Notre Dame Football vs. Purdue: Game preview and prediction for Week 3
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team welcomes Purdue to Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, and here is a preview, and prediction for what could go down.
It took the work of two quarterbacks to do so, but the Notre Dame football team got to 2-0 this past weekend, beating the Toledo Rockets at home. This Saturday, they will once again play inside Notre Dame Stadium, a game that should be a packed house, but their opponent, Purdue, is also coming in with a 2-0 record, and has something to prove.
The big question for Notre Dame football in this one is whether or not the offensive line can give Tyler Buchner or Jack Coan time, and whether or not they can stop the dynamic dup of Jack Plummer and David Bell on offense. Purdue lost starting running back Zander Horvath last week, so going to the air early and often will be the play for them on Saturday.
Luckily for the Irish, they have the best defensive back in American patrolling their secondary in Kyle Hamilton, and he is going to make life tough for Plummer, who has yet to throw an interception this season. Notre Dame football will have to win the battle up front, even with a banged-up offensive line, because Purdue has a tremendous pass rush, led by George Karlaftis.
Notre Dame football moves to 3-0
In the end, I believe that the Irish will do enough to win this game, as I believe they have more talent on both sides of the ball. Bell is going to get his, as he is just too hard to stop for four quarters, but returning to the run game with Williams is going to take a lot of time off of the clock with long, sustainable drives.
The combination of Coan and Buchner is also going to be fun to watch for a second week in a row, as they play so well off of each other. In the end, both are going to end up making plays that help the Irish to a victory, moving to 3-0, and hopefully rising in the latest AP Poll on Sunday.
This may not be the way it was envisioned looking at the schedule to start the season, but the Irish should come out of this undefeated, and ready for a very tough part of their schedule. There will be challenges on Saturday, and Purdue is not going to go away lightly, but in the end, I like the Irish by 13.
Final Score: Notre Dame 30, Purdue 17