In the annual battle for the Shillelagh Trophy, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish once again came out on top of the Purdue Boilermakers. Notre Dame was coming off of a tough loss vs a super talented Georgia Bulldogs team at home and hoping to rebound, while Purdue has been making noise with an electric offense in the early part of the season. Known for a stout defense, it appeared to be the unstoppable force of the Boilermakers offense vs the immovable object, in the Irish defense.... so something had to give!
Early on, it appeared to be that this might be a shootout and that the Purdue freightrain couldn't be stopped. After ND QB Riley Leonard connected with WR Jaden Greathouse on a 62yd TD, Purdue QB Hudson Card immediately answered the call, as he connected with WR CJ Smith who absolutely "Mossed" ND S Ben Minich in the end zone. But that's where the fireworks ended for the Purdue offense and Notre Dame slammed down the gas and pulled away. QB Leonard dialed up Greathouse again, this time from 18 yds, to give Notre Dame a 14-7 lead. Then it was HB Jeremiyah Love ripping off a 15yd TD to extend the lead to 21-7. Hudson Card looked to get the Boilermakers back into it, but S Xavier Watts had other plans, intercepted Card and returning it 36 yds for the Notre Dame touchdown and extending the lead to 28-7 with just 1:44 to go in the half.
Purdue closed the gap a bit just before half, with Devin Mockobee scoring on a 1yd run with just 37 seconds to go, but then disaster struck. QB Riley Leonard orchestrated a perfect series of passes and found WR Jordan Faison in the end zone with just a few seconds left. But things went from bad to terrible, as Hudson Card dropped back for one last chance to match Leonard, only to find LB Jack Kiser, who picked it off and returned it 39 yards to give the Irish a 28pt halftime lead.
Notre Dame controlled most of the 2nd half, adding a Jeremiyah Love 8yd TD run at the start of the 4th, to extend the lead to 35 and put the Boilermakers away, 49-14.
Coach Reign: "Good game Coach Ttrame. We go fortunate with some big turnovers today. Definitely could have been a mighty shootout. Looking forward to battling for the Shillelagh trophy in years to come! Good luck the rest of the season!"
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