Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 20, 2025 39 GAME PREVIEW: PURDUE That doesn't mean Purdue is particularly stingy against opposing passing offenses, though. The Boilermakers are actually the opposite of that. Through Week 2, Purdue ranked tied for 116th in the country in passes defended. The Boilers' defense had only accounted for 4 of them. They didn't intercept any passes in those two games, either. It's another instance of the person- nel just not being there for adequate playmaking, which is very similar to the situation Purdue is dealing with in the defensive run game. On the other side of the line of scrimmage, Notre Dame redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr showed more than enough mettle to handle this opponent. Remember, Riley Leonard was mightily struggling in the passing department upon arriv- ing in West Lafayette last year. He turned in an efficient performance of 11 of 16 for 112 yards. Backup Steve Angeli came in for him in the second half and completed 6 of 9 passes for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. If there is anything Notre Dame needs to be wary of here it's that Purdue had 7 sacks through its first two games. That was tied for 11th in the nation through Week 2. Akron transfer CJ Nunnally IV leads the team with 2 sacks. Notre Dame's offensive line should be good enough to not let an Akron transfer beat 'em, though. So, the theme rolls on. The Irish have another edge. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Purdue returned three kicks in its first two games. The two players who brought them back, Michael Jackson III and Antonio Harris, averaged 20 yards per return. Those were the first kick re- turns of either of their careers, so Purdue doesn't have a return specialist so to speak. Jackson, though, has returned 21 punts in his career, in- cluding the three he's brought back for an average of 8.0 yards per return with the Boilermakers. His career average, across all of his returns at Southern Cal and Georgia, is 5.9 yards. He does not have any touchdowns. Purdue placekicker Spencer Porath is perfect so far this season, knocking down 8 extra points and 3 field goals. Two of those field goals were in the 20- to 29-yard range, though, and he's yet to make one from 50 or more yards this season. His long is 43. In his career, the sophomore is 10 of 14 on field goals with a long of 45. He's never attempted one from beyond 50 yards and has missed three in the 30- to 39-yard range and one from less than 30 yards. Purdue's most potent special teamer is probably punter Jack McCallister, a transfer from Washing- ton who's averaging 50.3 yards per punt on three boots so far this season. He's got a career average of 42.2 yards per punt on 113 attempts. James Rendell averaged 45.0 yards per punt on four tries in this year's season opener. Through 17 games at Notre Dame, his average was 42.1. Right on par with that of McCallister. Irish kicker Noah Burnette made all of his extra points and his only field goal attempt from 39 yards against Miami, meanwhile. It was a good start in a blue-and-gold uniform for the North Carolina transfer. The Irish also have home run threats in the re- OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 6 Arhmad Branch 6-0 185 R-So. 13 EJ Horton Jr. 6-1 190 R-Sr. WR 2 Michael Jackson III 6-0 205 R-Sr. 12 Corey Smith 6-1 185 So. WR 0 Nitro Tuggle 6-1 195 So. 10 Jesse Watson 5-9 172 R-Fr. LT 79 Joey Tanona 6-6 305 R-Jr. 58 Hank Purvis 6-5 360 So. LG 74 Jalen St. John 6-5 330 R-Sr. 77 Marc Nave Jr. 6-4 350 R-Fr. C 55 Bradyn Joiner 6-2 310 R-So. 62 Giordano Vaccaro 6-3 315 Sr. RG 76 Ethan Trent 6-2 295 R-So. 51 Mason Vicari 6-4 305 So. RT 78 Bakyne Coly 6-7 300 R-Sr. 71 Marques Easley 6-6 320 R-Fr. TE 17 Rico Walker 6-3 250 Jr. 81 George Burhenn 6-5 235 R-So. QB 15 Ryan Browne 6-4 210 R-So. 3 Malachi Singleton 6-1 235 R-So. RB 45 Devin Mockobee 6-0 202 R-Sr. 24 Malachi Thomas 6-0 220 R-Sr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LDE 8 CJ Madden 6-4 275 R-Jr. 91 CJ Nunnally IV 6-3 265 R-Sr. DT 13 TJ Lindsey 6-3 310 R-Fr. 18 Demeco Kennedy 6-2 305 So. NG 97 Jamarrion Harkless 6-3 345 R-So. 55 Jamarius Dinkins 6-5 305 Sr. RDE 23 Trey Smith 6-4 255 So. 58 Breeon Ishmail 6-4 270 R-So. MLB 16 Mani Powell 6-2 230 Sr. 10 Alex Sanford Jr. 6-1 232 Jr. WLB 5 Charles Correa 6-3 230 So. 6 Sanders Ellis 6-2 240 So. LCB 0 Tony Grimes 6-2 195 R-Sr. 29 TD Williams 6-1 205 R-Sr. SS 9 Myles Slusher 6-0 195 R-Sr. 7 Crew Wakley 6-0 202 R-Sr. FS 21 Tahj Ra-El 6-2 208 Sr. 43 Richard Toney Jr. 6-0 195 R-Sr. RCB 4 Hudauri Hines 6-1 200 So. or 12 Ryan Turner 6-0 195 R-Jr. NB 24 An'Darius Coffey 5-10 203 Sr. 1 Smiley Bradford 6-0 195 So. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 35 Spencer Porath 5-11 200 So. 26 Jack Weeter 5-11 180 So. KO 93 Seth Turner 6-1 195 R-So. P 38 Jack McCallister 6-0 213 R-Sr. 95 Sam Dubwig 6-4 231 R-Fr. LS 46 Luke Raab 6-2 215 R-Fr. 59 Justin Schmidt 6-1 233 Fr. H 38 Jack McCallister 6-0 213 R-Sr. 95 Sam Dubwig 6-4 231 R-Fr. PR 2 Michael Jackson III 6-0 205 R-Sr. 5 Chauncey Magwood 6-0 200 R-Sr. KR 22 Antonio Harris 6-0 210 So. 24 Malachi Thomas 6-0 220 R-Sr. PURDUE BOILERMAKERS TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART Mani Powell, a senior linebacker who came with head coach Barry Odom from UNLV, notched 9 tackles and 1 sack in his first two games at Purdue. PHOTO COURTESY PURDUE ATHLETICS