Notre Dame football score predictions: Fighting Irish at Purdue staff picks

Notre Dame faces Purdue at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind. The Irish will look to bounce back from their upset loss to NIU by beating the Boilermakers.

Here’s how Blue & Gold’s staff thinks Notre Dame will fare against Purdue.

Tyler Horka: Notre Dame 31, Purdue 20

Something keeps telling me this game will mirror Notre Dame at North Carolina, 2022.

The Fighting Irish began that season by scoring 10, 21 and 24 points. Then, all of a sudden, they went on the road and broke out for 45 against the Tar Heels in a 13-point victory. I don’t see them scoring that many this weekend, but I do expect a similar margin and a similar feeling of “where has this been from the Irish offense.” That goes for no matter who’s playing quarterback, Riley Leonard or Steve Angeli. It just feels like an epiphany is on the horizon right when everyone is counting these guys out.

Purdue is set to have a much better season than the 4-8 campaign Ryan Walters orchestrated in his first season at the helm there, so the Boilermakers will make things interesting. Notre Dame will keep things interesting on their own doing given what we know about this iteration of the Irish. That said, Notre Dame has historically had few problems with Purdue in a rivalry with extensive history. The Irish have not lost to the Boilermakers since 2007 and that streak will not snap in West Lafayette this week. 

Jack Soble: Fighting Irish 31, Boilermakers 13

Having little to no confidence in the Irish right now is understandable, but this Purdue team was picked 18th in the Big Ten. There’s not much Notre Dame can do to silence doubters this week. It can only hold off absolute panic, as its College Playoff hopes would all but die with a loss in this or any other game.

Given Purdue’s defensive struggles last season — shutting out Indiana State does not alleviate those concerns — I like the Irish to get their act together on both sides of the ball and leave West Lafayette, Ind. with a relatively easy win. Senior quarterback Riley Leonard won’t light the world on fire, but he’ll do enough to keep his job for at least one more week.

Todd D. Burlage: Notre Dame 27, Purdue 24

With an early first bye week coming on Sept. 7, the only Purdue sample we have so far this season comes from its 49-0 rout at home over FCS Indiana State on Aug. 31.

Led by a sturdy 6-foot-3, 210-pound quarterback in Card, the Boilers piled up 248 rushing yards and 335 passing yards in the wire-to-wire tuneup. Card went 24-of-25 passing for 273 yards with 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in the season opener. 

Can Card replicate that kind of performance against arguably the best pass defense in country? Probably not. But questions loom after Notre Dame’s disturbing 16-14 upset loss to Northern Illinois lost weekend. 

An old-school in-state rivalry that dates back to 1896 and includes 85 games resumes this weekend with Notre Dame holding on for its fourth straight win at Ross-Ade Stadium. 

Mike Singer: Fighting Irish 28, Boilermakers 16

This will be a Super Bowl for the Boilermakers, and I really expect them to get up for this game and make it interesting for a bit, but the Fighting Irish will pull away late in the contest. Purdue is going to load the box and try to make the Irish beat them throwing the ball. Notre Dame needs to get creative offensively to offset the Boilermakers’ pressure.

Kyle Kelly: Notre Dame 27, Purdue 16

When we published our Football Preview, I picked the Purdue game as the one that could put Notre Dame on “Upset Alert.” Even though NIU handed Notre Dame its first loss of the season, I like the Irish to bounce back and make it out of West Lafayette unscathed. Give me the Irish in a closer game then most might expect.

Steve Downey: Fighting Irish 31, Boilermakers 7

If it feels like it has been a long time since the Boilermakers beat the Fighting Irish, that’s because it has been. Purdue hasn’t taken down Notre Dame on the gridiron since a 33-19 win at West Lafayette in 2007. Since then, the Irish have won eight straight by an average of 12 points.

The Boilermakers were impressive in their season-opening 49-0 win over Indiana State, racking up nearly 600 yards of total offense. However, this Notre Dame defense is a much different animal despite the subpar performance against Northern Illinois in Week 2. After suffering the indignity of losing to a four-touchdown underdog, you have to believe the Irish will play with a lot more gusto in this one in an effort to erase that bad taste.

The Irish defense will be better and the offense should be able to find success against a Purdue unit that ranked last in the Big Ten in scoring defense (30.4 points allowed per game) last year.