Blue and Gold Illustrated

45-3 Sept. 27, 2025 Purdue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 27, 2025 31 N otre Dame head coach Mar- cus Freeman can grade his team's defensive performance against Purdue on a curve if he feels it's necessary. The Irish started the game with- out Preseason All-America corner- back Leonard Moore, starting safety and team captain Adon Shuler and starting nickel back DeVonta Smith. Right ankle injuries for Moore and Smith opened starting spots for freshmen Mark Zackery IV and Dallas Golden, respectively. Shuler, who sat out the first half follow- ing a targeting penalty in the Texas A&M game, was replaced by red- shirt freshman Tae Johnson in the starting lineup as well. Purdue took advantage of Notre Dame's shaky defense, which extended well beyond the secondary, by totaling 286 yards, 23 points and four passing plays of at least 20 yards in the first half. That production faded in the second half with Purdue only managing to total 93 yards and seven points with the help of a late surge in a 56-30 blowout win for Notre Dame. Freeman made his disappointment in Notre Dame's defensive play evident when NBC's Zora Stephenson interviewed him during a nearly two-hour weather delay near the end of the first half. "We can't keep saying, 'But, we should have,'" Freeman told Stephen- son. "We got to start doing it. And it's everybody. It's every play, consistency. It's one guy here, one guy there. "If we want to reach our full potential, like we talk about, we need to clean it up and do it with urgency." Freeman's expressed frustration came before the Irish allowed Purdue to put together a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the final minute before halftime. "That drive, I don't think there was anything that we could — we tried cover one, cover two, cover three, cover four," Freeman said after the game. "What hap- pens is you start to panic. OK, this cover- age isn't working. Let's try this. This isn't working. Let's try this. Then you're doing nothing. You're doing nothing." Freeman pushed back on the sugges- tion that Notre Dame's defense played confused. But maybe that confusion is stemming from a coaching staff that's struggling to identify a defensive game plan that's consistently executed for the Irish. If defensive coordinator Chris Ash is calling so many different coverage looks on one drive, maybe he's strug- gling to find the answers. The result, at least for now, is a push from Freeman to trust that the players will eventually make plays even if those come with mistakes. "They're going to make some plays," Freeman said of the opposing offense. "You got to trust, 'Hey, this is our game plan, this is what we can do and exe- cute.' You got to trust your players to go out there and get it done. I thought after that they did a really good job until that last drive." Purdue punted on four consecutive drives to start the second half until it replaced starting quarterback Ryan Browne, who finished 21-of-34 passing for 250 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception, with Malachi Singleton. The latter, a redshirt sophomore, threw an interception to Golden on his first pass of the game. Golden, who totaled 5 tackles and 1 pass broken up in the first game appearance of his career, later gave up a 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jesse Watson with 1:53 remaining in the game. G o l d e n re c e ive d t h e s ta r t - ing nod over sophomore Karson Hobbs, who started and played 56 defensive snaps in the 41-40 loss to Texas A&M the previous week- end. Zackery totaled 3 tackles and 1 pass broken up as a starter after brief defensive appearances in the first two games. The Irish now have more evidence of whether Golden and Zackery can be counted on this season beyond emergency duties. "They got here in June, and we need them," Freeman said. "We need them, and we trust them. There's gonna be a time when Mark Zackery gives up a big play, and the next time he knocks it down. And then Dallas Golden's gonna intercept the ball on a fade ball, and the next time they caught it. That's going to help them get better. "What you never want to do is lose. We know that. We don't do things to lose. But to gain that valuable experience and still be able to come out with a convincing victory like we did, as a coach, you're like, 'OK, we got better in multiple ways today.' That's a part of the growth that our team's gonna have, and these guys are gonna have." That growth will need to come with Notre Dame's pass rush, too. Freeman sees a defense that's not doing a good enough job getting pressure when it's blitzing or covering long enough when it's only sending four rushers. The Irish finished with 2 sacks on quarterbacks who combined to throw 39 passes. Though much of the first half wasn't pretty for the Irish defense, Notre Dame's offense made sure it had all the support it needed. Finally, the Irish are in the win col- umn this season. But they still need more from the Irish defense. That much should be obvious regardless of the grading scale. "What leadership is, is realizing what each team, each player needs at the mo- ment," Freeman said. "We'll see after I watch the film and we get back together on Monday what this team needs." ✦ True freshmen cornerbacks Dallas Golden (left) and Mark Zackery IV (right) both made their first career start for the Irish and combined for 8 tackles, 2 passes broken up and 1 interception. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Notre Dame's Defense Still A Work In Progress Tyler James has been covering Notre Dame athletics since 2011. He can be reached on X @ TJamesND FIRST AND LAST TYLER JAMES

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