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PURDUE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 27, 2011

Danny Hope

Q. I guess the first question, having the bye week, what was the focus in terms of what you wanted to get accomplished in the bye week and how did that turn out?
COACH HOPE: The bye week, the bye week went very well for us. We think we got done what said set out to get done. We wanted to give them some reps first, so after the SE Missouri game, they had sun afternoon off, all of Monday, all of Tuesday, all of Wednesday to give them a chance to fuel up a little bit, freshen up a little bit, get away, get some personal time.
Then we came out and practiced well on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, most exclusively with our preparation for Notre Dame that went very well. Gave us a chance to put together a game plan and take it out on the practice field and test it some, and do that over and over again, and we think that it makes a difference for the game on Saturday.

Q. Now you're playing a Notre Dame team that could very easily be 4-0 and a Top-10 team if not for all of the turnovers. How do you assess them?
COACH HOPE: You're right on it. They are an excellent football team and loaded with talent. They have turned the ball over a lot in their first four games, and that's probably why they are not undefeated. But they certainly have the talent and play like a Top-10 football team.

Q. When you go against a team that has a turnover problem, not that you don't try to force turnovers anyway, does that become more a point of emphasis from a defensive standpoint?
COACH HOPE: Well, it's always a point of emphasis. That's one of the three things that we hang our hat on from a defensive standpoint. One is forming our strain (ph) to the ball, the other is tackling and then ball disruption and takeaways. It's a huge focal point of our defensive philosophy.

Q. And then one of the obvious questions in terms of Purdue is the quarterback situation in terms of how you are rotating those guys, how is that going to shake out?
COACH HOPE: Well, we'll make a decision as far as we might rotate them on Saturday, but obviously Caleb TerBush is our No. 1 quarterback and Robert Marve is No. 2, they are both doing very well.
We can win with both of those guys and both of those guys will be able to help us win this Saturday. And throughout the course of the year, there will be competition, but it's nice to have a little bit of continuity at the quarterback position for a change.
Last year and the beginning of this season, we had five or six quarterbacks in about 14 games, starting quarterbacks. So to have some continuity at the quarterback position is really important to our football team so we don't have to make the switch right now. We have two very good quarterbacks, both are ready to play very well for our team.

Q. I know you've always made an emphasis on running the ball the last couple of years but the success you've had in the running game, can you talk about what has been the impetus for that?
COACH HOPE: Well we have a commitment to it. It can make a difference in ball security issue.
Last year we had a lot of injuries at the quarterback position, so we had to manage the running game out of necessity. Obviously from a physicality standpoint, you become a more physical football team if you can run the ball. And throughout the course of practice, you get yourself a more defensive football team.
So there's a lot of reasons why you like to have a strong running attack. We have good running backs on the offensive line, and with the new quarterbacks, and I think being able to go out and have a strong running game takes a little bit of pressure off our quarterbacks.

Q. You mentioned that you felt a little bit more comfortable with what you guys can do well defensively. Playing another spread team, do you feel like you had to go after that -- after what you discovered the last couple of weeks?
COACH HOPE: Well, we had some at looks at what we doing and trying to get done and some areas of our defense we needed to strengthen. I think we are a lot more settled in our defensive coverage and the pressures that we will call. We made great progress in the last couple of weeks and we got better and better as a football team. I believe that will continue throughout the course of the season.
I think we'll continue getting better if we improve; the running game helps us and we think we have shown a real improvement in practice and in the SE Missouri game heading into the Notre Dame game. We have settled in on what we like from a defensive standpoint, but there will always be new wrinkles going into each game based on the style of offense we play. But I think we have settled down.

Q. Michael Floyd is a handful, but any time you play these guys, you have to worry about the tight ends, and a lot --
COACH HOPE: All of them, no question. They have great players. That's a real challenge for our defense that we have to spread out and match up; we have to, and we have to do something to slow down the production of their quarterback and their strong running game.
But they are especially talented on offense. They have been averaging over 500 yards a game, and they have been turning the ball over a lot and not having a couple of possessions, it is a tremendous challenge for our defense. Again, I think the open week has given us opportunities to go out and try some things and look at things that we think might help us come Saturday. We feel comfortable with our game plan, but you're absolutely right, we want line to and shut down all of those great players. Line up, match up -- running to the ball is huge for our football team. Get the ball in the playmaker's hands in a hurry.

Q. Last year during the bye week, you obviously probably didn't do anything this week -- but just the value of the bye week in terms of what you said before.
COACH HOPE: Well, I wouldn't say that we didn't do anything drastic that won't show up on Saturday, but could be. Maybe not quite as drastic as last year but again, to be able to go out there, play three games, take a good look at where you're at and realize what you have to get done in order to play top competition on our schedule, go out there and practice a game plan, that you feel is tailor-made for your upcoming opponent, I think was a great advantage for our football team.
We were able to get the wrinkles out of it and our players have a better understanding of what we are trying to get done today going into practice Tuesday, and we'll have four practices under our belt already. We are way ahead in practice. When it's all said and done, we'll have practiced and prepared twice as much for the game.

Q. That was the only thing I wanted to ask you, during a bye week, players, when do they start preparing, last Wednesday or Thursday?
COACH HOPE: The day we got back. We went on the road and recruited Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. We had already done some great preparation on Notre Dame and there were huge resources of information that the players could get their hands on to prepare themselves mentally for the game. But we didn't practice at all Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and came back Thursday started working on the game plan, very well.

Q. Anything more you can tell us about Gabe Holmes and his availability?
COACH HOPE: Optimistic that he will be there on Saturday, and he practiced a little bit on Sunday, moving around. We didn't do a whole lot. We will get in some team situations today and see how he holds up but I'm optimistic he'll be available Saturday.

Q. You had a couple other guys --
COACH HOPE: Gooden is going to be fine. He practiced on Sunday. He protected his elbow some but it's just an elbow, he's going to be fine. And Ralph (ph) didn't do a whole lot on Sunday, a little bit sore and we held him out, get more in today and he'll be okay by Saturday.

Q. A guy that has not played often, Cody Davis, is he okay?
COACH HOPE: He got a shot in his shoulder. He's okay. I'm excited about his progress. He's a tough guy you don't hear about him a whole lot, but from what we can see on the practice field he has a good future.

Q. Carlino started against Ezenwa (ph), and he brings some energy to the defense; did he earn himself a series or two occasionally playing defense from here on out?
COACH HOPE: Well, he has certainly earned I think the opportunity to play are more. He's a very good football player. He's our best special teams player. He's really smart and has a great passion and likes to contact. I'm not surprised to see Chris play very well at linebacker and a special teams player, as well. Looking for opportunities to get him in the game. I don't believe he'll be the No. 1 linebacker going into the game, but I like him.

Q. And leadership --
COACH HOPE: He does both. He brings leadership. He brings energy. He's really sure about where he's supposed to be at. He made plays and usually brings some energy. Very pleased.

Q. The thing at linebacker, you played Ezenwa some the last couple of weeks, what has he done to earn himself some playing time?
COACH HOPE: He's an excellent athlete and has performed very well for the most part, and in practice, has done really well. He's still learning to play his position but we are encouraged by the things that he's done, and we have to get more players ready. Playing the No. 1 throughout course of the game, then you never get the next guy to go in the ballgame.
So we need to get, again, our third offensive attack on the game, our third offensive guard in the game, another outside linebacker in the game, another inside linebacker. We want to get Nnamdi in the game some and Carlino in the game some. They are very important to us.

Q. With the bye week, where do you think TerBush made his stride?
COACH HOPE: I think coming out of the three games, he's a lot more confident, a lot more sure. He's very comfortable with the situation. I think he's been gaining momentum. I think he threw the ball very well throughout the course of the bye week. I think we have had a couple extra days to practice our game plan against Notre Dame.
He's really been into the film and the handouts and the notes and he has a better grasp of what we are trying to get done Saturday already. So I think he has momentum behind him right now. He's throwing the ball well. He's doing a great job of leading our offensive football team. I think we have engineered him throughout the course of the game, gives signals, does a good job in the huddle. I like everything.

Q. In the first two games, obviously he took you down for the game-winning touchdown and got you in position, you commented before about how you like that he doesn't get rattled. Is that something from a coaching standpoint you could teach a guy, or is something that he has in himself to perform in those kind of situations?
COACH HOPE: I think Coach Nord does a great job with our quarterbacks. They do a great job communicating one-on-one. They are very open and very direct. They have a lot of fun. He's very demanding. I think they are very comfortable with their position coach, the open dialogue, the open communication. I think the coaching style helps all of our quarterbacks.
But I think Caleb is that way anyhow. He doesn't get rattled that easy and I think he's a tough guy. He's taken some shots in practice in the games that others may have held themselves out for a couple of plays to see if they are okay and he doesn't seem to be bothered much by contact or if things go wrong.
I really like Caleb's composure. I've said it several times, he doesn't seem to get rallied. I didn't know how he would respond the first game, second game, the third game; he's passed every test that I've thrown him.

Q. Are you past worried about how he'll handle this moment on Saturday, big crowd, big stage and all of the things that come with playing Notre Dame on Saturday?
COACH HOPE: Obviously we have to keep things in perspective. You want your football team to be excited, and we will be excited. The game is always circled on our schedule and on our calendar. We want it to be our night. It's a fantastic opportunity for our football team and our football program, but you can't let the game get too big.
But we will make sure that we communicate amongst each only throughout the course of the game so we don't get kids off by themselves. Obviously you have to realize you are playing a great football team that's loaded with talent and will make some big plays. We'll be swinging hard and they will be swinging hard, so the composure part of Saturday I think is going to be really important.
I don't believe that this football team will have an understanding of what's on the line and the great opportunity that's there, but we want to make sure we take Saturday and we seize the moment. These are the type of games that are the reasons why you play and why you coach and we are going to do that this Saturday. We are going to have a blast, it's going to be a packed house, one of the top games on television that weekend and we are going to have a lot of fun.

Q. Ricardo made his first stat last year with Notre Dame and now 14, 15 games later how much better is Ricardo and maybe more prepared?
COACH HOPE: A lot more prepared than this time last year but we only ran one or two coverages a year ago, really simple, we had four brand new starters back with the secondary.
I think Ricardo has really progressed from this point in time last year. It's hard to tell because a lot of people are not throwing his way and running the ball. Maybe just the stats and his numbers don't jump out at you quite like they did this time last year, but throughout the course of the season -- someone came out a week ago and tested six wide receivers and came up with the ball the first play of the game.
So I think he has really improved from where he was at this time last year as far as we can tell because he has not been tested. Saturday he'll be matched up on one of them.

Q. You mentioned the defense figuring out what you can do and what you can do well. What is the strength?
COACH HOPE: The strength of the defense, I think we have several strengths to our defense. I think one of the strengths of our defense is our defensive tackles, big and strong and experienced at the tackle position. We have some numbers, Kawann and Bruce and Brandon Taylor and Ryan Isaac and Kevin Pamphile. We have some big, strong defensive tackles that can go inside and play aggressive and hold the point and rotate and keep them fresh.
The experience that we have at the linebacker position I think is a strong suit of our defense. We have to make sure that we have them in the right decision and get them in the right position to be successful. But we have experience at the linebacker position, which I think is critical, and football that's played nowadays is totally different than offenses you'll prepare for on Saturday.
I think the linebacker spot is one of the tougher spots to play. And then we have a lot more experience and a lot more players to rotate in the secondaries. I think our defensive tackles are strong, experienced, so we have some strengths to our defense.
Again, we are geared to stop the run and we are making some progress in that area. Last year we stepped up some and made some progress in run defense and we had to match up better in the passing game. We have not matched up well and we have given up some big plays in past games in pass defense, so have to strengthen up that area for sure.

Q. When you talk about that, are we talking about having nickel and having the linebackers and nickelback finding the right guys? Can you explain what you mean when you say that?
COACH HOPE: It's a broad statement, doesn't have to be a nickel package. Whoever you have in the back half, they have to be in the right spots and defending the right people. You have to be in the right place and right guys to be successful. A couple of times this season we have not been in the right spots with the right personnel.

Q. Joe Holland is playing tons of snaps the last couple of years; what is it about him that you trust him enough to keep hip on the field the entire game?
COACH HOPE: You just answered the question. We crust them handcuff no keep him on the field the entire game. You know what I get with Joe Holland, he'll play his best, he doesn't take plays off, he prepares for the game, it means a lot, he's an excellent leader for our football team and he has the ability to be a good pass defender and he has the speed to make a difference in the run game.
He's really developed and he get better and the better. I don't believe he's a finished product yet. I believe he'll be a better linebacker at the end of the season than he was at the beginning of the season but there's a lot of right things about Joe Holland and a lot of reasons why you want him on the field.

Q. He's certainly had quite a journey, coming in as a safety and getting thrown in, I think he said yesterday he was like eight days old at linebacker and all of a sudden he's in the game.
COACH HOPE: He's handled everything really well. We moved him down from the safety position into the box at the linebacker, a week before the opening game and then he was really undersized and had not played that close to the line of scrimmage but held up well.
He has courage and throws his body around and runs really good. He's a smart guy, can learn his assignments and be in the right spots. He's made great progress over the last three and a half years and he's a lot -- an award candidate, leading tackler right now I believe, and one of the top tacklers in the Big Ten. He's improved his performance and done very well.

Q. To have a guy like that who is able to get his business taken care of off the field and on the field seems to be a good example for rest of the team as well?
COACH HOPE: Absolutely. We think Joe is an awfully special person, he's made all A's at Purdue, maybe one A- or one B. Any time he's had to represent our program in the media or in public, he's A+. He's an outstanding spokesman for our football team, and if you listen to him, most of the time he makes a lot of sense when he talks. I like to be around Joe, he's fun to be around, always upbeat, always having fun. He's just a great teammate.

Q. Notre Dame, does it present different looks for your quarterback this week?
COACH HOPE: You can blitz a lot out of it, you can bring pressure from just about anywhere out of the 3-4 defense. It's a little bit different because of the centers covered with a really big, strong good defender that's head up and he's on his nose. It's an additional nose guard and their nose guard is really big and really good and they play their big ends. Their ends are different than our ends. Our ends are 4-3 ends. Their ends are really like defensive tackles.
What they run really is an NFL 3-4 defense, they over-tackles (ph), they mash a certain gap and free the linebackers up. They are exceptional at the linebacker position. Linebackers are really big and fast and hit really hard and strong, and they come down the field in hurry and they are freed up by the design of their defensive front.
I don't know if it presents anything that's novel as regards a challenge to the quarterback. I think the challenge is to our offensive line, it's something we don't see as often and we don't run it very often ourselves so we don't get to practice it very much in practice and they know how to run and do it very, very well.

Q. In terms of getting a gauge of where your game is at right now, this seems to be the perfect test, the three weeks and the bye week; where are you right now and what can this tell you about your team?
COACH HOPE: I think the timing is right for us to have the opportunity to take a big step as a football team. Coming off of a big win and finding out more things about ourselves and having some time to adjust some things, if you will, and having time to rest up and get healed up. We have an outstanding opponent here at home. I think the timing is right to take a big step as a football team and we look forward to this Saturday.

Q. Inaudible?
COACH HOPE: Third time they brought it up. I think Ralph picked up where he left off at and that was really encouraging when you have two ACL injuries, you're usually not 100%; maybe he's not 100% but I don't think his play has dropped off any.
He's a good runner, he's very fast, he's a tough runner. He can run inside the tackles. He finishes his runs. He's our best blocking running back. He does a great job of getting up on the linebackers in the sends and really good at accelerating on the leg and he's an excellent receiver on the backfield and he's a really, really good football player and probably our best all-around running back.
Akeem Shavers has impacted our football team some. He's very tough, he's very strong and he's very fast and he really likes to play football. He's made some progress as a blocker. He's a lot better blocker now than he was when he came here in the spring. He had not spent a whole lot of time blocking prior to coming to Purdue.
I think he's really picked up the blocking part of his game but he's a tough guy. He finishes his runs and he'll run around you and he'll make you miss and drop shoulder and run you over. He finishes his runs, he's very, very fast and he's very, very fast and then he's really strong. He has NFL numbers, 40 times and he's a talent and I think he's impacted our football team already.

Q. Putting in perspective -- inaudible.
COACH HOPE: He's done very well. He got injured in camp. He came on strong in the spring, and we thought he was in position to maybe challenge to be in the two-deep and challenge to get on the field and help us win and be a guy that can make a difference, possibly in special teams, because he's fearless with his body and he's very, very fast.
He's a lot faster than I would have expected him to be. He's not real big. He's medium size, for a skill guy but he's really, really fast and he throws his body around and he's very reckless. Football makes sense to him. He's done very, very well and he's the got injured and was out some and been able to work himself back into the two-deep. He played some last Saturday and he'll play a bunch this again Saturday. He's going to be a good football player.

Q. How has Robert held up, he got game action against SE Missouri.
COACH HOPE: The problem with Robert when camp started was we thought he would be 100%, but he wasn't 100% ready to go, and he may never, ever be 100% again after two knee surge advice, but 100% as far as being able to practice and perform and compete to be the quarterback.
When camp started he was not 100%. We would go out and practice some and he would have a lot of swelling, a lot of soreness and could not go the next day. We thought, well, this will just reoccur for a little while. But it continued that course the first week, the second week, and then pretty soon it was hard to get the swelling out.
So we backed him off and let him rest some more and then he came back out and started practicing again and then next thing you know the next day he didn't swell up and he came out and practiced again and the next day it didn't swell up.
That's been the pattern now for a couple of weeks for Robert to come out practice, and the next day his knee didn't swell up and he didn't have pain or discomfort. I think he has a lot more confidence about where his knee is now compared to two weeks ago.
He has not missed any reps prior to the SE Missouri game or since the SE Missouri game, he's had all the rest we've had a chance to get him and he has not had any repercussions from practicing hard. I think he's ready to go.

Q. Is there a temptation to play him a little bit more now considering that he has more experience than Caleb?
COACH HOPE: You would like to play him as much as you can but Caleb is playing awful well, also. So we'll play it by ear. We have a lot of confidence that Caleb will go out and play very well this Saturday.
And Robert, he will do very well also. If there comes a point in time that we feel like Robert needs to be in there to give a shot in the arm or Caleb needs some assistance now, we have the right guy.
This time last year, we were having a hard time piecing together a quarterback of any kind. So the fact that we have two right now and that are talented and want to work hard and win, it's been the best situation we've been in in quarterback in a long time. Still not ideal, but it's the best situation we have had here in a couple of years.

Q. Inaudible -- how has he adjusted?
COACH HOPE: I think he's gotten a lot better. He's hot and cold right now, more hot than cold. This time last year he was hot and cold but cold a lot more than he was hot. He really struggled when he went from the quarterback position, a year without playing football and then was moved to the wide receiver position. He was not accustomed to running that much in practice and most people aren't. I have never been around anyone who got moved to wide receiver that does not spend several weeks trying to get adjusted to the conditioning factor.
He's a big receiver, doesn't look it, but weighs almost 230 pounds; that's a big receiver and big strong guy. He really struggled and hit the wall last year when we moved him to wide receiver from a fatigue standpoint, and then we had the rash of injuries at the quarterback spot; he had to start working with the quarterback position and then he got injured. So there's another year he didn't play football.
He started off in the spring and started to get accustomed to the position and he got better and better and better, and through the course of camp, he's gotten better and better, and I think he's able to play full speed and wide open and a lot more physical now than he could when the season began just from being acclimated to the conditioning part of it.
I think he's in much better shape now. He's been reliable and been in the right spots as far as the design of the routes go. He's been very, very reliable as far as catching the football. He's had one drop this season. I think he's getting better and he's one of our better players offensively and he'll get better throughout the course of the season. He'll make some big plays through the course of 2011, no doubt about it. Hopefully a bunch of them this Saturday.

Q. Their quarterback, talk about the challenges that he brings to the table Saturday.
COACH HOPE: He's surrounded by a lot of great personnel, great athletes and he's an excellent passer. The key to his success is when he has settled in the pocket, he can stand back there and pick you apart. Excellent passer, and they have a scheme that's really ideal for him. He seems like he's a smart guy that can understand the offense. He's very, very talented, surrounded with a lot of great skill players and he has four of his five starters back from last year. So he has a lot of confidence.

Q. How important is it to get pressure on him and make sure he's not comfortable back there?
COACH HOPE: Whether it be pressure or anything you can do to get him out of sync and help, obviously any time you play against a spread offense, where a quarterback can be potentially an outstanding passer for the day, pressure can be a big part of your game plan.
But there's other things that we can do to get him out of sync or rhythm some, and that's going to have to be a key emphasis for Saturday, because if you don't do something to slow him down a little bit, he'll ditch that ball out to any one of those great skill players, and they can catch the ball and get up field with it and make plays. So obviously defending their quarterback will be a big part of our game plan.

Q. Since you've gotten here compared to now, how much better has Antavian become?
COACH HOPE: As a football player, he's gotten a lot better and as a student, he has gotten a whole lot better. Matured a lot, grown up a lot. When I first met Antavian, when I first saw him, I was not sure he could play Big Ten football because he was small and very, very slight of build. He had a lot of fantastic plays but when I first saw him and met him I wasn't sure.
Once I sat down with him and visited with him didn't take me long to realize he has something about him that he will be successful. He came to Purdue because he felt like he could come here and be a three- or four-year starter, and he does some great things on the football field. And I also feel that he has a great desire to cash in on the academic opportunities that Purdue provides.
He's come a long ways as a student at Purdue and a long ways in terms of being accountable and reliable on a daily basis. And he's a lot better football player, even though he's still a little bit slight of build, he's a lot more mature physically and stronger than he was when he first came here; so he became a more physical player.
He's been physical when he's carried the ball out of the running back position, as well, so he's developed very well in every phase of his academic life, personal life and football life as well.

Q. Sounds like one is correlated to the other, the fact that he has done so much better academically has led to his improvement on the field?
COACH HOPE: Absolutely, and it usually goes that way.

Q. Thinking of the game, SE Missouri, right in front of me, when he caught that pass, he just got ripped and I didn't think he would come back and yet he came back and scored. Does that show how tough a player he is?
COACH HOPE: I was really proud of him, because we never want to lay down on the ground when we don't have to; and any time you can get up and deny the opponent wounded you is a good sign, strength of character. That's what being a Boilermaker is all about. Proud to see him get up, shake it off. He got back in the game. We talked about it on the sidelines, and I told him, glad you didn't lay there like they wounded you. He said, "Right, Coach."

Q. In general from the time that you beat SE Missouri until now, during this whole bye-week period, do you feel like the entire program, did you get everything out of those days that you wanted to get out both on and off the field?
COACH HOPE: I think so. I think you had to give them some time off. I've been part of bye weeks where they turn into another two a day or a camp. That wasn't the goal of our bye week. The goal was to let the guys recover and rest and freshen up some.
Football is demanding and you don't want to burn them out. They are long days, they put in 12-, 15-, 18-hour days seven days a week. So to give them some days off to be around the campus and around the other students and have some personal time I thought would be a real shot in the arm for our football team.
And we did exactly what we wanted to do as far as preparing for Notre Dame. We wanted to go out and practice and prepare for Notre Dame, and at the same time still stay fresh and recovered. We didn't practice real long. Practiced two times with shells, the upper pads on, one time with full pads on and one time with shoulders.
So we went out and practiced what we are going to try to do against Notre Dame and also try to scope our squad fresh as well. To come out of an open week beat up physically does not make a whole lot of sense.

Q. The last time Notre Dame was here, it's a game that came down to the wire, two of their road games this year, both of them have come down to the wire, one against Michigan -- inaudible -- do you expect with your team's experience in late-game situations, do you expect Saturday to be that type of game?
COACH HOPE: Probably, because it has been so many times, the last ten or 15 years, the number of times it has come down to just the last play or two, the last drive. When I was here from '97 to 2001 as assistant coach to Coach Tiller, almost every one of our Notre Dame games came right town to the wire. I hope it does come right down to the wire. It would be a great game that the fans want to stick around to the very end for.

Q. After the game two years ago when Notre Dame won -- living on the edge; and Brian Kelly, a different philosophy with his football team. But at 2-2 do you feel like your team really has a chance to sort of put Notre Dame's season in the can with a win on Saturday?
COACH HOPE: We have not given that any thought. We are not concerned about Notre Dame's season. We are concerned about Purdue's season. I know what a win would do for Purdue. I don't have any idea what a loss would do for Notre Dame and don't care. We care about our football team and our season.

Q. What do you expect from your offense? What do they have to do well Saturday?
COACH HOPE: We have to be able to go out and establish the run game and a passing game. I think we will really allow ourselves to get in a pickle if we allow Notre Dame to make us one-dimensional, if they shut down our pass became and they can do some things to stop the runs we are good at -- if they stop our run game and know we have to pass it, then they are free to bring any type of pressure that they want. I think we have to go out there offensively and be committed to having a balanced game plan.

Q. Do you see the balance of the game plan possibly changing throughout the game if you're having success with running the ball -- Notre Dame's secondary has been sketchy. Do you feel like the pass attack might benefit the team?
COACH HOPE: We'll have to see how they come out and play us. They played four games so far this season and they have not lined up the same way or they haven't used the exact same defensive tackle philosophy on a consistent basis throughout the four games.
They have done a couple different things against certain opponents, and we'll have to see which one of those things they are going to do against us; and that may dictate whether or not we are more apt to throw a pass. We develop the run -- go into the game with a balanced attack, you want to establish the run -- rush 70 percent, if we can do that we have a chance to stay on the field and score some points and compete for a win.

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