Coaches Review The Battle.....

Lou Holtz

Notre Dame Head Coach Lou Holtz
"I thought we played very well today overall. Purdue came out and played well. They made some nice throws. Our defense played especially well today. It is the second week in a row now that the defense has played well."

Our offense played very well in the first three quarters. In the first half we got to the 20-yard line and threw an interception and then missed a field goal but other than that, we did some good things today. In the first three quarters, we had just one turnover. The kicking game was good and we had very few penalties."

(On the third down and long)
"We really protected the passer today, but we can't consistently run the ball yet. We got ourselves into too many third down and nine, 10 yards to go. We aren't going to be able to win if we keep getting ourselves into those situations. We need to mix the pass and run to be successful."

(On the rain)
"I don't care what the forecast is, it rains every time we play Purdue. I can't remember the last time it didn't rain when we played Purdue."

Purdue Head Coach Jim Colletto
(On Notre Dame's kickoff return)
"They did a good job on the kickoff. Our kids were really cranked up to play. It was a shock right off the bat."

(On Notre Dame)
"They are a good defensive team. Their defense from last year is a year older and stronger. They are a physical bunch of guys. You need a veteran offensive line to deal with the things that they do. They threw a lot of different offenses at us. We didn't handle it well. A lot of our younger players didn't have the experience to handle it.

"They had a lot of third down conversions. You've got to be able to stop them some place. We didn't line correctly or get in the right place. However, we did show a lot of hustle. They went 90 yards twice and you have to make a play on defense so those drives stop."

(On the play of Purdue)
"We didn't block well and Billy Dickens played as well as can be expected under the circumstances. The offensive line was no help. We have a lot of problems and need to find some solutions."