Thursday Tidbits - Purdue
Happy Thursday - These are your Thursday Tidbits - Purdue
Only 17?
Notre Dame’s seventeen point victory on Saturday marked the 13th consecutive game the Irish have won by double digits, surpassing Knute Rockne’s 1921-1922 squads for the most in school history. It marks Freeman’s second thirteen game winning streak. Despite this historic run, the victory against MSU felt underwhelming.
Two special teams miscues, a running game that seems stagnant, the nonexistence of wideout Greathouse, and an offensive line that has yet to coalesce collectively doesn’t mesh with national championship expectations a quarter of the way through the regular season.
Piling on, of the sixty-eight Power 4 teams in college football, Notre Dame is one of just two without a 20-yard rushing play this season. The other is hapless Arkansas whose fans are wearing bags over their heads at home games. Truth be told, ND needs more out of its running game, and it starts with the offensive line, which has received some low ratings in run block by Pro Football Focus.
However, let’s look at the positives. CJ Carr is 8th nationally in quarterback rating. In total defense, ND ranks #3, allowing only 7.7 points per game (1 pt per game in the 2nd half). The Irish have allowed just three 10-yard runs and zero 20-yard runs in three games, including 0 yards rushing for MSU in the second half. Also on Saturday, third-year sophomore Micah Gilbert caught a 61-yard pass from CJ Carr on the Irish’s first play and finished with eight catches for 170 yards, the most by a Notre Dame receiver since Chase Claypool in 2017. That is true progress from the receiver room.
We are still in the “open book test” portion of the season, a phrase attributed to Pete Sampson of The Athletic, so it is important to be patient as we evolve in the coming weeks. There is a lot to be happy about.
One Horseman
If all goes as planned on Saturday, Marcus Freeman will secure his 47th win as Notre Dame coach, tying him for 7th most with Elmer Layden.
Layden played fullback for the Irish from 1922 to 1924. Alongside Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, and Jim Crowley, he formed the iconic "Four Horsemen" backfield named by sportswriter Grantland Rice. He cemented his legacy in the 1925 Rose Bowl against Stanford, scoring a rushing touchdown and returning two interceptions for touchdowns (78 and 60 yards) in a 27–10 victory to seal Notre Dame's first undisputed national championship.
Over seven seasons beginning in 1934, Layden led the Irish as coach, posting an overall 47–13–3 record. His 1935 squad posted one of the greatest wins in school history by rallying to defeat Ohio State 18–13. Layden is the only coach to lead ND to victories over the Nuts. His 1938 team finished 8–1, losing only to USC in the season finale. This loss cost them a possible consensus national championship, but the team was named national champion by the Dickinson System.
He left Notre Dame after the 1940 season to become the commissioner of the NFL, and eventually a business career in the transportation industry. He died in 1973.
Boilermakers
Purdue comes into the game with a record of 1-2, coming off of a 52-38 loss to UCLA. Nationally they are 3rd overall in passing with 367 yards per game and led by QB Ryan Browne who has seven touchdown passes to 1 interception. Browne is 16th in the country in QBR. Their two top receivers (#’s 3 and 19) are among the B1G’s leading pass catchers.
Defensively, the Boilers are ranked 126th in the country in total defense, (last in the B1G) allowing 437 yards and more than 36 points per game.
Purdue is the seventh largest university in the US, and its list of distinguished alumni is remarkable. Orville Redenbacher, co-founder of the popcorn that bears his name, graduated from Purdue in 1928. Also the first and last persons, Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan, to walk on the moon are both graduates, along with three Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, the inventor of fiberglass, the inventor of the chicken nugget, and the man who replaced Osama bin Laden on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.
The Game
Saturday marks the 90th time the Boilermakers and Irish have faced off against each other, with Notre Dame leading 61-26-2 all-time. The programs first met in 1896. The first Irish victory over Purdue came in 1901 at home 12-6. It’s the third-most played series in Irish history (Navy 98, USC 96). The Irish have won the last ten straight games against Purdue.
The teams play for the Shillelagh Trophy, a tradition which began in 1957. Gold footballs decorate the trophy to display who won each game. 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 and Purdue had played annually for 68 consecutive seasons from 1946 to 2014.
The line on the game opened with ND being a 26.5 point favorite and an over/under of 57.5.
Next to Rice, this is the second worst team ND may play this season. Last year, Purdue scored 30 points against the Irish, the second most, with Browne leading the charge. They aren’t going to be afraid to throw the ball around on Saturday, sometimes splitting five receivers out wide. They will do this at their own peril.
Get some popcorn and expect an out of this world performance. This one isn’t going to be close.
Those are your Thursday Tidbits - Purdue
Stay thirsty, my friends.
Go Otters and Go Irish!
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