Notre Dame Routs Purdue; Rebounds Emphatically From NIU Loss
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — It was a game Notre Dame needed to deliver after being embarrassed a week ago at the hands of Northern Illinois in front of a home crowd. The Fighting Irish delivered in a big way routing the Purdue Boilermakers 66-7 on Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium.
The Irish hoped quarterback Riley Leonard would be able to have a good performance after being subpar against the Huskies. Going 2-of-3 on his first drive he led the Irish five plays for 68 yards capped off by a rushing touchdown by Jeremiyah Love.
With a defense from Purdue that was not up to the task for the day, Leonard ran the Boilers off the rails (pun intended) going for three touchdowns on the ground and 100 yards on 11 carries.
An interception of Purdue QB Hudson Card returned for a touchdown and another 70-yard scamper by Jadarian Price, Notre Dame took a 42-0 lead into the locker room at half time. The Irish outgained Purdue running the ball 278 yards to just 1 yards in the first two quarters.
The second half would mark the end of the day for Leonard, giving way for second-year backup quarterback Steve Angeli to come in in relief. Right out of the gate, Angeli hit tight end Cooper Flanagan for a 28-yard touchdown, marking Notre Dame’s first passing touchdown of the season. He’d add another to Kevin Bauman as well.
Exiting the day, backup Steve Angeli’s two touchdown passes give him more than the starting quarterback Leonard. Angeli’s quarter-and-a-half equated to 6-of-9 passing for 100 yards and two touchdowns, as well as a quarterback rating of 233.3. Leonard, as the starter, was 11-of-16 for 112 yards.
“It was a tough week for us, physically and mentally,” Leonard said. “You have to be able to respond and I think we executed at a high level all around the field.”
Coming away with a 66-7 victory, the scoring performance marks the most points Notre Dame has ever scored against the Boilermakers in the history of their rivalry. This was the 88th time the two faced each other. It’s also the most points they have scored in a game since beating Army 62-7 in 1973. It also took Notre Dame 66 plays to score those 66 points.
The Irish would end the game with 578 total yards on offense, 362 of which was on the ground. Notre Dame’s defense racked up four sacks and two interceptions and held Purdue to just six first downs.
The Irish will return home to Notre Dame Stadium looking for their first win of the season on their own grass as they will take on Miami (Ohio) next Saturday.
