Notre Dame football score predictions: Fighting Irish vs. Purdue national picks
Blue & Gold found 21 individual predictions spread across seven national outlets for Notre Dame’s game at Purdue this weekend. Nineteen of the prognosticators are picking the No. 18 Fighting Irish (1-1) to take care of business as a 10-point favorite against the Boilermakers (1-0) one week after losing to Northern Illinois at home.
Here are the national picks.
The Sporting News: Notre Dame 30, Purdue 16
Bill Bender: Notre Dame suffered a shocking Week 2 loss against NIU, which might cause bettors to jump on Purdue, coming off a bye to prepare after a flawless 49-0 victory against Indiana State in their opener. Incredibly, Riley Leonard has yet to throw a touchdown pass in two games for the Irish, and that is a major concern heading into a renewed rivalry on the road. The Irish, however, should bounce back here. They were 3-0 S/U after a loss last season, winning those contests by an average of 24 points per game.
Bruce Feldman (The Athletic): Notre Dame 24, Purdue 20
Feldman: Notre Dame is coming off a big upset loss to Northern Illinois. It’ll be interesting to see how Marcus Freeman’s program responds. I think the Irish’s defense is really good and will help them power through by slowing down Hudson Card and Purdue’s Air Raid attack. Look for the Irish’s run game to rescue a shaky offense.
Greg McElroy (Always College Football): Notre Dame
McElroy: “Notre Dame did not come out and play well last year against Louisville, right? Well, how did they respond? They responded by destroying USC. They also didn’t look very good against Marshall or Stanford in 2022. How did they handle that? Well, they beat Cal the following week after losing to Marshall and they beat UNLV the following week after losing to Stanford. I’m taking Notre Dame in a big bounce-back performance. I think they handle it. I think they get right. And regardless of what’s going on with their quarterback spot, they have enough to slow down what Purdue is going to be offensively.”
Bleacher Report: Notre Dame 31, Purdue 17
David Kenyon: “‘This is the prototypical context of a letdown game,'” I wrote last week, “‘so perhaps Notre Dame trudges out to a slow start.'” That happened, but the Irish failed to recover and pull away from Northern Illinois as I anticipated. I’m not panicked about ND because its defense will typically be the best unit on the field, but Riley Leonard and the offense are clearly a work in progress.
USA TODAY
Scooby Axson: Fighting Irish
Jordan Mendoza: Fighting Irish
Paul Myerberg: Fighting Irish
Erick Smith: Fighting Irish
Eddie Timanus: Fighting Irish
Dan Wolken: Fighting Irish
CBS Sports
Dennis Dodd: Purdue
Tom Fornelli: Fighting Irish
Chip Patterson: Purdue
Shehan Jeyarajah: Fighting Irish
David Cobb: Fighting Irish
Jerry Palm: Fighting Irish
Brandon Marcello: Fighting Irish
Richard Johnson: Fighting Irish
Athlon Sports
Steven Lassan: Fighting Irish
Dan Lyons: Fighting Irish
Thomas Neumann: Fighting Irish
