Instant Reaction | Notre Dame 66 Purdue 7

I predicted it wouldn’t be pretty against Purdue. It would be progress.

Progress would be putting it mildly.

Notre Dame responded as well as you could expect from a program that was beaten last week and then took a beating from fans and media leading up to this game. No one predicted this kind of dominant performance was coming.

It was truly dominant, though, from start to finish. The opening script from Mike Denbrock hit all of the right notes and it was clear that Riley Leonard was not going to be limited as a runner. He needs to make a difference as a runner for him to be effective and he did that.

The offense had scored four touchdowns total in the first two games. They scored five in the first half. The defense was relentless and made plays all game long. Purdue kept their starters in and Notre Dame was playing backups for almost the entirety of the second half. The havoc rate still finished at 24.5% and forced Purdue into 11 drives where they failed to convert even one first down.

42-0 at half with 278 yards rushing is ridiculous. 9.8 yards per play 2.9 YPP for Purdue in the first thirty minutes is even more impressive. Then they kept playing at a high level when all of the backups entered the game.

The Irish were the superior team and played like it for sixty minutes.

- I have already seen some of the reactions to Leonard’s day not being completely positive because Notre Dame didn’t hit the big play down the field when he was in the game. Everyone would have loved to see that be a bigger part of the offense in the game, but his skills as a runner not only created big plays for himself, but for the backs.

The threat of him as a runner was something that Purdue was worried about and it helped lead to both of Jerimyah Love’s and Jadarian Price’s explosive touchdown runs.

The most important thing I saw from Leonard in this game was converting through the air on 3rd downs. Denbrock set him up for success on those plays and the only times Purdue gave Notre Dame trouble on 3rd down was when they went against tendency and dropped eight.

Leonard absolutely needed a day like today and I think his teammates probably needed to see it from him too.

- Notre Dame’s back and tight ends versus Purdue’s linebackers was a huge mismatch. We saw with Mitchell Evans and Eli Raridon against man coverage and when Love easily outran former defensive end turned linebacker Kydran Jenkins to get the edge and then turn it up for his opening drive touchdown.

- It was horrible luck for Notre Dame with Billy Schrauth and Ashton Craig to get rolled up on. Schrauth’s injury will probably keep him out for some time and we’ll just have to wait and see with Craig.

Having two former starters like Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan available to come off the bench is massive, though. Hopefully that allows Notre Dame to not just weather the storm, but continue to build up front.

- Evans is a certified dude. Reaching for that first down on that one play was only one-upped by him reaching to grab that catch on 3rd and long and keeping his feet to gain big yards after the catch.

- Quarterback Hudson Card was pressured on only 10% of dropbacks when he diced up Indiana State. No one came close to him on many of those plays.

He was hounded relentlessly in this game by Notre Dame’s pass rush, which finally had a chance to get after it. Everyone was making an impact. The way they played the run also put pressure on Purdue to have to throw in long yardage situations and that’s been a recipe for disaster for Notre Dame opponents.

Purdue’s average 3rd down distance was 10.6 yards and they finished 1 for 13 on 3rd and 4th down. The only conversion came on that play where Kennedy Urlacher accidentally took Jaden Mickey out of the play.

This was an overwhelming performance by the defense as a whole filled with impact plays up and down the roster. There are almost too many to single out, but it’s impossible not to note how much of a problem Boubacar Traore was for Purdue throughout the game even without taking into account his pick six.

And it turns out Jordan Clark wasn’t being hyperbolic about Urlacher’s talent. Purdue kept their starters in the game and Urlacher was a downhill menace against them in the second half.

- It’s an absolutely heartbreaking situation to see Jordan Botelho go down with a non-contact injury after seeing all of the progress he has made this season. He’s arguably been Notre Dame’s best player on defense through the first three games and had finally put everything together with his game.

It’s a significant loss even if the Irish could be in a position to overcome it with their depth of talent who can rush the passer. The biggest thing is that no one ever wants to see a player have an injury like that, especially one like Botelho given how far he has come during his time at Notre Dame.

- The biggest thing to take away from this game for Notre Dame isn’t that they needed to do this last week or that this will be a starting point with it only going up from here. I don’t know that and we need to see Notre Dame respond accordingly week to week.

For me, it’s all about what had to be gained from both sides of the ball by playing like this. Thinking you are capable of it is one thing. Going out and doing it after people are telling them they suck is completely different.

It should also be a reminder that this season isn’t over. If you checked out after losing to NIU, this should be a signal to check back in. There is a lot of ball left to be played and if Notre Dame starts stacking up strong performances, then there will still be a lot left to play for.

Texas A&M didn’t check out when they lost to Notre Dame. They went out and stomped Florida on the road with their backup quarterback. It’s good to see the Irish do the same.

There are still questions about Notre Dame’s passing game, if they can overcome some key injuries, and whether or not they can maintain a level of play that is good enough to win the rest of their games this season. Freeman and his team answered the question about dealing with the pressure and the negative noise that was surrounding the team, though, with as emphatic of a win as anyone could have asked for.

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