Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1539676
24 SEPT. 27, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT Jeremiyah Love's dead-leg move is lethal. His second cut was pretty good, too. And when he turns the corner, he turns on the jets. All facets of Love's brilliance were on display during his 46-yard run for a touchdown early in the third quarter, putting the Irish up 42-23. Notre Dame's improving offensive line did its job and then some. The front five combined with senior tight end Eli Raridon to create a six- car pileup that allowed the junior running back to get the edge and do what he does best. After Love extended Notre Dame's lead back to three scores, its defense got its act together and kept Purdue off the scoreboard until 1:53 remained in its 56-30 win. STATS OF THE GAME Love and redshirt junior running back Jadar- ian Price combined for 373 all-purpose yards, including Price's 142 as a kickoff returner. Love's 157 rushing yards are a new career high. Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne connected on 17 of 26 passes for 224 yards (8.6 yards per attempt) in the first half, and he caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from running back Devon Mockobee on a trick play, too. The Boilermakers' 6-play, 75-yard drive that followed Price's kickoff return for a touchdown particularly infuriated Irish head coach Marcus Freeman, because they cut through the Notre Dame defense like a knife through hot butter no matter what defensive coordinator Chris Ash called. Purdue got the ball with a minute left in the second quarter, and it took 53 sec- onds to score. NO BLOCK, NO ROCK Love had space to work on his 46-yard touchdown run because junior wide receivers Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison threw key blocks on the perimeter. That was a recurring theme throughout the win over Purdue and a week prior against Texas A&M: Notre Dame's wide receivers know Love and Price are ca- pable of bouncing outside and breaking a big run at any moment, so they block their tails off on the outside. "It's stuff we live for," Faison said. "Techni- cally in the run game, we're not a big part of it, but when you're able to become a big part of it, it's a great feeling." It took a game, but Notre Dame has estab- lished an identity on offense. The Irish are a run-and-gun team that will often ask its wideouts to play second fiddle to its backs, evidenced by redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr's 12 pass attempts in win over the Boilermakers. But that doesn't mean they're not contribut- ing. Their blocking takes the run game from good to great. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY JACK SOBLE QB CJ CARR The redshirt freshman didn't throw often in his third collegiate start on a run-heavy day, but he was electric when he did. And on target. Like 83 percent on target. CJ Carr lit up the Purdue defense for a 66-yard touchdown strike to redshirt senior wide receiver Malachi Fields on Notre Dame's first play from scrimmage in a 56-30 Irish rout of Purdue. He finished 10-of-12 passing for 223 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, before giving way to backup Kenny Minchey with 59 seconds left in the third quarter. That works out to a 294.4 pass-efficiency rating. Carr came into the Purdue game with a 142.1 rating over his first two starts. Minchey showed up well, too, in his first game action of the season. The redshirt sophomore completed 7 of 8 passes for 58 yards. RB JEREMIYAH LOVE In his 20th consecutive start, the junior hit a new milestone, rushing for a career-high 157 yards with 2 touchdowns on 19 carries against Purdue. It marks the eighth time in their careers Love and Jadarian Price scored at least a touchdown apiece in a game and the second time that they each scored multiple touchdowns. RB JADARIAN PRICE The Notre Dame Stadium video board crew wore out the "Price is Right" theme song, much in the way Notre Dame's redshirt junior running back wore out the Purdue defense and its special teams. Jadarian Price scored a career-high 4 touchdowns against the Boilermakers on just 11 touches. Price amassed 74 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 9 carries and scored a fourth touchdown on a 100-yard kickoff return shortly after play resumed following a lightning delay of 1 hour and 54 minutes. Price nearly broke another kickoff return for a touchdown but was tackled with one man to beat after bringing it back 42 yards. GAME BALLS BY ERIC HANSEN Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr was an efficient 10-of-12 passing for 223 yards with 2 touch- downs and 0 interceptions. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER