Notre Dame football will try and break its 3-game losing streak dating back to last year, as they’ll host the Purdue Boilermakers very soon.
The Irish are still viewed as one of the top teams nationally, even with two losses this fall, and has the opportunity to have another long winning streak which could propel them to another berth into the College Football Playoff. That runs needs to start today, and Purdue could be the perfect opponent for Notre Dame to do so.
The staff has made their picks for the game, and this should be one where the Irish don’t have too many problems. Stay tuned for live updates, highlights and analysis below.
Marcus Freeman speaks on the win
It was a much different postgame press conference for the Irish’s head coach, as Freeman wanted his players to enjoy this moment. He did stress that the work will continue, as the score would indicate. Freeman can get this season fixed, and this was the first step towards that. He was happy about the result, but knows that this wasn’t this team’s best effort.
Final: Notre Dame 56, Purdue 30
It wasn’t the best effort from the Irish, but it was one that was more than enough for them to notch their first win of the year. Price was the star with four scores, as Love had two of his own and a career-high 157 rushing yards, and so did Carr. The defense still isn’t at the level that we are accustomed to seeing from Notre Dame, but it was an improvement from what we had seen over the first two games. the Irish are now 1-2, while Purdue is 2-2.
Dallas Golden has entered the chat
As just mentioned, some of the backups are getting some quality time on the field and cornerback Dallas Golden took full advantage of the situation. The freshman picked off a pass, and while it didn’t lead to any points, it was still an impact play. Hopefully more to come from this emerging prospect.
Great to get the second team some extended playing time
These blowout wins are great for any team, and in this case, it gives Notre Dame the opportunity to get some of its younger players into the game. Backup quarterback Kenny Minchey looks like the thought he would, completing his first three passes for 40-yards. Aneyas Williams finally saw the field, with a few rushes. Micah Gilbert got into the action as well, and this is great for all of their developments.
Price’s fourth, as Notre Dame stops Purdue
Notre Dame is firing on all cylinders on offense, as they’ve now compiled 453-yard of offense with 56-points. The Price score was the latest, and according to Notre Dame football’s PR account, he’s the first Irish back since Audric Estime to score four times in a game. Great day for Price, as the Notre Dame defense continues its upward trend and forces a quick drive by Purdue to get the ball back. The Irish still hold a nice lead, 56-23 as the third quarter is coming to an end.
Price goes for four, Notre Dame extends lead again
As I said before, Price might not be done, and he wasn’t. The Irish back found the end zone for the fourth time this game, and while this one wasn’t as flashy as his previous, it still counts for the same. This game is officially in blowout mode, as Notre Dame now leads 56-23 with under 4-minutes left in the third quarter.
Notre Dame goes back to the air for its next score as Carr finds Jordan Faison
What an offensive outburst from the Irish today, as Carr threw another deep shot that connected, this time finding Jordan Faison for a 48-yard strike. I love this play call, as it was set up throughout the game, as Faison faked going inside, like he had been all game, and instead when outside and was wide open. Great with setup and execution from the Irish offense, as the lead is now 49-23 with just under 10-minutes left in the third.
Notre Dame’s defense steps up, gets the ball back to the offense quickly
Love’s long touchdown run seemed to give momentum back to the Irish, but the defense needed to help keep it that well. They held up on their end of the bargain, as they forced a punt after a 4-play, 18-yard drive by the Boilermakers. With Notre Dame holding a 42-23 lead, another touchdown and this one could be over.
Love answers Price back
You love to see a friendly competition between teammates, and that’s what happening in the Notre Dame running back room. While Price has three scores, one on special teams, it seemed like Love was a bit jealous. He isn’t anymore, after finding a hole on the right side and scampering 46-yards for his second touchdown of the day. It extended Notre Dame’s lead to 42-23, a much more comfortable number since it seems like Purdue just won’t go away.
The wild finish to the second quarter continues as Purdue scores
With a minute left in the half, Purdue got the ball back, having to go 75-yards for a score. Well, they did exactly that, as Browne found Tuggle again for another big passing play, this time 24-yards for a score. It doesn’t look like the Boilermakers are going away, as they’ve close the gap to 35-23, with a few minutes of break before the second half starts.
The Price is right X 3
Have a half Jadarian Price, as the running back already had two rushing scores on the day, but he was not done. Immediately after Purdue closed the gap, Price returned the kickoff 100-yards for an emphatic answer for the Irish. It was his third score of the day, and he could have a few more opportunities to get more. The Irish are leading now 35-16 with just seconds before the second quarter ends.
Notre Dame holds following long delay and bad field position
The delay put a hold on Purdue’s good field position, and despite a long delay, Notre Dame’s defense stepped up and forced the Boilermakers to try a 35-yard field goal which they did make the score 28-15 with just over a minute left on the clock before the “half.”
The halftime break is now during the delay
While the first half still isn’t quite finished, the two teams will use the weather delay as its defacto halftime break. They’ll finish up the remainder of the second quarter and then get right back to it to start the third as reported by The Athletic’s Pete Sampson. It’s a bit odd, but makes sense since it was so close to the end of the first half.
Purdue threatening, as a turnover gives them life before weather delay
With all three time outs left and about 2 minutes left in the half, it looked like Notre Dame was going to have an opportunity to answer Purdue’s field goal. However, Carr was sacked on the first play, lost the ball and the Boilermakers recovered on Notre Dame’s 25-yard line. They’ll have to wait to play out the rest of the half, as a weather delay has stopped play right before the intermission.
Notre Dame gets a red zone stop, limiting Purdue to a field goal
Marcus Freeman always talks about winning the middle 8, and limiting Purdue to a field goal when they were in the red zone has to qualify as a win here. It kept Notre Dame’s lead at two scores, and has to give the defense some confidence that they can make the big stop when needed. The Irish lead 28-13 with under 2-minutes left in the first half.
Price for a second time
The one-two running back punch for the Irish is really having themselves quite the game so far against Purdue. Love has 81-yards on 14 carries with a score while Price has 57-yards on 6 carries and two scores. Love seeing Notre Dame leaning on its best position group.
The pick that led to another Irish score
You have to give linebacker Madden Faraimo some credit here, he was the one that knocked the ball in the air for Gray. A collapsing pocket made Browne throw an iffy pass and the Irish took full advantage of it. Great play on defense all around.
Price X 2
This is the kind of running game that Notre Dame has relied on the past few years, and they’re doing it once again this afternoon. It was five consecutive Price runs that went for 36-yards, with a 9-yard scamper for the score. Notre Dame extended its lead to 28-10, it what is looking like a game that is becoming a blowout.
Christian Gray makes first big defensive play
The Notre Dame secondary has struggled so far this year, but they have played much better today. After a Browne pass was tipped, cornerback Christian Gray plucked the ball out of the air to give the Irish the ball back quickly after its last score. The momentum is favoring Notre Dame, and this game could get ugly quickly.
Price runs it in from 21-yards out
This was a great play call, and even better blocking up front. Price was barely touched at the line, kept his balance and went right for the pile-on. Huge play for the Irish.
Starting tackle Anthonie Knapp goes down, but returns and the Price is right
The Notre Dame offense is really moving the ball on the ground, and now Jadarian Price has gotten in on the action. Love did the heavy lifting once again on the drive, and his backup finished off the drive. Price would step out of bounds, but it was hard to see where the ball was, so the play was upheld after a review. Notre Dame takes its largest lead of the game, 21-10 with 10-minutes left in the second quarter.
Purdue gets 3 back, still trails Notre Dame
The fake punt got the Boilermakers another first down, but the drive would end with a Spencer Porath 48-yard field goal. The Notre Dame secondary still has some issues, but they locked in close to the goal line, as Zackery knocked away a pass in the end zone to force the field goal attempt. Notre Dame leads 14-10 early in the second quarter.
Boubacar Traore almost makes a huge play, but Purdue tricks Notre Dame again
With Purdue behind the chains on second down, they looked to make up the lost yardage, but Irish defensive end Boubacar Traore had none of it. Browne rolled out to his left, looked for an open receiver, and Traore knocked the ball out of his hands. Unfortunately a Boilermaker would jump on the loose ball, and it looked like Notre Dame would get the ball back after a punt. Well, Purdue didn’t like that idea, ran a fake punt and picked up the first down. They’d keep the ball through the end of the quarter, with Notre Dame winning, 14-7.
Malachi Fields’ flipping celebration
Let’s start this off by saying that Malachi Fields isn’t a small man, standing 6-foot, 4-inches and weighing 233-pounds. Following his opening touchdown, he celebrated with tumbling backflip, showing off some very impressive athleticism.
Love is all you need, as Notre Dame retakes the lead
This drive was all about star running back Jeremiyah Love. The Irish back touched the ball seven-times gaining 39-yards and plunging into the end zone from one-yard away. After the Boilermakers answered Notre Dame’s touchdown, they did the same, but retook the lead 14-7 with 7-minutes left in the first quarter. It’s been a wild one so far.
Purdue strikes back on a trick play for a touchdown
One of the fill-in corners for the Irish in Mark Zackery had some solid coverage, but Browne threw a perfect ball to Nitro Tuttle for a huge 31-yard reception. Purdue would then use a trick play as Browne would catch a pass from running back Devin Mockobee from 14-yards out to tie the game at 7 with almost 11-minutes left in the first quarter.
Carr to Fields for the Notre Dame score
This might be the best ball that Carr has thrown in his young Irish career. He perfectly sets his feet following the fake, throws a high-arching ball that Fields catches in strike, away from the defender. We want to see much more of this.
Notre Dame has a perfect start, scoring on its first offensive play
This is what the Irish offense was missing, a deep-threat on offense. Notre Dame hasn’t often thrown the ball down the field, but on the first offensive play from scrimmage, quarterback CJ Carr faked the handoff, had a great pocket and fired a strike to Malachi Fields for a 66-yard touchdown strike. The Irish take an early 7-0 lead just minutes into the game.
Missing Noah Burnette already has an impact
In literally the first play of the game, the Irish were called for an illegal kick, giving Purdue the ball at the 35-yard line, it wouldn’t matter much, as the Irish would forced a 3-and-out, with great play for the defensive line. Defensive tackle Donovan Hinish finished off the play with a pressure on Ryan Browne to force an incompletion.
Looks like Notre Dame will be missing one of its stars
While the injury report says that Moore is a game-time decision, it very much looks like he won’t be playing today. Not being in uniform is a huge indicator that he won’t be playing, and some of the younger Irish corners will need to step up today.
Multiple game time decisions and down a starter
Many were wondering if star cornerback Leonard Moore would play today, and as of right now, we are still now sure as he’ll be a game-time decision. Another corner, DeVonta Smith is also in the same boat, as he sat out the last game against Texas A&M. Unfortunately kicker Noah Burnette won’t see the field, as he’s out with a hip injury. Hopefully Moore and Smith play, and the Irish don’t miss Burnette.
Victory March
One of the coolest traditions in all of college football is Notre Dame’s Victory March. The fans get an opportunity to see the players head to Notre Dame Stadium along with giving them positive reinforcement. It also means that game time is right around the corner.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Notre Dame vs. Purdue: A social media story with live updates, highlights and analysis
Reporting by Michael Chen , Fighting Irish Wire / Fighting Irish Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
