Notre Dame/Purdue Preview: Q&A with "Hammer and Rails"

I was going to save this for later in the week, but since Travis from Hammer and Rails got his answers to me early, I don't see any reason to hold onto them.  Purdue fans are confident, folks, and they're getting some national buzz as a sleeper.  Will be an intriguing test for Brian Kelly's first game on the Irish sidelines.  If you have any other questions about the Boilermakers, head over to our SBNation Purdue counterpart and ask away.

1) How do you think Robert Marve is going to fit into the offense?  He's got a deep but unproven group of receivers after Keith Smith (91 and 1100 last year), but he hasn't played football in nearly two years and wasn't super accurate in his time at Miami (54.5%, versus 61.7% for Joey Elliot last year).  He definitely brings upside, but how concerned are you about rust or being unfamiliar with Danny Hope's offense this early in the season?

I think he's going to be fine. He was able to practice a bit last year before tearing his ACL and has been learning the system since he decided to transfer. The injury obviously took away some of that time, but he was able to go throw spring drills and was the clear #1 coming out of there. I know there is the possibility of rust, but I think he is definitely ready to get out on the field after all this time.

I feel a little uniquely qualified to talk about him because I saw him live once in a game at Miami. My wife is a Hurricane alum and we usually go down for one game a year. We saw him against Virginia Tech, which was one of his better games. I think I am most impressed that he has gotten his head on straight. It seems like his maturity level is much higher than it ever was at The U. He's saying all the right things in practice and doing everything well on the field. Since Caleb TerBush is now academically ineligible he comes in as the only quarterback with collegiate experience.

Marve will add more of a running element to our offense than Elliott did. Not a lot of people remember this, but Drew Brees rushed for nearly 800 yards the year he took us to the Rose Bowl. It was his ability to read defense and know exactly when he could take off for 10-15 yards that made3 us so dangerous that year. If Marve can do this, it would greatly help our offense. We don't have a lot of healthy running backs at the moment, so any help on the ground he can give us is great.

2) Is Purdue going to be able to run the ball well?  With Ralph Bolden's injury and the need to replace three starters on the offensive line, including right tackle, it seems like that might be an area of weakness.

I think we're going to be fine. Al-Terek McBurse is a four-star running back that had a similar year last year to Bolden's in 2008. He has the talent to be a home run hitter, but he is more of an edge runner than a between the tackles guy. Jared Crank and Derek Jackson give us two bigger backs to use as fullbacks, while Dan Dierking is playing both halfback and fullback. He's undersized, but he is a tough, reliable runner that won't hurt us. Reggie Pegram is a true freshman that is a bigger kid and he has performed above expectations in camp. He was originally projected to redshirt, but with Bolden's injury and Keith Carlos out Pegram has had a chance to play with the first team. So far, he has impressed coaches.

As for the line, I am not worried. Hope was originally an offensive line coach and after being back with the program for two years it is paying off. He built Brees' Rose Bowl line where all five starters spent time in the NFL. Matt Light, Brees' left tackle, even has three Super Bowl rings protecting Tom Brady's back. Dennis Kelly and Ken Plue are the two returning players and they were the best linemen last year anyway. Peters Drey is settling in at center while Nick Mondek, a converted defensive tackle, has taken ownership at right tackle. We like to run behind massive guard Ken Plue a lot, and he is very effective in the ground game.

3) If the Irish focus on doubling or tripling stud lineman Ryan Kerrigan - easier written than done, obviously - who does Dayne Crist need to be looking out for as the second best Purdue pass rusher?

Gerald Gooden on the other End. Gooden started all 12 games last year and had 4.5 sacks. This will be his third season starting at defensive end, so he has more than enough talent to not be totally ignored. It is hoped that allt he attention on Kerrigan will open things up for him. Defensive tackle Kawann Short has also come a very long way. He had two interceptions a year ago and can do a lot to disrupt the passing game. Kevin Pamphile was supposed to take over the other spot, but a stress fracture in his foot has made it unlikely he will play at Notre Dame. He didn't play football at all until his senior year of high school, and he has already earned a starting spot coming out of his redshirt year. He's a raw talent that will only get better.

4) Purdue is replacing their entire secondary.  How good are the new guys going to be, and how many corners deep are you comfortable going before the nickel or dime back becomes a severe weakness?

Honestly, I think we're going to be better because we will now be deeper. The open competition has forced guys to get better against each other, thus building depth internally. Albert Evans will start at one safety spot. He was a nickel back and special teams ace a year ago. Ricardo Allen is a true freshman that has taken ownership of one corner spot. Josh Johnson and Charlton Williams have some experience from the past two years. Theya re fighting for the other corner spot, while Michael Eargle is a JuCo transfer brought in to play immediately. That gives us four guys to use that are very athletic. At the other safety spot Ishmael Aristide, E.J. Johnson (a true freshman) and Chris Quinn give us athleticism that frankly we didn't have last year. Dwight McLean was a hitter, but not an all-world safety. Torri Williams was big, but years of injuries naturally slowed him a bit. I like Johnson to emerge because he is a ball-hawk from a 2-time state champion in Florida.

5) The Boilers are getting some dark horse buzz, but what's your biggest area of concern as a Boiler fan that you haven't already addressed?

I am worried about the run defense. Yes, we return six of the front seven. Yes, we have as many as seven linebackers that have impressed enough to be mentioned as starters. Still, we sucked against the run last year and have for many years now. To me, it's a catch 22. Will teams throw on us to challenge the young secondary, or run against us because we haven't proved we can stop it? If they try to run and they do stop it that obviously helps the secondary. If the secondary plays better than expected (and I think they have the potential to be better than last year) will teams still be able to run on us? I am honestly fine with the secondary. I think we have better players now than all four guys we had last year at the same point in their careers. The run defense is an issue that won't go away. It's unacceptable that we gave up over 200 yards to Minnesota last year, then turned around and stuffed Ohio State a week later.

Also, turnovers were a major issue last year. They easily cost us wins against Oregon, Northwestern, and Michigan State. They were also a huge difference in the Minnesota game. Had we not had a boatload of turnovers in those four games I have no doubt we win them. Shoot, we handed Oregon 17 points on turnovers on their field and only lost by 2. We must stop that.

6) And finally, if you feel like making a prediction, what's the result going to be on Saturday?

I have felt a Purdue win for awhile and I am sticking to it. I expect it will be high scoring because both defenses have questions, but I think Purdue pulls it off. This team did a lot of things we didn't expect last year. They won at Michigan, they should have won at Oregon, and they beat Ohio State. As long as we take care of the football I think we win.