Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526670
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 21, 2024 21 BY TYLER HORKA AND JACK SOBLE T here were Irish inklings Steve An- geli would take snaps for Notre Da m e a ga i n s t P u rd u e . S u re enough, on a sun-drenched, sweaty September day somewhere in the heart of Indiana, he did. Just not under the circumstances anyone envisioned. Angeli took over for Riley Leonard as the Irish's quarterback on the first pos- session post-halftime. Reading that any time between Sept. 8 and 13 would've prompted you to believe Leonard's play was poor, again, and Notre Dame's swap was out of necessity. Not the case. Leonard had 112 passing yards, 100 rushing yards on the dot and 3 touch- downs, all of which came on the ground. By the time Angeli stepped onto the field for the first time this season, Notre Dame was up by 42 points largely be- cause of Leonard. He and the Irish beat the Boilermakers like a drum, 66-7. "I'm proud of the guys," head coach Marcus Freeman said. "Enjoy this vic- tory, as I told them. It's hard to win. We saw last week, it's hard to win. So enjoy it." Ironically, Angeli threw Notre Dame's first passing touchdown of the season, 11 quarters into it, on his first attempt of the afternoon. The play-action toss went to a wide-open sophomore tight end Cooper Flanagan over the middle for 28 yards. Angeli also connected with graduate student wide receiver Jayden Harrison on a beautiful 42-yard over-the-shoul- der dime. Leonard's longest compe- tition through three games was a 23- yard catch-and-run to senior wideout Jayden Thomas. This game wasn't about what Leonard can or cannot do with his arm, though. It was about bouncing back from an in- effective outing in Notre Dame's loss to Northern Illinois, and he did just that. He became the first college foot- ball player to account for 100 or more passing and rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns in a first half since Louis- ville's Lamar Jackson in 2016 — the year he won the Heisman Trophy. "For this game, I was extremely pre- pared," Leonard said. "All week I was itching to get onto the field and be able to prove myself." Could Leonard have done more to as- sure Irish fans he'll be a capable passer in subsequent games? Absolutely. Was he the catalyst for a much-needed Notre Dame victory and a main factor in decid- ing the outcome by halftime? Also yes. He has some major help from his tal- ented tailbacks, sophomore Jeremiyah Love and junior Jadarian Price. The former reached paydirt on a 48-yard run-around-the-edge and see-ya-later touchdown on his second touch of the game to start the scoring. The latter capped the first half with a sizzling 70- yard score that called to memory the 47-yard touchdown he got the Irish out of the mud in the second half at Texas A&M. Love finished with 109 yards on 10 carries. Price had 86 on 8. In all, Notre Dame ran for 362 as a team. "Shoot, it was great man," Love said. "We practiced hard, trusted our guys, and to come out in the first half and do that well rushing, it's a great thing to see." Defensively, Notre Dame played its best ballgame of the season up front and it wasn't close. The Irish got to Purdue quarterback Hudson Card for 4 sacks after only notching one in their first two games. Card was under duress all day, and it finally came to a head with an inexplicable interception that led to sophomore defensive end Boubacar Traore waltzing into the end zone to put Notre Dame up 35-0, preceding Price's touchdown that made it 42-0 in the fi- nal minute of the first half. Notre Dame had 16 players with least 2 tackles, none of them going over 4. Ev- eryone made plays. Not just the top-end guys. The Irish confidently flew to the football in ways they didn't against NIU. "Everybody was super locked in," Traore said. "We knew what we had to do coming into this game, especially after what happened last week." Who knows what Purdue's base-line level of play is; the Boilermakers played an FCS opponent in Week 1 and had a bye in Week 2. The Boilermakers were picked 18th out of 18 teams in the pre- season Big Ten media poll. But absolute domination is absolute domination, and Notre Dame had it on both sides of the ball in giving Purdue its worst loss by margin of defeat in program history. "This is who we are," Leonard added. "This is who we believe we truly are." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 14, PURDUE 0 Top moment: Love's offseason trainer, Kortland Webb, once told Blue & Gold Illustrated that the St. Louis na- tive "has cayenne pepper in his feet." He showed it on Notre Dame's first drive, exploding around the edge and blazing down the right sideline for a 48-yard touchdown. It was a massive moment that set the tone for the rest of the game. Feature performer: Love's breakout season rolls on, as he totaled 79 yards on 4 carries in the frame. Stats: Notre Dame outrushed Purdue 124-10. The Irish averaged 8.6 yards per play to the Boilermakers' 4.4. Items: Leonard ran for a 3-yard touchdown … Graduate student line- backer Jack Kiser set the tone, register- ing a quarterback hit … Graduate student safety Xavier Watts made a key tackle short of the sticks to stop the Boilermak- ers on third down … Junior Irish tight end Eli Raridon caught 2 passes for 21 yards. TRAIN WRECK Notre Dame handed Purdue its worst loss in program history with a 66-7 beatdown of the Boilermakers Senior quarterback Riley Leonard accounted for 212 yards of total offense and 3 touchdowns in the first half to ignite the Irish's offensive explo- sion in West Lafayette. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER