Notre Dame Football vs. Purdue: 3 Studs and 3 Duds from Week 3

Notre Dame Football vs. Purdue: 3 Studs and 3 Duds from Week 3

1st Stud: Kyle Hamilton

Is there anyone in the country like Kyle Hamilton? The short answer is no. Hamilton truly is a unicorn.

The All-American safety broke up multiple passes and made a key interception against Purdue. He was also all over the ball, with 10 tackles on the game. This included stopping a jet sweep on fourth down to take the momentum from the Boilermakers early in the game.

Hamilton even got in on the action on special teams, downing a punt on the half-inch line. There isn’t anything that he can’t do at the highest level on the football field. Enjoy watching him play in a Notre Dame jersey while you still can.

1st Dud: The Offensive Line

Unfortunately, we have to talk about the offensive line again. Four more sacks allowed means that they’re up to 14 allowed on the season. The pocket was collapsing all night on Jack Coan, who never got comfortable and suffered from this throughout the game. They also struggled to let the running game get going, and it wouldn’t be until the end of the game when the Irish could get anything going on the ground.

As much as you can pick out individual players for this struggle, that’s not right. An offensive line is a unit. They succeed as a unit and they fail as a unit. So, they need to fix things as a unit. This isn’t the standard Notre Dame is used to, and at this point, I don’t ever remember a worse offensive line at Notre Dame. It’s inexcusable.