We’re 3 games into the 2021 season and the one thing Notre Dame has firmly established so far is that nothing will be easy. Granted, you could find plenty of entertainment in this product if you’d like but the reality is the Irish are giving us all plenty of heartburn through September. After trailing early 3-0, Notre Dame would eventually take the lead and never relinquish it, at times threatening to walk away easily. Although, there was plenty of struggle putting away a frisky visiting Purdue playing valiantly for their drum parked a few hundred feet away on a sidewalk outside the House That Rockne Built.
Stats Package
| STAT | IRISH | PURDUE |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 27 | 13 |
| Plays | 66 | 79 |
| Total Yards | 343 | 348 |
| Yards Per Play | 5.19 | 4.40 |
| Conversions | 5/18 | 5/18 |
| Completions | 15 | 36 |
| Yards/Pass Attempt | 6.96 | 5.38 |
| Rushes | 34 | 25 |
| Rushing Success | 44.4% | 33.3% |
| 10+ Yds Rushes | 2 | 3 |
| 20+ Yds Passes | 3 | 2 |
| Defense Stuff Rate | 24.0% | 21.2% |
This was not a pretty game at all. The Irish defense largely kept Purdue in check but that Notre Dame offense continues to sputter, give up sacks at inopportune times, and can’t put the ball in the end zone enough. Still, it’s a 3-0 start with GameDay coming to Chicago for next weekend’s matchup with Wisconsin and plenty to work on.
Offense
QB: B-
RB: B+
TE: D
OL: C- (slight grade curve)
WR: D+
I was initially not real excited about Jack Coan’s performance but on a re-watch I thought it was a lot better overall. He overshot a couple throws and continues to be stuck in mud in the pocket when facing pressure but I sometimes have to look past his fault’s because so much is on him to move the offense every single snap. The play-calling didn’t seem to work to the strength’s of the offense enough and there were a few brutal drops in this game, including an absolute 3rd down touchdown dime dropped by Braden Lenzy in the end zone.
If not for Avery Davis, this might have been a straight up loss for Notre Dame. The senior captain caught every target for 120 yards and a touchdown while the other receivers were all but invisible. Lenzy’s 3 catches were the only other receptions from the receivers with the speedster totaling a grand total of 1 yards after catch. Kevin Austin had a super rough day with 0 catches on 8 targets, a stat line that seems impossible given his talent level.
Purdue even bracketed Michael Mayer (1 catch for 5 yards) really well before the tight end got banged up, although he did return to the action later.
It’s just such a damn slog trying to get things going on offense right now. When runs are successful they are only marginally so and the Irish have to work so hard just get a 1st down sometimes. Every drive feels like it’s Coan trying to complete something on 3rd & 7 and judging by the conversion rate so far this season (slumping down to 37.5% after this game) this isn’t a strategy to keep winning.
It’s even more frustrating when this season is just screaming to us all that most games will be close. Thank goodness for some big plays today against Purdue. The 4 biggest Irish plays accounted for 172 yards (and all 3 touchdowns) but the other 59 non-kneel down plays from scrimmage averaged an abysmal 2.94 yards per play.
Rushing Success
Williams – 6 of 12 (50.0%)
Tyree – 4 of 11 (36.3%)
Coan – 0 of 1 (0.0%)
Buchner – 2 of 3 (66.6%)
You’ll notice I graded the offensive line on a curve this week and given what we saw in the first 2 games I actually thought they did some nice things. Purdue was able to get 4 sacks with a couple really poor efforts from the line but the Boilermakers only totaled an additional 3 tackles for loss while the Notre Dame rushing success rate was at least a step in the right direction. We always say how terrible the stat keeping is on this but Purdue was officially only credited with 1 quarterback hurry. This line is going to have a handful of laughers every game it seems, however, the Boilermakers weren’t nearly as disruptive up front as predicted.
Not great from Lugg, but Coan has to escape the pocket instead of getting tackled into by his own man.
The game was also iced with a 51-yard Kyren Williams touchdown run which felt like old times, so progress perhaps?
With marginal improvement from the offensive line it’ll be key to get more than 1 receiver going at a time during these games. The Irish continue to put so much on tailbacks Kyren and Tyree (6 combined catches for 77 yards) so let’s hope the #1 receiver doesn’t lay a goose egg again.
Defense
For sure, Marcus Freeman has to be happy with this performance against Purdue–the first in his Irish career that was thoroughly impressive. They were up against an extremely quick-passing offense trying to dink and dunk their way down the field and still managed a solid 24% stuff rate.
Purdue completed a ton of passes (36!!) and even out-gained Notre Dame (that’s more of an indictment on the Notre Dame offense) but the Irish tackled really well in space and limited the damage while getting it done on 3rd down and also intercepting the Boilermakers twice.
Pretty much any time Purdue’s quarterback held the ball more than 2 seconds he was under pressure (the bad stat keeping had the Irish with 8 hurries officially) and the general set up of their offense meant some stats for the Irish weren’t going to be all that impressive. Still, Purdue completed a lot of 6-yard or 7-yard passes that didn’t result in much and they only scored 1 touchdown.
DL: B+
LB: B+
DB: B-
I originally had the defensive back grade lower at C+ but decided to increase it. It seemed like Freeman was playing a much less aggressive set up (there was little press coverage) giving Purdue receivers a lot of space at the line of scrimmage. That automatically meant the defensive backs weren’t going to be asked to do a ton with the ball in the air. There were definitely some plays to be made and that catch from David Bell (hope he’s okay from that nasty injury) with Cam Hart throwing his hands up wasn’t great!
Looks like we have to update the Cornerback’s Creed article.
Hart would make up for it late with his play on the ball leading to the game-sealing interception. Yet, through 3 games this really is the Kyle Hamilton Show in the secondary with some minor supporting cast members helping out. If the defensive back group can minimize the mistakes and tackle well I think we’ll start to see a consistently strong overall defense able to keep Notre Dame in every game.
Stuffs vs. Purdue
Bertrand – 3
Hamilton – 2.5
Hinish – 2.5
MTA – 2
Ademilola, Jus – 2
Foskey – 1.5
Hinish – 1.5
Ademilola, Jay – 1
White – 1
NaNa – 1
Pryor – 0.5
Brown – 0.5
Kiser – 0.5
There is no doubt that Notre Dame’s front 7 dominated this game. Purdue finished with 57 rushing yards with a long run of 31 yards. They didn’t put the ball on the ground very often but when they did it didn’t amount to much.
Overall, I was just impressed with the tackling by the entire team and the job bottling up Bell through the air. Prior to the Purdue wideout’s injury he’d caught 7 passes for 64 yards on 10 targets. I don’t think Jeff Brohm & Company will win many games when their best offensive weapon is that limited.
Final Thoughts
This team makes me pretty grumpy, I’m not going to lie. I spent the majority of this game with a nonplussed look on my face not so much waiting for something bad to happen but rather disappointed with the inability to put the game to bed much earlier. This does not look like a very strong Notre Dame team at all, yet when you look around at the rest of the country there’s still hope to win a bunch of games.
That said, I don’t know how to really process wins right now for the Irish when they aren’t visibly operating at a high level, especially offensively. It’s conceivable they get to 12-0 and it not be impressive. That’s so weird, but so is college football! I wonder how veterans like Kurt Hinish and others who have been around a long time and know where the bar is set down in Tuscaloosa perceive this process and stay motivated.
Imagine seeing this graphic in September 2010 but you didn’t know the year it was created. https://t.co/IKgeGHSaxj
— 18 Stripes (@18stripes) September 18, 2021
Tosh Baker looks like the biggest lineman to ever play for Notre Dame. I don’t think he actually gets that award but that’s a huge young kid. You have to give him credit, he hung in there today.
Jordan Botelho finally got to dress for his first game of the season on Saturday but was limited to special teams work. I guess we’ll have to wait to see him get integrated into the pass rush later in the season.
How about NaNa Osafo-Mensah picking up a big sack?
Rylie Mills had a sack against Florida State but has now gone 2 straight games without making it on to the scoresheet. The hype that came in about him late in camp makes me wonder if he’s dealing with an injury right now?
I’m pretty sure this wasn’t used last week on the Peacock streaming but did anyone else notice this super aggressive Notre Dame colored “NBC” graphic they flashed in between video cuts about 4,000 times against Purdue?
*bright flash*
I joked on Twitter how weird it is that Notre Dame has a decades-long fetish for not having a booth for home games that appears biased but now we have all of these alums dominating the halftime coverage. Do we really need Tim Brown’s vanilla thoughts on the 2021 team? I don’t know, something about it bugs me when someone talented and experienced like Kathryn Tappen is being pushed aside on the coverage for young Irish alums with famous fathers.
I’m guessing we won’t see too many complaints about the attendance from this game, eh?
Did you know: J.D. Bertrand is on pace for 151 tackles which would set the Kelly-era record quite comfortably while also being the 6th-most all-time for a single season and essentially the most in the modern era for the Irish? With 4.5 tackles for loss already, he’s legitimately an All-American candidate with his resume to date.
The biggest defensive gripe of the game was allowing the 75-yard touchdown drive immediately after the Avery Davis touchdown. Notre Dame had just answered a field goal drive from Purdue and I thought this was a turning point possibility given how well the defense was playing up to this point. This was the drive where corner Clarence Lewis missed a tackle at the line of scrimmage and Purdue running back Doerue beat Houston Griffith to the edge for a 31-yard gain. This was immediately followed up by the 32-yard circus catch by David Bell on the interfering Cam Hart.
I don’t understand Purdue having black and white helmets in their bag, wearing all-white uniforms, then deciding to wear gold helmets in a game against Notre Dame.
Notre Dame’s top 2 Rovers combined for 13 tackles and 1 stuff. They’ve been mostly invisible this season but this Purdue offense is built for them to make a lot of tackles in space, at least. I also originally thought the late Hamilton interception was off a Bertrand pass break-up but that was a great play by Jack Kiser in coverage.
The two plays that frustrated me most were:
The lenzy drop, jeepers creepers just can’t do that brotato!
The 2nd(?) Quarter rpo: outside zone left and they threw the bubble back right to austin who dropped it. The OLB that side committed to the run, the corner got blocked, and the safety was at 15 yards, I’ll take that setup every time! But alas, austin dropped it. Granted, there were some overthrows, and even that pass wasnt perfect, but if you’re the guy at WR, your job is to make QBs look good.
I felt like Rees was scheming up some stuff especially concepts like that, and there was massive potential for a big play, but you have to catch the thing! I also noticed quick shifts into 5 wide, which i think set up the first TD to kyren.
It felt like Rees is doing his damndest to create good looks, and these WRs need to show out!
Would anyone’s perception be different if lenzy catches the TD and doer doesnt hook that 45 yarder to michigan city? 37-13 looks much more palatable than 27-13, but does it really change the team narrative?
I don’t think it would have changed any perception thus far particularly against this competition. UC and Wisconsin are where I start to judge how good we actually are
It would change the perception I think with the extra scores because the reality is we are pretty talented but make a bunch of “correctable” mistakes. If they get corrected we’ll be a pretty good team, if not, we’re “meh.” So those few plays are the difference.
HI from Paree, where the politics vis-a-vis the US just got tenser again, keeping me from missing the game, so I had to catch up with extended highlights and 18S, merci.
First, (as one whose first childhood memory is scoring on a goal-line end around vs Purdue and my Dad saying, “and OK at least they stopped banging that damn drum” — and having to live through the era when Purdue was a damn tough out) I personally am happy with the win.
That said, yep, plenty of frustration with the O, but how else will it be with the O-line as such a work in progress? Honestly, Coan’s timing improving even marginally in the second half is a tiny good sign, don’t we think?
Finally — is anyone else concerned about Doerer? That miss was awful, and the second made FG didn’t look much better? With all these close games likely…
Kickers are weird but even for them, Doerer is unpredictable. He had a couple 40+ at FSU that were perfect and beautiful, including the game winner. Then that one yesterday was atrocious. I never know what to expect for him, he’s capable or making just about any of them, but is prone to long funks as well. Hopefully this isn’t the start of one.
Such were my inklings, Hook. It seems that the walkon is one of the old fashioned kind, so less range but more accurate. Wonder if there could be a kicker controversy at some point?
I could be wrong, but it seems like they’ve never really strongly considered benching Doerer. I think with his talent being very high they have been committed to letting him work through his struggles. I’m sure at some point if he was missing too many they have to try the other guy, but (just my read on the situation), I don’t think the coaches really have that on the radar or been too interested yet in making a switch.
I am actually sure you’re right. For now. But with as Eric says a whole season of close games staring us in the face, field goals can become very big, and if we lose a game or two with those issues implicated, I think BK might get nervous.
Needless to say, I devoutly hope this does not come to pass!
Hey Noise, how did the politics vis a vis the US screw things up for you? I avoid the news here as much as possible, so I only get stuff by osmosis. Can’t stand hearing any of it.
I remember those Purdue teams when we were in school. Tough outs indeed. Remember the Golden Girls? As an all male school at the time, guys tongues were hanging out. Pretty mundane stuff these days.
I hope things clear up for you buddy.
Don’t know what Noise’s involvement is, but France is mad at us (most recently) because we are selling/giving? submarines to Australia, which caused Australia to cancel a ~$60b contract with France for submarines.
Ahh, thanks, I didn’t know that.
Well, France, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
Hi, Kiwi,
Just saw this. Thanks — as Gen Powell told me when he sent me over here, it’s always a roller coaster with the French; and always a little on both sides. Just gotta keep plugging.
Yes, oh my — the Golden Girls!! I remember the first time they showed up, gray skies, then down on the field, it was like the sunlight came out around them. And the students just went… bat shit (as the saying goes).
Thanks for the memory reminder, man!
This is part of what’s so frustrating about this team so far – with everyone else around the country struggling this season there’s a golden opportunity for some real post-season glory, if only we could grab it.
Exactly. If we had last year’s team, we would have a pretty high percentage to go 12-0 against this schedule.
It’s growing increasingly frustrating how Notre Dame keeps coming up with its best teams the years that there are death machine squads in the way (2012 Alabama, 2018 Clemson, 2020 Alabama) and every time there’s an opening – 2015 and what looks like 2021 especially come to mind – we aren’t quite good enough to sneak in there.
Good point about the previous times this has happened.
indeed. if we think about semi-historic teams / death machines in the BK era, is this about right?
2010 Auburn – No
2011 Bama – lean Yes? Only loss to LSU avenged definitively in BCS rematch
2012 Bama – Yes
2013 FSU – I think this is a Yes too? had some incredibly historic point margins
2014 Ohio State – No
2015 Alabama – No
2016 Clemson – No
2017 Alabama – No
2018 Clemson – Yes
2019 LSU – Yes
2020 Bama -Yes
if that’s close, it’s kind of a 50/50 proposition
50/50 over that time period but really it was just 2 in 8 years and then an absolute unprecedented run of 3 years in a row from a different school.
I thought I read on PFF that experience at the QB position is a huge indicator for success (despite the outlier talented freshmen/redshirt freshmen that play well once in a while) so it makes sense that we would peak with Book in his last year.
Unfortunately that may mean two more years before we may peak again with Buchner as a junior or (3 years) as a senior. Let’s hope we can surround the next experienced QB with this kind of talent we have now.
I would also add that when we don’t make the playoffs, we’ve had this lovely pattern of beating opponents in underwhelming bowls or getting paired against death machine squads that somehow also missed the playoff (see 2016 as a recent example). This pattern partially explains our lack of a big bowl win in…a long time.
The fact that Ohio State, which most metrics think was the best team in the country in 2015, just happened to miss the playoff to be across from us in the Fiesta Bowl while Stanford got to eviscerate the marshmallow-soft Iowa team we should’ve gotten to play will never not rankle.
Missed the third quarter due to wedding stuff but I do think we looked improved, tackling especially.
I think Rees just needs to be ruthlessly pragmatic with the offense. Anything that gets the ball out in fewer than 2 seconds should be prioritized – that way the OL just has to fall backwards slowly. We can be ugly but effective enough, especially if the defense continues to play like this.
Mostly I’m just glad Purdue got to haul their stupid drum halfway across Indiana for no reason.
What I want to know is how you only missed the 3rd qtr for a wedding?
Was it your wedding? I have a few questions too.
Lolz, no. My partner’s sister’s wedding. First quarter at the hotel, second and fourth on the shuttle buses that were stuck in NYC traffic.
The band at the reception kicked every single ass.
I missed the first half as I took the kids to tumbling. Have to say it was the most enjoyable half of Nd football for me this year. This team just isn’t fun. Any talk of 12-0 is absurd. I’m hopeful they can find a way to go 3-2 over the next 5.
The tough part is they are just in between, especially on offense. They have no identity and it doesn’t feel like they’re an offense that could get better as the season go alongs.
Have any BK teams gotten appreciably better over the course of a season? I would argue 2010 and 2012 but that’s it. 2019 didn’t get better the competition just got much worse. Just not sure there a path to this team ever being fun. Honesty feels a lot like 2013
2018 definitely got better after the switch to Book. I’d say 2017 did too; they were playing some dominant football in October. Of course they regressed in November when opponents figured out Wimbush’s limitations as a passer.
As I said last week, this team does play a form of complementary football, but it’s really, really ugly. We would get paved by an actually good team to the tune of 38-3, I think. The good news is we may not face any of those.
Agree, although both those teams seemed to peak late September to October but they were definitely better after the first couple games.
This team feels really similar to 2018 through 3 games with pretty similar games 4-6 stretch. Unfortunately don’t think there is a 2021 version of wimbush to book upgrade
I think with a new D coordinator and an inexperienced OL there is much more room for improvement than other years.
Question for the group: if you set the o/u for losses in the next 5 games at 2 and had to bet for something meaningful, which side do you take?
Is the o/u 2.5 or 1.5? At 2.5, I’m for sure on the under, but 1.5, my homerism makes me want to bet the under. with significant financial skin in the game however, I’d bet the over.
Put simply, I think realistically they lose 2 with yesterday’s club.
The eternal optimist in me will forever feel the coaches can sort it out, the defense gels with Freeman’s style, and the oline reaches hive mind karma. Off to find a 4 leaf clover!
Not really the question but as a fan of you gave me guaranteed 3-2 or whatever the outcome I’d take guaranteed 3-2. Which I guess is my way of saying I’d take over 1.5
If it’s 2.5, it’s easy to bet the under. If it’s 1.5, it’s equally easy to bet the over. So I think 2 is the fair line. I’d say we’re very likely to lose two, but I think we’re marginally likelier to lose 3+ than 1 or 0, so I guess I’d take the over on a line at 2.
Are there o/u’s set at whole numbers? I honestly dont know, but the way you explain it, that does make the bet much more challenging for sure.
It took me damn near 30 years to figure out point spreads, like “wait team x won, but that’s still a losing bet, what do you mean cover the spread; the other team doesnt even run a spread offense???”
Ha! Yes, o/u’s are set at even numbers – you just push (i.e., get your money back) if the exact number hits.
I think the under is the best bet but it is like 55%. Every game is just a few plays away from losing though so I would not feel confident about ANY bet.
Yeah, it’s incredibly variable. The Cincy offense was at 4.6 yards/play yesterday against IU. UNC’s defense basically doesn’t exist and VaTech will fluctuate from decent to terrible. I really don’t think the schedule is ~*that*~ daunting, though it is five teams who feasibly could beat Notre Dame.
I think really you just have to take it a game at a time. Wisconsin isn’t exactly world beaters so far either, and there’s more pressure in the Coan/Mertz battle for the other team, given situation. If ND can win (possibly a big if) that could really vault them into winning through the bye week. IMO Freeman knowing Fickell and Cincy offense not really impressing all that much makes them much less of a boogeyman team. We’ll see soon enough, I guess.
Yeah Merz has been pretty mediocre. In Coan we definitely got the better of those two. It’s a mystery where we are vs Wiscy and Cinci. I have no idea how this team will play each week.
FSU just lost its first three since I think Bowden’s first year. The coaching change to Norvell sure hasn’t turned out well. Weird that we had to win in overtime.
After Wisky’s first game last year (and seeing Mertz be the best player in the High School All-America game), I was certain that Mertz was going to be one of the best QBs in the country. Nope!
Very balanced write up Eric. Well done.
Bertrand looks like the real deal, motor always running and very effectively. Our wide receivers, not so much. I need to see Austen, Lenzy, Wilkins et al prove they’re as good as most on this board think.
Avery Davis had a great game, but he’s also capable of disappearing for whole games at a time.
Hamilton will be a first round pick IMO. He’s the real deal. It’s a shame he’ll be gone after this year. Wish this years team were better to not waste his talent in a meh year.
Brohm started the wrong QB IMO. Plummer had little pocket presence and is a weak D1 QB. O’Conner (?) looked like the stronger choice.
Speaking of QBs, I’d play Buchner more. I’m becoming impressed with him.
lastly, check out the Fresno State UCLA highlights. Both QBs were very good, especially Fresno State’s. Very wild finish and an exciting game.
Buchner definitely brings a change of pace with his running ability, but it doesn’t seem he sees things at the line or during the play as well as he needs to. For example yesterday he missed one DB lined up over two WRs and handed off instead. I believe Brees even called attention to it.
Did anyone else just notice that in the picture of the big drum at the top of this article, a guy’s feet are sticking out from the cover?
I believe I read that Purdue’s plan was to cut out arm holes and a face hole in the cover and have that guy just casually walk in.
Also, those are some dumb-ass helmets they’re wearing.
Here at the Purdue Drum Corps, we are happy to be your safety school in case you don’t make it into TAMU Corps of Cadets
I noticed several times in the 1st quarter where it seemed that the ball would be snapped and there would be a noticeable delay before the OL would fire off in run blocking. Maybe it was just me…But, if that is happening it is no wonder that we can’t get any push.
Still shocked that Buchner didn’t play more. Heard that Kelly said he had a tight hamstring and that’s why he didn’t come back in after halftime.
My guess is Kelly wanted to save Buchner for wisc/cinci, etc. and so just played it especially cautious. Hamstrings are the kind of things that can linger if not taken serious right away. Plus if Buchner is limited in his running, he’s not going to be very effective.
Actually, I think it’s Cardinal who says the team isn’t much fun… for me, I gotta say, the highlights are fun, this week’s ICON as well, and Avery Davis and Kyren Williams post-game pressers are each a LOT of fun.