The shoe was on the other foot this week.
Purdue 7 – Notre Dame 66
A rivalry renewed returned to Ross Ade Stadium this week, and a sold-out crowd speckled with green set up for a showdown on CBS. It’s clear from the final score, this game was anything but.
Pre-Game
We came into this game thinking the game would be somewhat close. Notre Dame’s quarterback, Riley Leonard, was coming in with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder and Purdue had two weeks to prep for their in-state rival that had just lost at home to Northern Illinois.
First Half
From the jump, Notre Dame looked like the dominant team. Purdue did win the coin toss and again elected to defer to the second half. Notre Dame would take 5 plays and just over 2 minutes to drive 75 yards for a touchdown, capped off by a 48-yard run by Jeremiyah Love where he beat Kydran Jenkins to the edge and outran everyone up the sidelines. The ensuing Purdue drive also lasted five plays but only moved 24 yards and resulted in a Keelan Crimmins punts. The defense would hold Notre Dame to a three and out on the next possession in what looked like a momentum-building stand. The ND punt landed Purdue at their 43, but the Boilers immediately shot themselves in the foot. A Hudson Card pass to Drew Biber would have gotten the Boilermakers across midfield, but a holding call on the offense line retreated the offense to their 33 on a 1st and 20. Purdue would gain 5 yards over the next 3 plays and punt. This time around, Notre Dame marched right down the field on an 11-play, 82 yard drive in which they only faced 3rd down once: a 9 yard rush up the middle on 3rd and 8. Notre Dame asserted its will and gave nothing to the Boilermakers. Purdue would try to make something happen on offense, and a 21-yard pass from Card to Max Klare seemed promising, but 3 plays later, Purdue was punting again. Purdue managed to force another Irish 3 and out after ND ran for three straight two-yard gains.
So it was Purdue’s chance to do something on offense after a dud of a first quarter. They just forced a 3 and out and faced a 3rd and 4 near midfield. On the next Hudson Card drop back, the Notre Dame defensive line would crash down and force a 13-yard sack to squash the drive. ND would capitalize on it’s next possession with yet another long touchdown drives in which Riley Leonard made Dillon Thieneman eat dirt before scampering into the endzone. At this point, the wheels fell off for Purdue. Their next 3 offensive drives consisted of 9 plays, 16 yards, 2 punts and a pick-six. For Notre Dame, the last two drives were both touchdowns, and the second came on a 70-yard run with 4 seconds remaining in the half. At halftime, ND outgained Purdue 390 – 72, averaged 9.75 yard per play, and didn’t allow Purdue to convert a single third down attempt on six tries. There was no coming back from this and the only question was how long the starters for each team would play.
Second Half
The second half was just about as laughably bad as the first. Purdue began with the ball and rather than going three and out and punting, they turned the ball over on downs in four plays. Two plays later, ND had its first passing touchdown of the season by backup, Steve Angeli. Purdue would finally get on the board the next drive as Hudson Card threw a 52-yard pass to a wide open Kam Brown on a broken play. The Boilermakers offense would score its only points of the day on a Card pass to De’Nylon Morrissette. The rest of the game would go as follows: ND field goal, Purdue 3 and out, ND touchdown, Purdue 3 and out, ND 3 and out, Purdue 3 and out, ND punt, Purdue interception, ND touchdown, Purdue 3 and out, ND kneels. For those of you counting at home, Purdue went 3 and out 8 different times in this game and they left their starters in for the entirety of the blood bath. Outside of the 52-yard pass to Kam Brown, Purdue had 5 total yards in the second half against mostly 2nd and 3rd stringers.
Takeaways (Only one this week)
This was a the most pitiful game many of us have ever seen Purdue football play. Enough said.
Hopefully, something drastic changes before the team goes out to Corvallis next week to take on Oregon State.