Can Notre Dame Execute Against Purdue?

Notre Dame is 0-2 to start the 2025 college football season. With close losses at Miami and to Texas A&M, the Fighting Irish need to start fighting. So far, Notre Dame has faced a top team from the ACC, another top SEC team, and now a Big Ten team in Purdue, which currently sits 17th in the Conference. Only ahead of Northwestern at the bottom. This is a game that the Irish need right now to get back on track if they have any hopes of a College Football Playoff appearance.

Notre Dame Needs to Take Care of Business Against Purdue

Last season, Notre Dame and Purdue faced off in the third week of the season. The Irish were sitting at 1-1, and the second week saw a disappointing 14-16 loss against Northern Illinois. Notre Dame made a statement after that loss and beat the Boilermakers 66-7. It’s the third week of the season again, but this time, Notre Dame is 0-2. Those two losses weren’t disappointing in the sense that they were against bad teams; instead, they were disappointing on a different level (as close losses always are). How Notre Dame bounces back this week will say a lot about the resilience this team has to get them through a long college football season.

The Defense Needs to Get Back on Track

The first major thing that needs to occur this week, the defense needs to execute. Head Coach Marcus Freeman said after the loss to Texas A&M that the defense needs to execute. He isn’t wrong. The entire unit has fallen flat in the first two games. There isn’t quarterback pressure, the Irish aren’t getting in the backfield, and the linebackers (while marginally better against Texas A&M) weren’t tackling against Miami. The secondary has been lackluster. The entire unit needs to lock in this week.

The defensive line should move in the right direction this week. In the first week of the season, against Ball State, Purdue allowed five tackles for loss and one sack. Then seven tackles for loss against Southern Illinois. In the loss to USC, the Boilermaker offensive line allowed five sacks and 10 tackles for loss. For a Notre Dame team that faced two very good offensive lines, this is a game to get their confidence back and get to the quarterback.

The Notre Dame secondary will be without Adon Shuler for the first half of this contest, making way for redshirt freshman Tae Johnson to play more. Johnson has seven tackles through the first two games, six coming last week against the Aggies. This is four more than he had in three appearances last season. He also had one pass breakup last week that was almost an interception. Finally, he scored on a punt return last week as well. Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne has thrown four interceptions already this season. Look for the Notre Dame secondary to try to get back on track by capitalizing on this weak spot in the Purdue offense.

Utilize Offensive Playmakers

Things were better against Texas A&M in the number of carries that Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price had, but these two, mainly Love, need to get more involved. Getting these two going early will help take pressure off the young quarterback, CJ Carr. Last week against USC, the Purdue defense allowed 178 rushing yards on 40 carries. Love and Price are one of the best running back duos in the country. If the offensive line can make room, look out for these two to finally have a big day.

Once Love and Price get going, that will open things up for Carr. This should help get wide receiver Jaden Greathouse involved. During the preseason, we outlined receivers who should make an impact this season. Greathouse ended the 2024 season with a bang and showed what he was capable of going into 2025. Unfortunately, he only has two receptions for 41 yards this season. This is a product of an offense that isn’t flowing. This week against Purdue should be the time for him to get involved and show more of the flashes from the 2024 playoff run.