 hole while the defense held on for dear life. The second half scoring: Irish 19, Purdue 10. Other bits from today's 33-19 loss to Purdue?

* Andre Ware and Dave Pasch made me long for Pat Haden and Tom Hammond. I wasn't sure that was possible.

* Total net yards: ND 432, Purdue 404.

* TE John Carlson re-appeared in the Irish offense this week with 5 catches for 30 yards and 1 touchdown catch.

* David Grimes had 3 catches for 33 yards before leaving with an injured ankle. Robby Parris responded to the playing time by hauling in 7 catches for 93 yards.

* After some poor kicking last week, punter Geoff Price was benched in favor of walk-on Eric Maust. Maust punted 3 times for 44.3 yards/punt.

* Mistakes may have been the difference. Long 3rd down conversions by the Boilermakers in the first half really stung. The Irish had 112 yards in penalties, giving Purdue 5 "unearned" first downs. The Irish kicking game tossed away 5 points with two missed PATs and a blocked FG.

* The Irish safties forced Boilermaker QB Curtis Painter into 2 INTs after he threw only 1 in his first 4 games.

* Evan Sharpley played good in relief of the gimpy and injured Clausen, going 16 for 26, 208 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT.

* The Irish defense still gave up 4.4 yards/carry and another 100-yard rusher.

* The offensive line only allowed 2 sacks.