ND’s best game of the year so far. The OL actually played well for the most part – they sprung K Williams for a long TD run and it looked like each OL had a block on their man, even OT Joe Alt playing TE got in on the action. They also held Purdue”s All American DE George Karlaftis in check most of the game.
On offense QB jack Coan was somewhat erratic while throwing beautiful passes especially on the TD pass over the top to Avery Davis. Then there were drops and throws behind the receivers.
Michael Mayer was held in check – seems Purdue bracketed him the whole game which opened up other receivers. He also was speared in the chest by a crown of helmet hit. Coan finished with 233 yds and 2 TD’s. Tyler Buchner was ineffective as he pulled a hamstring.
There were a lot of outstanding plays by the defense with Kyle Hamilton all over the field and JD Bertrand with 12 tackles. Lots of other guys stepped up. Check out the highlights everyone on D played a lot better.
This was not a pretty game but ND did show improvement so that’s a positive heading to Wisconsin.
Check out the game highlights:
Here is the Brian Kelly post game press conference:
Purdue comes into this game 2-0 with wins over Oregon State 30-21 and UCONN 49-10. In addition, they can smell blood in the water seeing a ND team that could easily be 0-2 rather than 2-0.
Purdue has a talented QB in Jack Plummer who has thrown 10 TD’s in 2 games. Look for an air assault Saturday featuring WR David Bell and capable TE’s. Plummer also has completed 70% of his passes.
Purdue’s Defensive is led By All American DE George Karlaftis who although has no sacks has pressured QB’s every time they try to pass. He will be all over ND’s OT’s.
In the end it all comes down to the play of ND’s OL and if the team is interested in playing a 4 quarter football game. So far ND not very impressive and I think it’s a 3 point win for either team.
Score Prediction: Notre Dame 30 Purdue 27
Here is the Brian Kelly pre-game press conference:
