Notre Dame came into this game as the favorites to beat in state rival Purdue. Notre Dame was actually a 29 point favorite to beat the Boilermakers of Purdue. This game was the Shamrock Series and both teams had unique uniforms on. This series will be in a hiatus for a while, just like Michigan and Michigan State. How this game was played in Indianapolis, Indiana was great. The crowd was electric for both teams it looked like a fun atmosphere to be in. It is unfortunate though that this series has to take a break though. Hopefully it will return again in the near future after Notre Dame won 30-14 on Saturday evening.

The beginning of the game, particularly the first few opening offensive plays, would have made one think  this was going to be a Notre Dame blowout. Amir Carlisle had a great opening kickoff return that put them at the Purdue 45 yard line. The drive was all about the Irish offense, which ended with Everett Golson throwing a six yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller.

The field goal kicker for Notre Dame, Kyle Brindza, would miss a 50 yard field goal on the next drive. The Boilermakers would answer with a score of their own with a Danny Etling touchdown pass to Brandon Cotton towards the end of the quarter. After one quarter, it was all square at 7 points apiece.

The Irish did not play as well in the second quarter. Kyle Brindza made a 19 yard field goal breaking the seven to seven tie, but Danny Etling would follow with a touchdown to DeAngelo Yancey from 19 yards out. The undefeated Irish were trailing for the first time this season. However, the Irish overcame the deficit with Golson's legs. He ran for a 15 yard touchdown with 13 seconds remaining in the half to make it a 17-14 lead at halftime.

The third quarter saw some key injuries occur. The big one was Amir Carlisle's injury and it really changed the offense. The offense looked a little lost at times without him. Other injuries included safety Nicky Baratti and cornerback Cole Luke. The Notre Dame defense was nearly depleted of safeties with Jarrett Grace and Austin Collinsworth both previously out with injuries.

The offense came through in the third quarter, as Golson threw a 15 yard touchdown pass to Corey Robinson. Robinson finished the game with 3 receptions for 52 yards and the touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, Kyle Brindza made two field goals to seal off an Irish win over the Boilermakers. This marked the seventh win in a row over Purdue. Also, Notre Dame is undefeated in the Shamrock Series at 6-0.

CJ Prosise did step up and take Amir Carlisle's position after the injury and did a good job. Golson led the team in running yards with 58 and a rushing touchdowns. Golson was 25 of 40 for 259 yards passing. He has not turned the ball over in the first three games. However, Ben Koyack did fumble the ball.

Purdue's Danny Etling was 27 of 40 for 234 yards with two touchdowns and two picks. Joe Schmidt and Devin Butler both picked him off. Schmidt's story is incredible because the Notre Dame linebacker was a walk-on who always wanted to go to Notre Dame. He has worked hard and finally got a scholarship in his senior season.

This Notre Dame team has a bye week next week. The next opponent will be a newer one in the Syracuse Orange. The Orange will take on the undefeated Irish in the New Meadowlands stadium. Next season, they will play Syracuse in South Bend as part of the new ACC scheduling agreement and

The Notre Dame team will be looking to get healthy during their bye week. In addition, they will possibly get some of those players who had academic fraud reinstated.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Missy Metz
Hello, my name is Missy. Hopefully you enjoy reading my articles! You can follow me on twitter or google plus. I am a Tampa native.