Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546785
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 3, 2026 23 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: A The flavor of the day for Purdue's defense: Cover 2, and a lot of it. Notre Dame responded with seam shots, more seam shots and even more seam shots. You can run any coverage you want, and junior Irish quarterback CJ Carr will know how to attack it. Carr's interception on a pass intended for senior wide receiver Jordan Faison in the third quarter — he tried to layer the ball over the head of junior linebacker Charles Correa but could not — is the only reason this is not an A+. Otherwise, Carr's lay- ered throws were connecting all afternoon against a Boilermakers defense that was nearly powerless to stop them. After completing 14 of 22 passes for 237 yards (10.8 yards per attempt) with touchdowns to ju- nior wide receiver Micah Gilbert, sophomore run- ning back Nolan James Jr. and senior tight end Cooper Flanagan, Carr gave way to Noah Grubbs. The freshman led a touchdown drive made pos- sible by a 26-yard completion to sophomore Je- rome Bettis Jr. Faison (4 receptions for 66 yards) was Notre Dame's most productive wideout, but as he often does, Carr spread the ball among the starting skill group. The Irish would like to see them help their quarterback out with contested catches, but they did their jobs against Purdue. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: B Better, but still not quite where it needs to be against a defense that allowed 369 rushing yards to UCLA last week. Notre Dame ran 32 times for 177 yards (5.5 yards per carry). The good news is junior running back Aneyas Williams (14 for 80) had the bounce-back week he desperately needed, hitting holes much more decisively and inflicting punishment on de- fenders. His 22-yard touchdown run, created by a perfect double team from senior right guard Sul- livan Absher and center Ashton Craig, established a new season long for the Irish. That season-best run stood for two quarters until freshman Jonaz Walton ripped off a 44-yarder. We should also note that Notre Dame was nearly perfect in short-yardage situations, which repre- sents a massive improvement from a year ago. Running Carr up the middle on fourth-and-1 from Notre Dame's 24-yard line indicated the amount of confidence the Irish had in their offense to convert it. However, until Walton's run the Irish had fewer than 5 yards per carry against a defense that gave up 7.7 last week. They were hit at the line of scrim- mage too much, indicating the offensive line still isn't clicking as well as it should. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: A+ The featured image with this article — depicting senior linebacker Drayk Bowen flattening Purdue wideout Chauncey Magwood — is representative of Notre Dame's performance against the Boiler- makers' passing game. Remember, this was the No. 3 passing attack in the country entering Week 4, in terms of yards per game. Notre Dame held its quarterback, Ryan Browne, to 111 yards on 28 attempts (3.9 yards per attempt). The Irish totaled 6 sacks, forced a fumble and completely squeezed the life out of the Boilermakers. It starts up front. Freeman lauded Notre Dame's ability to create pressure with a four-man rush, and its pressures didn't get much more compli- cated than dropping a linebacker and bringing another. Junior defensive end Bryce Young set the tone with a sack on the first play of the game, and he removed any hope Purdue had left with a strip- sack that Bowen picked up and took to the house. The pass rush didn't give much of a chance for downfield passing, but just in case, Notre Dame's secondary took that away, too. Freshman safety Joey O'Brien did his job as center-field safety and the corners allowed next to nothing. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: A+ Removing the quarterbacks to adjust for sacks, Purdue rushed 21 times for 69 yards (3.3 yards per carry). The Irish smothered the Boilermakers on the ground to the point where it became boring whenever they tried to run it. Notre Dame's defensive tackles and linebackers put together another strong performance. Their biggest highlight: A stunt that senior Armel Mukam and junior Francis Brewu ran when they com- bined for a third-and-short stop. The edges held the edges, the defensive backs made plays in the backfield (senior Adon Shuler led the way with 7 tackles) and Purdue had no breathing room. NOTRE DAME SPECIAL TEAMS: A Spencer Porath had an easy day at the office in his return to his former school, making 7 of 7 extra points. Jasper Scaife shanked a 37-yard punt out of bounds at the 50-yard line, but he also boomed a 52-yarder and placed one inside the 20. The kickoff team remains a force to be reckoned with as well, with freshman Micah Drescher kicking 7 touchbacks and the lone non-touchback being tackled at the 16-yard line. Faison returned a punt 17 yards and freshman Jonaz Walton returned a kickoff 27 yards. The big play, however, came when Purdue at- tempted a fake punt on fourth-and-4 in the first quarter. Freshman defensive end Rodney Dunham stopped it one yard short of the line to gain, setting up Notre Dame's first touchdown. NOTRE DAME COACHING: A+ After Notre Dame's 27-10 win over Michigan State, Freeman stressed the importance of playing clean football. How did that message resonate? Well, the Irish only committed one penalty the entire game: A pass interference flag on soph- omore cornerback Mark Zackery IV late in the fourth quarter. This was a complete performance from top to bottom, and that's a product of great coaching. Once again, the Irish were more than prepared to play on the road against an inferior opponent. The staff challenged the players to elevate them- selves after a slightly unsatisfying win over the Spartans, and they did. REPORT CARD BY JACK SOBLE Senior linebacker Drayk Bowen's flattening of Purdue wide receiver Chauncey Magwood visually repre- sented Notre Dame's 49-10 victory. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER