Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546785
28 OCT. 3, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED adjustment in their game plan, which falls on Carr to execute. And execute, he did. Notre Dame dialed up what Carr called an "inside post" three times in the first half, once each to junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert, senior tight end Cooper Flanagan and senior wide receiver Jaden Greathouse. They all went for about the same distance: 27, 27 and 28 yards, respectively, with Gilbert's reaching the end zone. That's not a coincidence, because they all tar- geted the exact same weak spot in Purdue's Cover 2 scheme: The hole between the two safeties and behind the deep-dropping linebacker. Doing so requires pinpoint accuracy to fit the ball over the linebacker's head, as well as precise timing to hit the target before the safeties realize what's going on and close in. To nail it consistently despite practicing it very little throughout the week spoke to the maturity of Notre Dame's skill players — as well as its savant of a quarterback. "Our guys obviously didn't prep for it a bunch, but the guys have played against Cover 2 and what we do on our defense and were able to adjust on the fly," Carr said. "We've thrown that inside post many times with Micah and other guys throughout the year, so being able to react on the fly was really impressive." Even Carr's touchdown run was more brains than brawn, even though Notre Dame blocked it up well. The Irish saw Wake Forest execute quar- terback pin-and-pull in Week 2, so they installed it for their goal-line package in West Lafayette, Ind. Carr got the look he wanted — "Bear Cover 1," he said — and waltzed into the end zone. If only Hines hadn't moved to the other side of the field. "Had a good lane," Carr said. "Guys made it easy for me, and walking in felt good, for sure." — Jack Soble PURDUE VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Purdue 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 10:41 7:38 7:59 8:58 18:19 16:57 35:16 Third-Down Conversions 3-6 1-4 2-4 2-4 4-10 4-8 8-18 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-2 Average Field Position PU-19 PU-21 ND-40 PU-26 PU-20 PU-39 PU-28 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 4:19 7:22 7:01 6:02 11:41 13:03 24:44 Third-Down Conversions 0-1 1-2 1-3 1-2 1-3 2-5 3-8 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 Average Field Position ND-28 ND-33 ND-19 ND-19 ND-30 ND-19 ND-24 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards PU ND Nega ve 8 2 0-5 41 36 6-9 12 8 10-19 5 4 20-29 1 5 30-39 0 1 40-49 0 1 50 or more 1 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Purdue 2 1 0 1 Notre Dame 4 4 0 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 2-3 PU27 Carr pass to Gilbert for 27 yards and a touchdown • 2-7 ND17 Carr pass to Gilbert for 56 yards to PU27 • 1-10 ND45 Carr pass to Flanagan for 27 yards to PU28 • 2-5 PU44 Carr pass to Greathouse for 28 yards to PU16 • 2-5 ND42 Carr pass to Faison for 31 yards to PU27 • 1-10 ND13 Grubbs pass to Be s for 26 yards to ND39 • 1-10 PU49 Walton 44-yard run to PU5 Purdue None Junior quarterback CJ Carr completed 14 of 22 passes for 237 yards with 3 touchdowns and also ran for a score to lead the Irish past the Boilermakers. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • This year's matchup between Notre Dame and Purdue marked the 90th meeting between the two schools. With their 49-10 victory, the Fighting Irish now lead the series 62-26-2 and have an all-time record of 30-14-2 in West Lafayette, Ind. • Notre Dame has won 11 consecutive games in the series, dating to 2008, tying the series record set by the Irish from 1986-96. It is the longest active win streak by either side in se- ries history. • Since the Shillelagh Trophy was introduced in 1957, Notre Dame is 43-19 in trophy games. The trophy goes to the winner of the Notre Dame-Purdue matchup. Notre Dame victories are signified by gold footballs with an ND on them, while Purdue wins are denoted by gold footballs with the letter P. • Notre Dame held Purdue scoreless in the first quarter, marking the first time the Boil- ermakers were held scoreless in a quarter this season. Purdue had scored in each of its previ- ous 12 quarters to open the season en route to an average of 39.3 points per game. • Junior quarterback CJ Carr recorded his first game this season and the fourth of his career with both a passing and rushing touchdown. It marked the first time in his career that he threw and ran for a touchdown in the same first half.