South Bend, Ind (UHND) - For the second week in a row, the Notre Dame offense was bailed out by the defense and special teams.  Last week the offense moved the ball but couldn't put the ball in end zone and settled for five field goals.  This week the offense not only settled for field goals, but had trouble moving the ball even with good field position given to them by the defense and special teams.

Carlyle Holiday didn't look like the comfortable, confident passeer he was last week.  He looked unsure and when he threw the ball his pass were wobbly and off target.  On more than one occasion he bounced the ball to the receiver.  A few dropped passes by Ryan Grant, Gary Godsey, and Arnaz Battle didnt help matter either.

Last week Holiday spread the ball around to five different wide receivers.  This week only two receivers caught balls for a grand total of 18 yards.  Holiday dumped the ball off to backs and the tight ends this week.  He didn't go deep once.  He rarely looked the wide receivers way.  All in all Holiday looked like a pale comparison to the quarterback we saw last week.

The ground game improved somewhat, but that still has plenty of room for improvement.  The Irish gained 140+ yards on the ground, but averaged on 3.6 yards a carry.  It appeared that Willingham was determined to establish some kind of running game out there today. 

I really would like to think that the Irish played conservatively in hopes of surprising Michigan, but Purdue isn't a pushover and I doubt Ty would ever attempt something like that.  It seemed to me that the playbook was much smaller this week than last.  Execution was also a major reason for the offensive ineptitude however.

The offensive line and running backs did not help the passing game much either this week.  Holiday did not have much time to pass most of the day and the blocking by the backs was a joke.  The line created some more room for the backs to run, but their pass blocking wasn't the best it could be by a long shot. 

I realize that the Purdue defense isn't weak and that they are better than the Maryland defense, but I feel that Notre Dame's offensive problems today were caused more by a lack of execution and play calling on Notre Dame's part.  Purdue's defense had a large role in it to, I can't deny that, but the Purdue defense had no effect on Holiday under throwing receivers when he had enough time to make the play.  The Purdue defense had no part in receivers dropping balls when they were wide open.  And lastly, the Purdue defense had no part in Notre Dame calling for running plays on third and longs. 

The Purdue defense was however the reason that Holiday was forced to throw the ball away numerous times, and they were the reason Holiday was forced to try and scramble for yards when they rushed him.  I under estimated their defensive ability before this game. They are a pretty good defense.  They played well today, but again I think the lack of execution and play calling had A LOT to do with the problems Notre Dame faced on offense.  The good news there is both are fixable.

This offense needs to get better in hurry though. If the offense lays performs this way next week, Michigan will eat them alive.  The Michigan defense is a better than Purdue's and the Irish will need to put the ball in the end zone next week.

That being said, I think the offense will respond with a much better performance next week.  Holiday was off today, no doubt, and I highly doubt we see him perform this poorly again this season.   I feel the play calling will be better next week, because Notre Dame cannot afford to be conservative against the Wolverines.  I think we will see some down field passes and play action, two things we didn't see today.

In the pre-season, it was the general consensus that the defense would have to carry the offense till the offense got itself together.  Well the offense has taken that statement to the extreme and they have a week to get themselves together before the top 10 ranked Wolverines invade South Bend.  On the bright side, Notre Dame is 2-0 with and offense that hasn't scored a touchdown yet.  Once the offense gets going, this could be a very good team.  Notre Dame has the talent to take down Michigan next week, whether or not that talent is able to do so remains to be seen.  The Irish defense will certainly be up to the task, but they can't be expected to produce another 14 points next week.