24 DAYS TILL NOTRE DAME CRUSHES PURDUE

With senior running backs Armando Allen and Robert Hughes (with his size he should be like Ray Zellars) and talented underclassmen such as Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood (hearing similar reports on the redshirt freshman as Knowshon Moreno had before his breakout season in Athens) the Fighting Irish should be able to run for at least 230 yards against a rather weak Purdue front 7. It looks like at this moment according to practice reports that the Notre Dame offensive line will consist of Taylor Dever at right tackle, Trevor Robinson at right guard, Dan Wenger at center, Chris Stewart at left guard, and Zach Martin at left tackle. If you are counting that is two new starters at the tackle spots. Dayne Crist will of course be the starting QB and his first option at tight end will be All-American Kyle Rudolph and at wide receiver it will be another All-American in Michael Floyd. Freshman WR TJ Jones looks like he will get starting duties as does tailback convert Theo Riddick (think Golden Tate in the slot with Riddick). The offense should be explosive and Brian Kelly's teams at Cincinnati routinely put over 40 points a game on the score board. The offense has a ton of experience and depth at key positions but the key will be the offensive line meshing especially at the tackle spots and keeping Crist healthy. Without Dayne this offense will struggle to form an identity in my opinion.

The defense remains a different story and something I will dive into tomorrow. The whole front 7 returns with plenty of talent among the starters but do they have the depth to shut down teams running games? We will see.