First Look: Notre Dame
Here’s an early look at Purdue’s second opponent of the 2024 season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Date/Time: Saturday, September 14, 3:30 E.T.
Location: Ross-Ade Stadium
Surface: Bermuda Grass
Capacity: 61,441 (sold out)
Weather: very early forecast shows a high of 82 with lots of sunshine
2024 schedules/records: Purdue 1-0 (0-0 Big Ten), Notre Dame 1-1
Series notes: Notre Dame returns to Ross-Ade Stadium for the first time since 2013 as the Boilermakers and Fighting Irish rekindle a historic rivalry. The two met each year from 1946 to 2014, but the series ended after seven straight Notre Dame victories. The first matchup in the re-started series took place in 2021 when Purdue fell 27-13 in South Bend. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 59-26-2 and holds a 13-26-2 advantage in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers last took the Shillelagh trophy in 2007 in a 33-19 win.
TV: CBS
Early line: Notre Dame -11
STORYLINES TO WATCH
Rivalry renewed
Longtime Purdue fans have circled this one on their calendar for years. The hated Fighting Irish will return to West Lafayette after a decade-long hiatus. The rivalry dissipated after the series ended in 2014, but longtime Purdue fans never forgot about the history between the two.
Purdue fans remember the classic Boilermaker moments of the rivalry. Top 10 matchups in the 1960s. The 1984 win to open the Hoosier Dome. Joe Tiller’s first win at the helm in 1997. Taylor Stubblefield’s 97-yard touchdown reception beneath the Golden Dome in 2004. If Purdue could pull off a sizable upset against Notre Dame, it would join some of those most memorable wins in program history.
The right Card
Hudson Card dealt a near-perfect game in the season opener. The Texan completed 24 of 25 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns. Dating back to last season, he’s led Purdue to three consecutive wins and excelled in all three. He’s completed 62 of 84 attempts for 799 yards with ten touchdowns and no interceptions. When Purdue recruited Card out of the transfer portal in December 2022, this is what it had in mind.
Now, Card enters his most pressure-packed matchup as a Boilermaker. Notre Dame’s notoriously strong defense stymied Texas A&M quarterback Connor Weigman in the season opener, and it will look for more of the same against Card. With two weeks to prepare, can he pick apart the Irish defense?
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Trouble in paradise?
After a season-opening win at Texas A&M, Notre Dame looked well on its way to making the College Football Playoff. A favorable schedule and strong defense looked like it would allow the Fighting Irish to put the season on autopilot. Instead, Northern Illinois pulled off a stunning 16-14 upset in South Bend, dropping Notre Dame to 1-1 and raising questions.
The unexpected loss continues a troubling trend, which saw Marcus Freeman’s squad fall to Marshall and Stanford in recent years. The Fighting Irish enter week three as one of five FBS teams without a touchdown pass. Adding transfer quarterback Riley Leonard was designed to help spark a middling offense in recent years, but Saturday’s loss raised questions about the ceiling of the offense.
Ryan Walters on the Fighting Irish
“We are going to err on the side that they will be an angry Notre Dame football team.
“This game has been circled on my calendar. It is a ‘prove it’ type of game for us. We know that going in.”
