During Saturday's home-opening 20-17 victory over Purdue, Notre Dame suffered injuries to seven players. On the offense, senior tight end and captain Tyler Eifert left the game in the second half with a "mild concussion" after racking up 98 yards on four receptions. Sophomore receiver DaVaris Daniels left the game as well with an ankle sprain after hauling in four catches for 70 yards.
The defensive line was hit especially hard, with several key players suffering injuries. Senior defensive end and captain Kapron Lewis-Moore exited the game before halftime with a calf sprain. Freshman defensive end Sheldon Day was forced out by dehydration while sophomore linebacker Ishaq Williams suffered an injury to his elbow.
Graduate student safety Jamoris Slaughter left the game with a shoulder injury after breaking up a pass with a devastating hit in the second quarter. Irish coach Brian Kelly cited senior kicker Nick Tausch's groin injury that forced sophomore kicker Kyle Brindza into the lineup. Brindza converted the game-winning field goal with seven seconds remaining. Kelly said he does not anticipate any of the injuries to be long-term problems.
Nix, Tuitt shine
Junior nose guard Louis Nix anchored an Irish defense that allowed only 90 yards rushing on 30 Boilermaker attempts. Nix recorded one-and-a-half sacks and batted down two pass attempts at the line of scrimmage.
Sophomore defensive end Stephon Tuitt was equally impressive, registering two sacks on the day. Tuitt became the first Irish player to register two sacks in consecutive games since defensive lineman Victor Abiamiri did it in 2006.
Contact Joseph Monardo at jmonardo@nd.edu
