10 Observations for Notre Dame Blowout

Here is what has us talking after Notre Dame’s 66-7 demolition of Purdue on Saturday in Ross-Ade Stadium.

1 – Slow start

Ross-Ade was juiced for kickoff. There was a palpable buzz. The stands were jammed. Was an upset brewing?

Nope.

If the heat didn’t zap the energy from the sellout crowd, a dreadful first quarter did. ND finished a dominating opening 15 minutes leading 14-0. And it wasn’t even that close. The Irish had their way on both sides of the ball, out gaining Purdue 171-53.

The rout was on.

ND took a modicum of mercy on Purdue by playing its backup QB in the second half. Didn’t really matter. The leprechaun stole Purdue Pete’s sledgehammer and smashed to smithereens any notion of the Irish being upset a second week in succession. Never before has Purdue allowed more points to Notre Dame.

The 66-7 margin of defeat was the worst in school history.

This one is gonna leave a mark. The good news: This counts as only one loss.

Purdue is better than this, right?

“We had a very poignant conversation at halftime, obviously a very pointed conversation at the end of the game,” said Ryan Walters. “So, we’ll see how we respond. My hope is that they learn from this so it never happens again. Obviously, everybody is disappointed, embarrassed, angry, frustrated, shocked right now.”

2 – A step back

Look, there’s no way to sugarcoat it: This was ugly. Even worse: This was Darrell Hazell era ugly. He was the head coach the last time Purdue trailed a game 42-0 at intermission, doing so in 2013 vs. Ohio State. Never before has Purdue trailed by more at halftime.

Biff! Bopp! Splat! Boink! Zonk!

There were missed tackles, dropped passes, a pick six, penalties, poor blocking. More ignominy: The offense didn’t cross midfield until the third quarter, when Purdue finally broke the seal of the end zone to “trim” ND’s lead to 49-7.

By then, large swaths of the students had exited the sun-drenched stands to either hit Harry’s or work on differential equation problems in Potter Library. Those who stayed cheered.

Yeah!

The question begs: Is Purdue this bad? Probably not. This was one of those Saturdays, a warped reality when things went horribly wrong for Walters and Co. At least that’s the hope.

Purdue has 10 games to show otherwise.

“This is a long season,” said Walters. “We can’t let one game define it, especially a non-conference game. We have a tough road game in a week, a shortened week in terms of travel. So we had to get in and really look and take accountability for the tape tomorrow, learn from it and move on.”

3 -Deeeeeeefff … pfffffftttt

The defense pitched a shutout in the opener. But that was vs. FCS Indiana State. This? This was different. This was Notre Dame … Rockne, Leahy, Gipper, Holtz, Rudy.

It was a much different story.

ND took the opening kickoff and needed just five plays and 2:10 to cover 75 yards to hit paydirt. Hop, skip, jump.

Just like that, it was 7-0. By the fourth quarter, some QB named Kenny Minchey (who?) was taking snaps and scoring TDs for the Irish.

The Irish looked faster, stronger and better, consistently beating Purdue to the edge … and just about everywhere on the field. The tackling? Lots of whiffs.

The damage was extensive: ND finished with 578 yards with 362 coming on the ground. Purdue had no answer for Irish RB Jeremiyah Love, who ran for 109 yards on 10 carries. In coaching parlance, Love is “elite.” The Purdue D was not on this day.

My advice to staffers: Don’t watch this film. Don’t. Burn it.

MORE: Big Picture: Purdue’s embarrassing loss to Notre Dame shouldn’t define it, not this early | Points After: Purdue’s blowout loss to Notre Dame

4 – Stop QB run

Remember how we talked about Purdue’s vulnerability to the QB run? How it had to be mindful of it vs. ND?

Well, Irish QB Riley Leonard sliced and diced the Boilermaker defense, running 11 times for 100 yards and three TDs. Backup QB Steve Angeli had some fun, too, throwing for 100 yards and two TDs.

It was shades of what Syracuse QB Garrett Shrader did to Purdue last year, when he ran 25 times 195 yards and four TDs in a 35-20 win.

“Lack of physicality, undisciplined eyes, undisciplined technique,” said Walters. “Missed tackles, you name it. Every mistake we made, they capitalized on. You have to give them credit. But that type of play here, that style of play, I haven’t seen, so I’m frustrated, angry, embarrassed. I have to get it fixed and I will.”

5- QB play

This could have been a defining game for QB Hudson Card, the moment he shows he’s a big-time player.

Didn’t happen.

To be fair, Card was often harassed and under assault operating behind–ahem–a leaky line. He was a rag doll. The stats say he was sacked four times, but it felt like 40. It was hard to watch at times. It also didn’t help that the wideouts struggled to get open vs. an elite Irish secondary.

Card had no chance.

He finished hitting 11-of-24 passes (46 percent) for 124 yards with a TD and two interceptions. This, two weeks after he completed 96 percent of his passes (24 of 25).

6 – Dealing with adversity

Adversity hits every team every season. Heck, adversity strikes in every game. The key: How do you respond?

Purdue will get a chance to show next week when it plays at plucky Oregon State. A must win for Purdue’s bowl hopes? Probably.

PDF: Purdue-Notre Dame statistics

7 – No go

Much like the defense, the offense never got on track. Heck, it didn’t even sputter. It’s was stalled most of this day, finishing with 162 yards (38 rushing).

If Purdue was gonna pull off this upset, it was gonna need a big day from its offense, punctuated with big plays.

Instead, the attack trudged off the field and into the Tiller Tunnel miffed and searching for answers and an identity.

What is this offense? What does it hang its hat on?

8 – What happened?

Let’s let Walters explain …

“What didn’t happen? You know? Did I see this coming? No. What I’ve seen from January till yesterday has been all positive. It’s been tough, it’s been physical, it’s been competitive, it’s been disciplined, and that was not the case from the opening kickoff to the end of the game. That’s my fault. It falls on me. I deserve every ounce of criticism. It’s my job to get them ready to go and to take advantage of opportunities like this. And we didn’t take advantage of it today.”

It was all on ND when this day dawned, arriving fresh off an embarrassing 16-14 loss at home to Northern Illinois. That cast doubt on Marcus Freeman. The Irish could ill-afford another defeat in a quest to earn a College Football Playoff bid. This was a must-win for ND.

Conversely, Purdue entered this game as an underdog with nothing to lose and everything to gain. The betting public believed in the Boilers, driving them down from a +16.5-point underdog to +7.5 by kickoff.

Alas, ND more than covered.

9 – Positives

You could say special teams were solid. And there were no apparent serious injuries. So, there’s that. Did Walters think there were any positives?

“No,” he said.

10 – Time is now

You hate to label a September game as a “must win.” But, this trip west to Oregon State sure shapes up as such if Purdue hopes to reach a bowl.

The Boilermakers need to return home with a 2-1 mark as they prepare to face Nebraska for homecoming on Sept. 28.

“I still have a lot of belief in this team,” said Walters. “I believe that we can win football games. I believe we can compete with the best of the best. We didn’t do that today. I need to figure out why, and so that doesn’t happen again.”