The Notre Dame Fighting Irish improved their season overall to 3-0 with a win over the Purdue Boilermakers in the annual Shamrock Series in Indianapolis. The series, now in it’s sixth edition, was dreamed up by Notre Dame as a clever and very public way to promote the university’s academic and athletic brands in a home game-neutral site combo.
The 30-14 victory over Purdue cemented Notre Dame’s perfect record in the series (the Irish have won every Shamrock game contested, mostly by convincing margins). However, perfection was something lacking as the Irish players trotted to the improvised student section to join their classmates in belting out the school song
Notre Dame-Purdue: Irish Attempt to Sham-‘Rock’ Boilermakers
Playing in “the house that Payton built,” the Irish seemed to shake off those opening jitters seen against Rice and Michigan, being the first to lay down the gauntlet with quarterback Everett Golson’s short strike to wide receiver Will Fuller in Lucas Oil Stadium. I presume any Notre Dame fan would have been even more buoyant after that quick and easy seven points. I, personally, was stratospheric especially after the lingering high from the Michigan shutout a week ago.
Then, I came back down to earth.
This Boilermaker team would not be one to go gently into that good night, answering the Irish touchdown with one of their own as fresh-faced QB Danny Etling connected with 265 lb. running back Brandon Cottom. From that moment, until the second half, the momentum appeared to be moving with Purdue. Etling would throw another touchdown pass, this time to DeAngelo Yancey, to move Purdue past Notre Dame’s 10 points, rewarding themselves as the result of an uncharacteristic Notre Dame fumble in the second quarter. Although the Irish would garner the lead back before the end of the second half, the team had many wondering why these 1-1 Boilermakers were giving the Irish such fits. For all the advantages handed to the Irish a week ago versus the Wolverines, the same could not be said on this night as Purdue hung tight with Notre Dame, even after a handful of penalties, including two costly pass interference calls.
Then, came the second half.
In the final two quarters of this series, the Irish would go on to score 13 unanswered points as they appeared to finally be finding a groove. The ever-mobile Golson, for his part, settled in and continued to stretch his running legs, improvising to outmaneuver a steady Purdue defense. Purdue couldn’t keep up.
I would be remiss by finding the flaws in the Notre Dame’s performance if I didn’t mention a few notable chasms, which likely added to the closeness of the series. Early in the game, safety Max Redfield was ejected for targeting. Another safety, Nicky Baratti, re-injured his shoulder and left the game soon after Redfield exited. In a difficult blow to Golson’s throwing game, standout wide receiver Amir Carlisle was forced off the field with a sprained ligament in his right knee. Cornerback Cole Luke went out with a neck injury and the Irish were still without team co-captain and reliable safety Austin Collinsworth.
With a solid Purdue team and a depleted Notre Dame squad, the playing field was much more level as the Irish continued their second consecutive 3-0 record in three years, a feat not achieved since 1990. ‘We’re still not a finished product by any means, we’re still such a young team,’ Irish Head Coach Brian Kelly lamented. ‘At 3-0 we’re extremely pleased with where we are, but we know we’re nowhere close to where we need to be.’
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