Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 21, 2024 23 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: B+ Riley Leonard probably deserves an B. Steve Angeli deserves an A-. Average that out and you get a B+. For Leonard, the yards per attempt average (7.0) was an issue again. He didn't take any shots down the field. Heck, he didn't throw a touchdown pass … again, for the third game in a row. But he was accurate on third-and-short, and that allowed him to stay on the field and make a difference in the running game, which we'll get to in a moment. Completing 69 percent of his passes for 112 yards in one half of football is perfectly acceptable from the senior. For Angeli, he did push the ball down the field. He averaged 11.1 yards per attempt. He also threw 2 touchdown passes, obviously two more than Leonard's had all year. The only quarrel with his game was that he took a couple sacks Leonard would almost certainly have avoided. Otherwise, he was rock solid … again, as he's always been in mop-up duty his whole career. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: A+ How about going for 362 total yards on 8.2 yards per carry? Adjusted to take away sacks, it was actu- ally 379 yards on 9.2 yards per rush. This needs to start with Leonard, who looked like one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country in rushing 11 times for 100 yards and 3 touchdowns. His latter two TD scampers were of the, "Can anyone else in college football do what he just did?" variety. Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love is right up there among the best tailbacks in the country, too, and he ran for 109 yards on 10 attempts. His 48-yard touchdown that opened the scoring was a tone-setter. Junior running back Jadarian Price's 70-yard touchdown in the final minute of the second quar- ter, meanwhile, was a game-ender. He made it 42-0 at halftime. Even Angeli had a 29-yard run that made you wonder what type of all-around quarterback he could be if he consistently had that as a part of his arsenal. You also have to wonder how capable Purdue's rushing defense is, though, so every statistic came with a grain of salt in this matchup, but you can't fault Notre Dame for the numbers. A+. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: A+ There it is. There's the Notre Dame pass rush. The Fighting Irish sacked Purdue quarterback Hudson Card 4 times, four times as many QB take- downs as Notre Dame had in the first two games of the season combined. The Irish also intercepted Card twice, including a pick six by sophomore de- fensive end Boubacar Traore. Card completed 6 of 14 passes for 61 yards in the first half. The Boilermakers were trying to pass their way back into the ballgame, but Notre Dame wouldn't let it happen. Card eventually finished 11-of-24 passing for 124 yards with 1 touchdown and the 2 interceptions, but anything that hap- pened in the second half in this phase of the game was a wash. The Irish made sure of that by shutting Purdue down through the air in the first. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: A Let's be nice to Purdue here and take away the sacks from the Boilermakers' rushing statistics from the very start of this section. Without them, Purdue ran 21 times for 78 yards (3.7 yards per carry). The Boilermakers never ran for more than 11 yards on any play. Sometimes it was the Notre Dame defensive line forcing the issue at the line of scrimmage. Sometimes it was a linebacker or defensive back getting downhill. Didn't matter what the Boilermakers did in the running game. The Irish had answers. SPECIAL TEAMS: B Graduate student punter James Rendell is still struggling. He averaged just 37.5 yards per punt against Purdue. Graduate student kicker Mitch Jeter made his only attempt from 42 yards, though, so he didn't have any blocked kicks to dwell on in the end. Special teams really were not a factor outside of those two tidbits. This is a baseline "B" grade that would have been an "A" if Rendell booted the ball a little better. COACHING: A You cannot complain about a 59-point victory. Ever. Opponent doesn't matter. Location. Yada, yada, yada. None of it matters. Notre Dame won by 59 points on the road one week after losing at home to a 28.5-point un- derdog, and that kind of response matters. Head coach Marcus Freeman's team had to win, and it won big. It won by a wider margin than anyone ever has against Purdue. Onward. REPORT CARD BY TYLER HORKA Junior quarterback Steve Angeli completed 6 of 9 throws for 100 yards with 2 touchdowns — the first 2 of the season for the Irish — in the Notre Dame's win over Purdue. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER