Beyond the Boxscore: Notre Dame Delivers 66-7 Thrashing of Purdue

Vigorously shaking off the scars of its shocking loss last week, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish resoundingly bounced back in a road matchup on Saturday by routing the Purdue Boilermakers, 66-7. The beatdown officially took hold during a 28-point second quarter, with the Irish coasting the rest of the way to improve their record to 2-1 on the young season.

The humiliation of losing to a four-touchdown underdog at home and dropping 13 spots in the polls in that jarring aftermath was clearly on the minds of Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, his staff and his players. That was especially evident when both sides of the ball managed to put the game away during the second period. The back-breaker during that surge came on Boubacar Traore’s pick-six in which he romped untouched for 34 yards.

Below are some of the main points in the dominant win:

Rushing Rampage

During the offseason, the daunting prospect of trying to replace the production of Audric Estime. Thus far, during the first three games of the 2024 campaign, Jeremiah Love appears to be doing just nicely in Estime’s place. He gained 111 yards on just eight carries, with his 48-yard scoring dash down the right sidelines getting the Irish scoring started during the first quarter. For good measure, Jadarian Price finished with 86 yards, the bulk of those coming on a 70-yard touchdown scamper.with just seconds left before halftime. For the game, the Irish rolled up 362 yards on the ground.

Making a bigger impact with his legs than with his arm was Riley Leonard, who led all rushers with 100 yards on 13 carries while reaching the end zone three times. Leonard’s calling career throughout a collegiate career that began at Duke has been his ability to gain yards on the ground. His most impressive run of the day was a 34-yard scoring run, the first of the four second-quarter scores. After the game had been decided, he was replaced by both Steve Angeli and Kenny Minchey.

Defensive Dominance

The 569 yards of total offense for Notre Dame was noteworthy but the mere 162 yards gained by Purdue during the game also deserves attention. One of the more notable aspects of the latter number is that after Irish defenders had only allowed 70 yards during the first half, the Boilermakers gained just 92 during the entire second half of garbage time and countless lineup changes.

During the first-half onslaught, Purdue was unable to get anything going. They punted six times, had one drive conclude with an interception return and the final effort simply ending the brutal half. In three instances, the Boilermakers ended their brief drives with negative yardage and for the game, managed to covert just one of 12 third-down attempts.

Curing What Ails

During Freeman’s press conference on Monday, he pinpointed five areas where Notre Dame lost, which led to its defeat. Changing things around was made clear and that was accomplished in each area. For starters, the turnover deficit was reversed, with the Irish making no mistakes and collecting two interceptions on the afternoon.

Delivering explosive gains in the form of big plays was achieved with four Notre Dame offensive touchdowns of 25 yards or more as well as the aforementioned pick-six. The Irish also won the time of possession battle by nearly 12 minutes and the rushing matchup by a 362-38 comparison. Finally, the third-down conversion rate wasn’t perfect, but the seven of 12 successes was a much better look than the first two contests.

Injury Issues

The only blot on this stellar performance for Notre Dame came from the trainers’ room. Two starters from the revamped offensive line. right guard Billy Schrauth and center Ashton Craig required assistance coming off the field after getting caught in the crush of bodies up front. In the case of Schrauth, he was later seen on the sidelines on crutches.

In addition, defensive end Jordan Botelho appeared to suffer a knee injury during that otherwise magical first half. Botelho had been the subject of high praise from head coach Marcus Freeman during last Monday’s press conference, specifically citing his leadership role.on defense. Any loss for an extended amount of time would be a brutal blow to a unit that was solid during both wins this year.

Next Up

Notre Dame returns home to face another MAC school, with hopes that this matchup will end more positively. The Irish will take on the Miami of Ohio RedHawks, who are still looking for their first win after two losses to start the year. The most recent defeat came during a 27-16 decision to the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday. Former Notre Dame assistant Chuck Martin is in his 11th season after spending the first four years of the Brian Kelly era as an assistant.