Purdue’s first showcase game of the season was a debacle, as visiting Notre Dame routed the Boilermakers, 66-7, leading 49-0 early in the second half.

Notre Dame amassed nearly 600 yards of offense, more than 350 on the ground, handing Purdue one of its worst loss ever in Ross-Ade Stadium.

PDF: Purdue-Notre Dame statistics (coming soon)

A few quick takeaways …

• Purdue’s defense needed to be as physical and fundamentally solid as possible. Both areas were total malfunctions. The Boilermakers repeatedly botched containment on the edges, springing big runs and putting on the spotlight on shockingly bad open-field tackling, which was only part attributable to Notre Dame’s superior physicality.

Notre Dame is better than Purdue but ran an archaic offensive game to protect Riley Leonard. It made Purdue shed blocks and make tackles and be disciplined and sound, and the Boilermakers coudn’t do any of it.

• Conversely, the offense was completely overwhelmed physically at the line of scrimmage. Purdue couldn’t run and Purdue couldn’t protect. Hudson Card never had a chance, and wound up throw-fumbling a pick-six and almost threw another to open the second half. Purdue got yards and some points in the second half, but all after the Irish led 49-0.

• There’s really nothing else to say. Notre Dame is just better than Purdue and exercised its advantages to the fullest extent. We’ll see what Purdue looks like at Oregon State. These early season games aren’t always enduring reality, as ND just illustrated a week after losing to Northern Illinois at home.

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