Rockne's Roundtable

Nothing to add

I giess some people are never happy no matter what phi

While this was our most complete of the season. We had a couple of breaks when Purdue dropped some INTs and we fell on our fumbles, but, we were due those considering the bad luck we've had with TOs.

We did leave some points on the field, though, and our special teams is the worst in the entire country due to several reasons. Poor KO coverage last night, Ruffer missing 5 of his last 8 FGs. Only 3 PR yards for the entire season. This unit is worse under Elston than it ever was under Polian and my only concern is that in a close game it will be the difference between winning and losing. Is it time to see Taush?

Wow - this is the first rocking chair game we have had in a while, and people still complain. As if perfection is the goal. Rees was tremendous last night - not perfect, just merely tremendous. The running game outstanding. The Defense - tough. Ok - special teams still needs some work.

But wow - to start with complaints on a 28 point win on the road - go beat your dog, and pistol whip your kids....to get out your frustration over such a tough game.

Bfinch is correct. Lay off him.

When you play a team like Purdue, it's a no-win situation. You're supposed to dominate them, so when you do, you've merely met expectations. It's virtually impossible to exceed them. The better the team plays, the worse you think Purdue must be. If ND didn't dominate, it would have been fire on brimstone raining down on here. It wasn't a perfect game, but they did exactly what they were supposed to do. Finding fault is fine, but similar faults could be found in a 17-16 win over Alabama, only we wouldn't be talking about them. So, by all means, be critical, but just keep in mind that the next perfect game any team plays will be the first.

FIVE different players scored TD's for the Irish last night. I understand the concern that we're not getting the ball to Riddick as much as we think we should be... and I know you can argue that Rees has his own favorites... but when you have five different guys in different positions able to put up TD's it's really hard to complain that we aren't spreading the ball around enough. Clearly Riddick had too much on his plate in the beginning. If the coaches thought he was ready to get a ton of work again, he would be. We still have more than half a season of football left to go. When you've got Floyd, Jones, and Eifert all doing really well in the receiver role, and you've got two very capable RBs also putting points on the board, is it that much of a concern? Floyd was in single coverage most of the night. Of course we're going to work that. There's a lot of football left to play. Theo will get his shot.

I do wish Hendrix could have taken a few snaps. Of course Dayne wants in... but how meaningful is that for anyone really?

Brindza was averaging about 70 yards per kick before this game. I don't think it's really fair to say he can't get the job done anymore, as if this one day was definitive of his ability forever. People have off days. Maybe this was just one of them. To me the Ruffer situation is of much more concern than Brindza at this point.

Overall, it was a very solid win and one that didn't have any of us freaking out at the last minute. I'd call that a success.