Notre Dame took a step backwards last week against a very pesky, and well-prepared Purdue team. The Irish managed enough offense in the second half and were able to make the right adjustments on defense for a 30-14 win and a 3-0 start.

Some thought the Irish problems were on the defensive side of the ball only, but really, the problem that that stood out the most during the game was the sputtering offense. The defense took some big hits with injuries and did not look good at all in the first half. But as I said, in the second half the "D" settled in and did its job, holding Purdue scoreless and limiting the Boilermakeres to 125 total yards for the half.There were other "problems" that developed. ND had 43 yards on seven penalties, including that targeting call in the second quarter on free safety Max Redfield that ended up with him being ejected and forcing the Irish to press into servicetrue freshman, Drue Tranquill, to replace him.The big problem on offense appears to be the offensive line. It permitted quarterback Everett Golson to be sacked four times, half the total last year's line yielded in a 13-game season with Tommy Rees, the QB, not a mobile type of player.Golson was still able to get 315 yards in total defense with 259 coming through the air and a career-high 25 completions. He was also ND's leading rusher with 56 yards on 14 carries.As the NBC-TV announcing crew noted, that is too many carries for Golson, the most valuable player on offense and the man that makes the offense go. If he has to tuck the ball under his belt and run that much, then you know somethings wrong up front.As Al Lesar, lead columnist for the South Bend Tribuen wrote, "Somewhere along the way to Lucas Oil Stadium, the Irish misplaced the mechanics that made them special against the Owls and the Wolverines."ND's first turnover of the season came when TE Ben Koyack fumbled a catch that set up a Purdue TD that put the Irish behind for the first time this season.Only in the fourth quarter did ND settle down on offense to preserve the win and look more like the team that dominated Rice and Michigan.ND lost several defensive players to injuries during the game as well as receiver Amir Carlisle on offense. He injured his knee early and it appeared serious. However, head coach Brian Kelly said all the Irish injured players will be back for next week's Syracuse game.Also, right tackle Christian Lombard did not play due to an ankle injury but he will be back along with receiver Torii Hunter Jr. and safety Austin Collinsworth for Syracuse.Some game stats. Cam McDaniel had 32 yards on nine carries, Greg Bryant 29 on six and Tarean Folston, 22 on nine. Receiving, Will Fuller had six catches for 51 yards and a score, Ben Koyack five for 32, C.J. Prosise four for 51, Corey Robinson, three for 52, and Bryant two for 34. Golson was 25 of 40 passing with two TDs.Kyle Brindza had four punts for a total of 193 yards and a very respectable 48.2 average. He was three of four in field goals missing a 50 yarder but making ones of 29, 48, and 39.Defensively Romeo Okwara had 11 tackles followed by Jaylon Smith with nine, Joe Schmidt eight, and Issa Rochell six.IRISH NOTES: The Syracuse game will have a 8:10 p.m. kickoff on Sept. 27 and be televised nationally by ABC-TV. There are hundreds of ND fans from the Schuylkill, Carbon, Monroe and other areas going to the game including fan buses from Tamaqua and Summit Hill ... With his first quarter TD reception sophomore Fuller became the first Irish player to record at least one touchdown catch in the first three games of the season since Michael Floyd in 2009 ... Senior middle linebacker Jarrett Grace, who hasn't played since the last Shamrock Series game last October, has finally returned from injury ... Concerning the performance by his team, Kelly said, "We're still not a finished product by any means. We're still a young team. At 3-0 we're pleased to be where we are, but we're nowhere near the football team we need to be.".... Backup safety Nicky Baratti, who injured his right shoulder on the first and only play he was in on last week, is lost for the season. Baratti underwent season-ending surgery this week, the third time in the past two years he's had a procedure performed on the same shoulder ... ND moved up in the polls to No. 9. Four of ND's final nine opponents are ranked in the top 17 led by No. 1 Florida State ... ND is one of 27 teams sharing the national lead in red-zone offense at a 100 percent conversion rate. The Irish are 14 for 14 in the red zone this year, scoring on each of their last 23 red-zone chances since a fourth-quarter interception against BYU in 2013 ... After starting off 1-3 in his first four games against Big Ten teams while at ND, Kelly is now 12-4 against the league's current 14 members with Northwestern coming up on Nov. 15. That includes Maryland and Rutgers, in 2013 before they officially became members of the Big Ten. ND doesn't play a Big Ten team next year .... It is unusally for ND to have a off date in September but this one comes at a good time with some many with injuries. The week layoff will help them all to be ready for next week .... Starting times for the Florida State, Arizona State and USC away games have not been set, but the sure bet is all will be night games. We'll have the Syracuse preview and other Irish news next week, have a good week off. Go Irish