Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526412
34 SEPT. 14, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: PURDUE BY TYLER HORKA R yan Walters is only 38, and his coaching career has a full-circle moment coming Sept. 14. When Walters, Purdue's sec- ond-year head coach, was 26, he was a graduate assistant at Oklahoma. The Sooners' seventh game of the 2012 sea- son was a welcoming of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to Norman, Okla. A dozen years later, the Boilermakers are bring- ing in the Irish to West Lafayette, Ind., for what used to be a longstanding Hoo- sier State rivalry. Payback is at stake for Walters, whose Sooners lost, 30-13, to Notre Dame and for Purdue, which has not beaten Notre Dame since 2007. The Irish have an eight-game winning streak in the all- time series, and the overall edge belongs to Notre Dame with a record of 59-26-2, including two vacated wins. Many of those games were played in West Lafayette, the site of this year's kickoff. There is something Walters remembers from Notre Dame's win at Oklahoma in 2012 that Purdue fans are surely well aware of from several close — and not so close — encounters in a head-to-head series history that dates back to 1896. "They've got a large fan base that travels," Walters said. Sure do. Notre Dame was a part of the fourth- largest crowd in Kyle Field history when the Irish beat Texas A&M, 23-13, in front of 107,315 people in Week 1. That's a number that won't be flirted with at Ross-Ade Stadium, which has an of- ficial capacity of 61,441. But it surely will be interesting to see how many Irish fans take over the venue, considering Notre Dame has not been there since 2013. For anyone well-versed in the two universities' bonded backgrounds, the decade-plus hiatus is hard to fathom. It used to be a bi-annual tradition for lo- cals in South Bend to take 31 to 25, cross the Wabash River and go right on into the west side. Not anymore. That's what makes this one fun. En- thralling, even. A pair of programs that played every year from 1946 to 2014 is playing for just the second time since that stretch. Yes, the Boilermakers are on the Notre Dame schedule every year from now through 2028. But by then, when everyone is complacent with the back-and-forth again, maybe it won't mean as much. This one means a lot for the visitors considering the Irish's aspirations for this season, though, and it means a lot for the host team in terms of protecting home turf. So let it be fun. Let it be as enthralling as a ranked versus unranked matchup on the second Saturday in September can be. There's enough of an underlying close but yet so far connection between the two sides that should make that so. WHAT WEEK 1 MEANT Well, what did it mean? For Notre Dame, a lot. The Fighting Irish took care of the No. 20 team in the country in one of the most hostile envi- ronments in the sport. Purdue, on the other hand, won 49-0 at home against … FCS-level Indiana State. Walters was still impressed by his team's performance despite it coming against lower-level competition. "I don't care who you're playing; any- time you put up 49 points and hold the opposing team to 0, it's usually pretty good on tape," Walters said. Senior quarterback Hudson Card was nearly flawless. He completed 24 of 25 pass attempts for 273 yards with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. His passer rating, at 240.5, was the highest of his career, which spans 34 games be- tween Texas and Purdue. It was only the second time he's ever posted a passer rating better than 200, with the other coming in at 208.7. "We had countless guys out there that I could feed the ball to and go make plays," Card said postgame. Twelve Boilermakers caught at least one pass. Ten of them reeled in at least two. That type of production is what Wal- BOILING UP THE RIVALRY After playing once from 2015-23, Notre Dame and Purdue are on each other's schedules every year through 2028 Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME AT PURDUE Date: Sept. 14, 2024 Site: Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET Television: CBS Radio: Notre Dame IMG affiliates Series facts: Notre Dame leads the all-time series 59-26-2, which includes two vacated victories. The Irish won the last meeting in South Bend, 27-13, in 2021. Head coaches: Purdue: Ryan Walters (5-8, second season); Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (20-9, third season). Noting Purdue: The Boilermakers were one of two teams to have four opponents ranked in the top 10 of the preseason Associated Press Top 25 on its schedule, with Notre Dame obviously being one of those … Despite defense not being the program's calling card — Purdue ranked 73rd in the FBS in yards allowed per play last season … The Boilermakers registered 35 sacks as a team in 2023, the third-most in program history and most since 2004; for reference, Notre Dame had 31 sacks last season … Purdue has had four All-Americans in the last three seasons, the most for the program in a three-year stretch since 1967-69, but the only one of those still suiting up for the Boilermakers is defensive back Dillon Thieneman … Purdue only has 1 turnover in its last three home games dating back to 2023, and the Boilermakers' offense has racked up 1,640 yards of offense in that span.