Yes, try not to fall asleep, but the time has come to preview the most boring of all opponents, and Notre Dame’s Shamrock Series opponent: Purdue.
I apologize in advance if you’ve already fallen asleep at work.
Previous Opponent Previews:
Vitals
[table “” not found /]Offense
[table “” not found /]Spoiler alert: Purdue’s offense was terrible last season. Purduezzzzzzz wasn’t even a joke, it was a reality.
With eight starters returning, you’d have to think there is nowhere to go but up from 2013, but considering just how poor the Boilermakers were, it’s hard to believe that they will make a very big jump.
Some fun “I can’t believe this is reality” numbers: Purdue had no rusher that gained over 500 yards, Purdue ran out two QBs last season that combined for a TD/INT ratio of 14/13, both QBs ended well under a 60% completion rate, and their punter had to boot the ball 70 times for 3047 yards along with Rob Henry, a QB, contributing 3 pooch punts for 73 punts total.
That’s over 6 punts/game. You typically see around 12-14 drives per game. That means Purdue was damn near ending every other drive with a punt.
Simply brutal.
Defense
[table “” not found /]Spoiler alert #2: Purdue’s defense was terrible last year as well.
How’s this for a summary of how bad things got for them. After Henry was displaced at QB, he found himself on the depth chart as a backup safety and actually saw playing time.
As bad as Purdue was, it’s a small wonder that ND somehow only managed to get 91 rushing yards their rushing defense. However, the 309 passing yards the Irish amassed were the most that any opponent put up against the Boilermakers in 2013.
I suppose this is what happens when you decide to deploy the “make Tommy Rees beat us” gameplan.
Again, there is nowhere to go but up from here, but I seriously doubt the jump will be very high.
What to Expect
This game shouldn’t be close. Notre Dame is riding a six game winning streak against Purdue. However the last two games have only been decided by a single possession.
There is no doubt that Purdue attempts to turn things up a notch when they face the Irish and the Lucas Oil crowd may actually provide for some neutral ground to spice things up a touch.
However, with a returning Golson and what should be a massively improved running game, I don’t see this one being close. Purdue still has at least another year before they right the ship which spells bad news for their Shamrock Series experience.
Or, to put it another way, the most exciting thing in this game will likely be the Shamrock Unis.
Study Your Enemy
Need some bedtime reading? Check out the following Purduzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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- Epilogue - January 3, 2022
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