Whelp, things could hardly have started worse for the Boilermakers in this one. Purdue with a quick three and out followed by a one play 66 yard TD pass from CJ Carr to Malachi Fields. The Purdue DB Tony Grimes was beat almost immediately on the play and Fields waltzed into the endzone. The only good thing that happened in that first 1:20 of the game was a 58 yard punt from Jack McCallister. It meant little though as ND completed the deep bomb immediately after. The question again became, as it was when
SIU scored first and when USC scored first, was how would Purdue respond? It turns out they would respond pretty well. Purdue put together a 6 play 75 yard drive for a touchdown to tie this game up. That drive was capped off by a TD pass from Devin Mockobee to Ryan Browne on a great play design.
A great response from a team that had just been punched in the mouth. An impressive decision from the coaching staff as well. Rather than play timid they were ready to pull out all the stops to try and pull off the upset of the Fighting Irish. It wouldn’t be the last time that Barry Odom and company would try some tricks.
Unfortunately, while the offense was doing their best to keep the game close the defense was unable to get a stop. After being torched deep on that first ND touchdown pass the Purdue defense was using just three down lineman to stop the pass but unfortunately that made it so ND was able to do almost anything they wanted on the ground. Notre Dame’s next three possessions all resulted in rushing touchdowns. Combined over the next three drives ND rushed for 144 yards. Jeremiyah Love was the first to gash the Purdue defense and he was like a man possessed. He was pushing Purdue players off of him and also used a nifty spin move on a third down to convert for the first and lead directly to a ND touchdown. Over those same three drives Notre Dame would throw just three more passes. There really was no need to. If you can run for 6.3 yards per carry and control the clock why ever throw the ball? The Purdue offense looked very good during this same Purdue thanks to some great throws by Browne as well as some good play calling from Odom and company. That includes a fake punt that Jack McCallister converted. Take a look at the video and you’ll see the great blocking but you’ll also notice that McCallister is not the fastest guy on the field.
The offense wasn’t perfect though as there were a couple big drops/incompletions with two coming in the endzone. One was on a deep ball from Browne that I thought there was a bit of defensive pass interference on but it wasn’t called. The other was a throw to the tight end Rico Walker and it bounced off his hands. Purdue would settle for a field goal to make it 28-13. The Boilermakers had gone nearly 14 quarters without generating a turnover. Then, lightning struck (figuratively this time) as CJ Carr was sacked by Myles Slusher and he also forced a fumble. Purdue’s CJ Nunnally recovered the fumble and gave Purdue a chance to throw a TD on the board before heading into halftime. However, with 1:31 left in the half lightning struck again, but this time literally and Purdue found themselves in their second weather delay of the season. Purdue would settle for a FG there to make it 28-16. It sure seemed like maybe that would be it for the half, unfortunately, special teams, and the Big Ten refs, decided not. The ensuing Purdue kickoff was returned for a TD and despite a flag being thrown, and obvious on replay, the officials picked it up and ND was up 35-16. Purdue was able to get the ball one more time and did a great (less than) two-minute drill to finish with a nifty pass from Browne to Nitro Tuggle to make the score 35-23. What was this feeling? Was it hope?
Well, as Ted Lasso says, it’s the hope that kills you. Notre Dame would take the third quarter kickoff and after just 2:04 would use a 46 yard Love run to get back into the endzone. The score was 42-23 but it felt like Purdue had tried to get back into this one on a number of occasions only to be smacked down by the far more talented Fighting Irish. As a Purdue fan this year you’re just wanting to see progress this season. There was some to be seen at times today/tonight but none of it on the defensive side of the ball. Sure, they got that turnover, but other than that they couldn’t stop the run or the pass. There was no resistance from the Purdue secondary on multiple deep balls from CJ Carr and it looked like warm-up pitch and catch out there. Then, when Notre Dame decided they didn’t want to throw the ball anymore, Purdue could not stop the run. This was Notre Dame’s preferred method of wearing down the Boilermakers. Through the game Notre Dame faced just 9 third downs and converted on 6 of them. They averaged 16 yards per pass and 6 per run. Compare that to Purdue’s average yards per rush of 2.7 and per pass of 12. That tells you all you need to know about the resistance each team faced.
Purdue made progress sure, but they just aren’t there. It’s obvious that a lot of work still needs to be done. Remember last year Purdue lost to Notre Dame 66-7. Sure Notre Dame scored 56 in this one but Purdue was able to put up 30 of their own. Of course in the 4th quarter Notre Dame called off the dogs and ran their second team out there so these numbers will be a little skewed and won’t tell the whole story but it still shows the struggles that Purdue had on both sides of the ball.
Purdue was finally able to put up points in the second half with Malachi Singleton connecting on a nifty 24 yard pass to Jesse Watson. It obviously wasn’t going to be enough but maybe it sent the Purdue fans out with a little more bit happiness? Depending on when you bet on this game Purdue might have covered the spread. Good teams win, but great teams cover.
We always knew this was going to be a tough one to win, but the struggles of the defense continue unabated these last two games. There’s much to work on but luckily Purdue has a bye next week to try to figure some things out.
