Because Notre Dame’s struggles on 3rd downs have been so well documented, I chose this game to break down what the Irish do in these situations. The Irish converted on just one 3rd down last week; let’s see what they did and how they did it this week against the Boilermakers.
1st Quarter
- 3rd down and 3 from the Purdue 27, Walker runs right off Santucci for 14 yards and a first down. 3rd down conversions: 1-1
- 3rd down and 16 from own 25, Draw play to Darius Walker whom goes through a huge hole for 14 yards, but is stopped just short of the first down. 3rd down conversions: 1-2
1st quarter breakdown
- 3rd down and 5 or less: 1
- 3rd down and 10 plus: 1
- 3rd down passes: 0
- 3rd down runs: 2
- 3rd down touches or attempts: Walker 2.
- 3rd down conversions: 1-2
The Irish really made it easy to take notes on 3rd downs through the first quarter, because they only faced 2, and it seemed like every single 2nd down, no matter how far they had to go. This obviously is not a good quarter to go by in terms of seeing what they do on 3rd down because they barley had any, but as you see, Darius Walker got both 3rd down touches on run attempts, even on a 3rd and 16.
2nd quarter
- 3rd down and 6 from the Purdue 34, slant to Rhema McKnight complete for 8 yards and a Notre Dame first down. 3rd down conversions: 2-3.
- 3rd down and 3 from the Purdue 5 yard line, fade route for Rhema McKnight falls incomplete. 3rd down conversions: 2-4
2nd quarter breakdown
- 3rd down and 5 or less: 1
- 3rd down and 10 plus: 0
- 3rd down passes: 2
- 3rd down runs: 0
- 3rd down touches or attempts: McKnight 2
- 3rd down conversions: 1-2
Again, just 2 3rd down conversions in the 2nd quarter. Notre Dame was doing a really nice job of staying out of those situations during this game and it showed with the offenses’ production.
1st half breakdown
- 3rd down and 5 or less: 2
- 3rd down and 10 plus: 1
- 3rd down passes: 2
- 3rd down runs: 2
- 3rd down touches or attempts: Walker 2, McKnight 2
- 3rd down conversions: 2-4
Because of the lack of 3rd downs they faced, and because they only got into a 3rd and 10 or more once, Notre Dame could stay balanced on 3rd downs, attempting 2 passes and 2 runs.
3rd quarter
- 3rd down and 1 from own 45, Quinn quarterback sneak for 2 yards and a first down. 3rd down conversions: 3-5
- 3rd down and 7 from midfield, Quinn pressured highly and throws a prayer to McKnight who catches it for a gain of 15 yards and a 1st down. 3rd down conversions: 4-6
- 3rd down and 6 from own 40, screen pass to Walker dropped and incomplete. 3rd down conversions: 4-7
- 3rd down and 5 from Purdue 37, handoff to Walker who powers forward behind Sullivan for 6 yards and a Notre Dame first down. 3rd down conversions: 5-8
- 3rd and 11 from Purdue 34, Quinn in shotgun hits McKnight on an out for 14 yards and a Notre Dame first down. 3rd down conversions: 6-9
- 3rd down and 7 from Purdue 18, Quinn is sacked back at the 30 by Anthony Spencer for a 9 yard loss. 3rd down conversions: 6-10
3rd quarter breakdown
- 3rd down and 5 or less: 2
- 3rd down and 10 plus: 1
- 3rd down passes: 4
- 3rd down runs: 2
- 3rd down touches or attempts: Quinn 1, McKnight 2, Walker 2, 1 sack
- 3rd down conversions: 4-6
This quarter is the quarter in which the Irish faced the most 3rd downs, and they did a very good job on them. If Darius Walker could have held on to a screen pass from Quinn they could have converted on their first 5 attempts of the quarter. Obviously Anthony Spencer is Anthony Spencer, and he was going to get his on a down like 3rd and 7 when you know a pass is coming and can just pin your ears back and rush…but overall a nice job this quarter on 3rd downs.
4th quarter
- 3rd down and 11 from own 30, pass complete to Jeff Samardzija for 9 yards short of the first down. 3rd down conversions: 6-11.
- 3rd down 9 from own 21, Quinn with all day to throw hits Samardzija underneath who gets great YAC for 11 yards and a Notre Dame first down. 3rd down conversions: 7-12
- 3rd down and 15 from own 29, Quinn in shotgun hits Walker on a screen pass for 16 yards and a Notre Dame first down. 3rd down conversions: 8-13
- 3rd down and 4 from midfield, handoff to Ashley McConnell for 1 yard and short of the first down. 3rd down conversions = 8-14
4th quarter breakdown
- 3rd down and 5 or less: 1
- 3rd down and 10 plus: 2
- 3rd down passes: 3
- 3rd down runs: 1
- 3rd down touches or attempts: Samardzija 2, Walker 1, McConnell 1
- 3rd down conversions: 2-4
Can’t really say much about this quarter as the Irish were just playing ball control, so some of the stats are misleading.
2nd half breakdown
- 3rd down and 5 or less: 3
- 3rd down and 10 plus: 3
- 3rd down passes: 7
- 3rd down runs: 3
- 3rd down touches or attempts: Quinn 1, McKnight 2, Walker 3, Samardzija 2, 1 sack.
- 3rd down conversions: 6-10
The 3rd downs went from 4 in the first half to 10 in the 2nd half, but again, the Irish really did not go for the jugular in this game, and while we did not pay for it, it certainly shows in the amount of 3rd downs they faced between the 2 halves.
Game breakdown
- 3rd down and 5 or less: 5
- 3rd down and 10 plus: 4
- 3rd down passes: 9
- 3rd down runs: 5
- 3rd down touches or attempts: Walker 5, McKnight 4, Samardzija 2, Quinn 1, 1 sack.
- 3rd down conversions: 8-14
Notre Dame did a nice job of converting 3rd downs during this game, and while you are all at home saying “Yes, but that was against Purdue whom has a horrible defense”, I’m saying that the teams remaining on our schedule besides USC don’t have defenses that are much better. The goal for the Irish is to take it 1 game a time sure, but us as fans whom don’t play in the game, we want to see the Irish go into California with 1 loss…and if the offense can continue to feast on weak teams until then, the hype surrounding the SC-ND game will be twice as much as it was last year…and that is scary.
