Battle Plan Against Purdue
By: Frank Vitovitch
9/9/99

South Bend, Ind - With questions surrounding the health of Notre Dame quarterback Jarious Jackson, it has been made known that Arnaz Battle will be used but the question is how much and how often will he be used? Here is my plan on how to use Battle and Jackson effectively to beat the Boilermakers.

The general consensus is that Jarious Jackson is a much better passer but is not a great option quarterback while he is a great running quarterback.  What's the difference?  An option quarterback has to have a feel of the defense and know exactly when to pitch the ball or keep it.  It seems Jarious waits to the last possible second (after he just gets hit) to pitch the ball making for erratic pitches that lead to turnovers. 

While Jarious has troubles with the option, he is with out a doubt one of the best running quarterbacks in the country.  What Jarious excels at is rolling to either side and making defenders miss him until a receiver gets open or he has the chance to scramble to a nice gain.  This is evident in his touchdown run against Michigan in which he dropped back, rolled to his left, then stepped up looking for a receiver and when none were open he took off and used his elusiveness to elude some defenders, then used his 230 pound frame to run threw a few week arm tackle attempts.

Arnaz on the other hand seems to have the feel for the option and runs it much more smoothly than Jarious.  He is elusive and can fake defenders out easily making for big gains as evidenced in his 74 yard touchdown run against Kansas.  Despite Battle's better handling of the option, he is not the passer that Jarious is and his arm strength can't compare to that of Jarious. 

So here is my plan.  Start Jarious and let him in until he can get Notre Dame a lead of 7-14 points.  When and if he can accomplish this take him out and put Arnaz in the game.  When Arnaz gets in the game, Notre Dame should then run, run, run and pound the ball down the Boilermaker defense.

With Battle in the game, the option can be used better to fool the Purdue defense.  They will have to worry much more about the option with Battle in the game which should open up a few chances for Notre Dame to run a couple play actions for good gains. 

If Jarious can come in and get a quick lead, and Arnaz is able to come in and wear down the Purdue defense, Notre Dame will still have a great chance to beat Purdue.

If later in the game, Purdue comes back and takes a lead, Jarious' toe should be ok for him to come back in and rally his troops.  The only problem will be, will Jarious be able to come off the bench and get right back in the game? Or will he need a few series to get going?

Despite these questions, I still think this could be a very valuable game plan for the Irish. 

On top of using Battle and Jarious the way I described, the Notre Dame running backs will have to be able to make plays as well and the offensive line will have to create holes for them to run through.  Last year, when Notre Dame played Purdue, they were able to run at will against the Boilermaker defense.  Autry Denson raked up over 80 yards rushing by the second quarter, but tired out and that's when Purdue started to take over.  That being said, both Tony running backs will have to be ready to play and contribute.

On defense, it is very simple.  The secondary has to play tighter coverage and limited the effectiveness of the three step drop by Purdue.    If they can, Purdue will be forced into more five and seven step drops.   If that happens, the Notre Dame defensive line will be able to get better pressure on Drew Brees forcing bad passes which could lead to interceptions.

Well, those are my thoughts on the game.  As far as a prediction, I am going to go with Notre Dame by the score of 35-28. The Irish put up 22 points on a great Michigan defense, so they should very easily be able to put up 35 on a Purdue defense which is not, by far, as good as the Michigan one they faced last week.