Irish Crush Purdue 49-10

The University of Notre Dame football team (4-0) dominated Purdue (1-3) in the first half, then cruised to a 49-10 victory at Ross-Ade Stadium (52,723) on a sunny and beautiful afternoon. 

The Irish pass rush never let Purdue breathe, while five different Notre Dame players scored a touchdown in the first half to build a 35-0 lead. The Irish out-gained Purdue 273 yards to 90 in the first half and held the Boilers to just 12 rushing yards. 

Defensive end Bryce Young set the tone for the contest with a sack on the game’s first play and the Irish defense harassed Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne all afternoon. Young would finish the game with four tackles and two sacks, the second of which forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by Drayk Bowen.  

CJ Carr threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another in the victory while Aneyas Williams added 75 rushing yards and a score. 

Young’s first sack of the game led to a quick three-and-out for the Boilermakers.  Notre Dame would earn one first down on its opening drive before two incomplete passes led to an early career-high 52-yard punt from Jasper Scaife that pinned Purdue at their own seven-yard line. 

Purdue would earn four first downs on its next drive as the Irish defense made them earn every inch. Just across midfield on third-and-four Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa immediately pressured the quarterback to force a fourth down. Out of punt formation, Purdue ran a fake and it was sniffed out by freshman Rodney Dunham who stopped the runner one yard short of the first down. 

It took Notre Dame four plays to take the lead. Carr connected with Jordan Faison for 17 yards on second down then found a wide open Micah Gilbert streaking to the goal post for a 27-yard touchdown pass. 

The Boilermakers earned one first down on their next drive but before they made it to midfield Francis Brewu stuffed the runner on third-and-one to force a punt and give the Irish the ball back with 1:18 left in the first quarter. 

Notre Dame quickly moved into scoring position before the end of the quarter when Carr found Micah Gilbert on a slant route with the Purdue safety out of position. Gilbert took off down field for 56 yards to the Purdue 27. The quarter ended with a five-yard rush by Jonaz Walton

Notre Dame held Purdue’s offense to just 3.4 yards per play in the first quarter. 

On the first play of the second quarter, Aneyas Williams touched the ball for the first time and had a choice of holes to rush through as each member of the Irish offensive line dominated the Purdue front four. Williams took his time, looked right and strolled 22 yards untouched for the second Irish score of the game. 

The Irish pass rush started to flex its muscles even more on the next drive. Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne was forced out of the pocket for a short two-yard scramble. The next snap he was forced out of the pocket again, but this time Armel Mukam grabbed him for his first career sack. Third down was up next and Boubacar Traore grabbed Browne by his legs and Joey O’Brien, making his first career start at safety today, cleaned it up for the shared sack. 

Now with the ball after the punt the Irish would put together another scoring drive that was kick-started by a fourth-down conversion deep in Notre Dame territory by Carr on a designed run. From that point, Notre Dame drove efficiently behind runs from Aneyas Wiliams and passes to James Flanigan (nine yards), Cooper Flanagan (27 yards) and an obvious Purdue pass interference call on third and goal to give the Irish a first down at the two. 

Carr then kept the ball on a designed run to the left, untouched, for a three-yard scoring run and 21-0 Irish lead. 

It would take just two more plays from scrimmage for the lead to grow. On second and long Bryce Young came streaking in from the left end and crushed the quarterback, forcing a fumble which was picked up by Drayk Bowen and returned 15 yards for a touchdown. 

Notre Dame’s defense continued its assault on the quarterback on the next drive. The Boilermakers earned on first down, but quarterback hurries from Jaiden Ausberry and Viliamu-Asa forced another punt at the two-minute timeout. 

The lead would end up 35-0 at halftime. Jaden Greathouse made a sliding 28-yard catch to surpass 1,000 yards for his career to put the Irish in range. Carr converted third down on a quarterback draw, then found Nolan James Jr. wide open out of the backfield for a three-yard touchdown pass. 

The 77 points scored in the first half in Notre Dame’s last two visits to Ross-Ade Stadium are a program-best. In addition, the 35 points scored against Purdue in the first half of the last three meetings against the Boilermakers mark the first time in Notre Dame football history the Irish have achieved that feat. 

The first drive of the second half ended quickly when Carr had his first bad read of the season, looking for Faison but throwing his first interception of the year. 

The defense stepped up again to earn yet another stop. Purdue drove as far as the four-yard line, but another quarterback pressure by Bryce Young on fourth down forced the Boilermaker to throw the ball away and the lead remained 35-0. 

The shut out ended on the next Boilermaker drive. The home team managed 20 yards in eight plays after a short punt to kick a 48-yard field goal and make the score 35-3 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.

Notre Dame extended the lead in a drive that started in the third quarter and ended early in the fourth. Williams picked up the first down on a run and catch, then Carr dropped a perfect pass into Faison down the right sideline for 26 yards to the Purdue 26-yard line. From there, Greathouse caught a pass on third down for 15 yards, Williams ran down to the two-yard line and Carr found Flanagan after a great play-action fake for a two-yard score. 

Notre Dame’s second and third string took over with 11 minutes left in the game. The group would tack on seven more points when Jonaz Walton burst around the left side for 44 yards down inside the five-yard line. Noah Grubbs then connected with Matt Jeffrey for the first career touchdown pass and catch for each player. 

Purdue tacked on a last-second score against Notre Dame’s deep reserves, throwing a touchdown pass with six seconds left in the game.