The Notre Dame football team ran their record to 3-0 on the young season, and these three things were surprises in the victory against Purdue Saturday.
The Notre Dame football team needed a big victory at home to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive, and while it was touch-and-go at times, they were able to do so against Purdue. In the end, the Irish proved to be the better team on both sides of the ball, got Kyren Williams going in the run game, and eventually proved to be too much for the Boilermakers.
As we turn our attention to the Wisconsin game inside Soldier Field, let us take a final look back at the 27-13 victory Saturday, and three surprising things.
Notre Dame Football vs. Purdue: 3 Surprises from the Week 3 victory
JD Bertrand continues to dominate at linebacker
When Marist Liufau went down with a season-ending injury, the starting WILL linebacker spot was handed to JD Bertrand, who could have won the job even with the injury. Since taking over, Bertrand has been an absolute monster for this Notre Dame defense, and at this point, his performances are going to start being no surprise.
After racking up double-digit tackles in wins against Florida State and Toledo, Bertrand was once again in the middle of it all against Purdue, leading the Irish with 12 tackles. Five of those were solo jobs, and at this point, he already has 35 tackles on the season and is on a pace to collect well over 100 for the year.
Notre Dame Football vs. Purdue: 3 Surprises from the Week 3 victory
Jack Coan struggles with his accuracy
Jack Coan has remained the Irish starting quarterback, this after he has been up and down for most of the season. While Notre Dame football has worked in Tyler Buchner from time to time, there is no doubt that this is Coan’s team, and after a strong effort against Florida State in the opener, setting the program record for passing yards in a season opener, he has been wildly inconsistent since.
One area where Coan was supposed to be solid in terms of the passing attack was his accuracy, something that was on display in the first game against the Seminoles. However, he looked shaky against Toledo, and on Saturday against the Boilermakers, his accuracy became a real issue, especially on the deep balls.
There were plenty of occasions where the wide receiver got separation, and Coan would overthrow them, ruining some big-play opportunities called by offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. Entering games against top teams in the coming weeks, that cannot be the issue, especially if the Irish continue to struggle to try to get the ground game going.
Notre Dame Football vs. Purdue: 3 Surprises from the Week 3 victory
People continue to test Kyle Hamilton
Going into the 2021 college football season, the Notre Dame football team had a bunch of question marks, but Kyle Hamilton certainly was not one of them. Regarded as one of the top defensive players in the country, Hamilton is out to put an exclamation point on his college career this season, and he has been out of this world to start.
After nabbing two interceptions against Florida State in the opener, Hamilton was once again dominant against Toledo in Week 2. Against Purdue, he was all over the field for the Irish, making huge stops behind the line of scrimmage, and also collecting his third interception of the season.
At this point, it is amazing that people even throw in his general direction.
Notre Dame football: 4 most underrated Irish players in 2021
The Notre Dame football team is ranked No. 9 overall in the first AP Poll, but some of the players on this team are underrated, and we look at four.
In all fairness, Hamilton is a player who is almost impossible to game plan against, and he is more likely to make a big play in a game than he is not. He is on his way to being a top-5 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, and for Irish fans, seeing him make huge plays weekly is sadly coming to an end.