Notre Dame Football Primer: Defenseless Irish Host In-State Rival Purdue

Quoting Rob Schneider in Adam Sandler’s The Waterboy, “Oh no, we suck again.” Honestly, for the Fighting Irish players and fans, there is not much to play for the rest of the season. Certainly, stranger things in the history of sports have happened, but realistically, it is looking bleak for Notre Dame Football. Although the season has been disappointing, a victory over in-state rival Purdue could be the start of a positive Saturday afternoon. These Boilermakers are not the same team from a year ago and will have an upset on their minds on their short trip to South Bend.

Essential Game Info:

• Game Time: Saturday, September 20, 2025, at 3:30 PM ET on NBC
• Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana
• Matchup History: Notre Dame is 60–26–2 all-time against the Purdue Boilermakers (Last Meeting 2024: Irish won 66–7 in West Lafayette)
• Trophy: Shillelagh Trophy

Purdue Details

• Conference: Big Ten
• Head Coach: Barry Odom
• 2025 Record: 2–1 (0–1)
• 2024 Record: 1–11 (0–9)

Purdue Storylines:

Barry Odom takes over as head coach of Purdue Football. The new Boilermakers coach is already off to a better start than his predecessor last season. Through three games, the Boilers beat Ball State 31–0, Southern Illinois 34–17, and lost to USC 33–17.

Coach Odom was at UNLV from 2023 to 2024, where he went 19–8 with the Rebels. Years prior, Odom was the head coach at Missouri from 2016 to 2019, where he led the Tigers to a 25–25 record.

Is Notre Dame’s 9-game winning streak against the Boilers going to end? Not only do the Irish have nine wins in a row against Purdue, they are winners in 11 of the last 12 matchups with their in-state rival. Ticket prices are plummeting and the energy in the stadium will be at a season low. Clearly, Notre Dame is the more talented team, but motivation carries a big weight in college football. The Purdue Boilermakers have not defeated the Fighting Irish since 2007 (in West Lafayette), and it has been 21 years since they won in South Bend (2004). Yes, Notre Dame is on upset alert again this Saturday.

The Boilermaker offense is led by quarterback Ryan Browne. In 2025, Browne is 56-for-88 (64%) with 786 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, four interceptions, and six sacks taken. On the ground, the Boilermaker quarterback has 25 attempts for 59 yards (2.4 yards per carry), with two rushing scores.

Purdue’s top two receiving targets are Arhamd Branch and Michael Jackson III. Through three games, Branch has seven receptions for 167 yards and two touchdowns, while Jackson III has 14 catches for 149 yards and one score.

Notre Dame Storylines:

Who is to blame, Chris Ash or Marcus Freeman? I believe Coach Freeman made the mistake by hiring Coach Ash from the start. If Chris Ash was at the level of a “Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator,” then he would not have been a scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars last year.

Coach Freeman struck out on this hire and it is starting to resemble Brian Kelly’s hire of Brian VanGorder.

I am in favor of Freeman firing Ash and taking the defense over himself or giving the position to Coach Mickens. I certainly have nothing against Chris Ash as a person and hope him all the best no matter what happens the rest of the year. But if this many fans are calling for a coordinator to be fired with only a two-game sample size, then something is severely wrong.

CJ Carr’s dual-threat capability disappeared against Texas A&M. This is a “hot take,” but let me explain. Facing Miami, Mike Denbrock utilized CJ Carr’s athleticism to gain an extra blocker in the quarterback rushing attack. Undoubtedly, he is not a runner like Riley Leonard, but this is college football and you cannot be a “pocket passer” on every single play. Not only did Carr not have designed runs, he never scrambled when necessary.

Conversely, Marcel Reed’s movement in the pocket, escapability, and rushing gave the Aggie offense another dimension when plays broke down. There is nothing wrong with letting Carr pass the football the majority of the time, but he is athletic enough to make plays with his legs. Almost every National Championship team this century has had a dual-threat quarterback, or at least a quarterback willing to run when necessary.

If Notre Dame tries to run the wildcat this weekend against Purdue, I believe it will be ineffective, even more so than last weekend. The Boilermakers will have a whole week to prepare for it and let their players crowd the box because they know Jeremiyah Love is not going to throw the football.

Head-to-Head Matchups:

Notre Dame Offense vs. Purdue Defense: The Fighting Irish offense is averaging 372 yards per game, while the Boilermaker defense is allowing 315 yards per matchup. Although the Fighting Irish offense is far from perfect, they were not the reason Notre Dame lost to the Aggies. Purdue surrendered 33 points to the USC Trojans at home last weekend, and I believe Notre Dame will put up close to the same.
Advantage: Notre Dame

Purdue Offense vs. Notre Dame Defense: The Purdue offense is averaging 391 yards per contest, while the Notre Dame defense is allowing 414 yards per game. As I mentioned earlier, the Irish defense has been embarrassing through two games of the season. I expect the Purdue coaching staff to try to take advantage of the same areas Texas A&M did last Saturday night.
Advantage: Purdue

Special Teams: Purdue’s Spencer Porath is 4-for-4 this season with his longest conversion at 43 yards. Conversely, Noah Burnette is 3-for-3 with his longest make at 39 yards.

Notre Dame’s special teams have been a strength under Coach Freeman and a major reason for their playoff run. Even last Saturday, a blocked punt led to an Irish touchdown. However, a missed snap on an extra point was the difference in the game (among countless other issues, but that one really stood out).

There is no distinct advantage on special teams.
Advantage: Tie

My Prediction:

I am honestly burned out on picking the Fighting Irish. I cannot recall the last time I picked them to lose (but I was correct in picking them in 14 out of 16 games last year). Nevertheless, this game means everything to the Purdue Football program and fanbase, while Notre Dame could be feeling sorry for themselves. Although I hope Coach Freeman does not let that develop.

The Fighting Irish clearly have the better team on paper and have played perhaps the toughest two games to start the season of any program in the country, but as Irish fans know, there are no guaranteed wins.

As a Notre Dame fan living in Indiana, I would never hear the end of it if the Irish lost to a Purdue team that went 1–11 last year. I hope I am completely wrong, but I have the Boilermakers winning by a field goal.

Prediction: Purdue 34, Notre Dame 31