There's no sugarcoating what happened on Saturday afternoon in Ross-Ade Stadium.
The excitement, anticipation and confidence that once filled the Purdue program heading into the rivalry matchup quickly turned into embarrassment once Riley Leonard and the Fighting Irish took the field.
The cause? Notre Dame coming into West Lafayette and out-toughing the Boilermakers for four quarters.
It took just two minutes and change for Notre Dame to begin imposing its will as running back Jeremiyah Love took the handoff, danced around Kydran Jenkins and went 48 yards for a score, getting the Boilermaker onslaught underway. That led to a snowball effect.
"The bottom line is, we got punched in the mouth early, and we didn't recover from it. We didn't handle that type of adversity well," head coach Ryan Walters said following Saturday's 66-7 loss to the Fighting Irish.
That became an unstoppable theme for the Purdue defense, getting gashed time and time again by the Fighting Irish ground attack. An attack that ran the Boilermakers into the ground for all 60 minutes. Ryan Walters and defensive coordinator Kevin Kane spoke to how much Leonard and Love could impact this game leading up to Saturday, but such defensive game planning was seemingly no use between the white lines.
Love was the catalyst for big run after big run for the Fighting Irish, racking up 109 yards and a score on just nine touches. When he needed a blow, Jadarian Price continued the dominance out of the Notre Dame backfield, going for 86 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown run of his own.
While the running back duo had a successful business trip to West Lafayette, it was Riley Leonard whose performance stung most. Leonard had been the focal point of Notre Dame's own embarrassment a week prior, struggling in the upset defeat to Northern Illinois. Much of the discussion over the last weekend revolved around Leonard's play and his inefficiencies throwing the football.
The passing attack wasn't an explosive endeavor for the Fighting Irish, but their quarterback answered the call and was a key cog in turning the tables on the Boilermakers. Leonard torched all three levels of the Purdue defense, rushing for 100 yards and three scores, all of which being highlight-reel worthy.
Ryan Walters' defense has been susceptible to allowing opposing mobile quarterbacks at Purdue, with Garrett Shrader and Tanner Mordecai's performances last season coming to mind. Those issues presented themselves once again with not only Leonard, but backup quarterbacks Steve Angeli and Kenny Minchey, who both had rushing scores in limited playing time as well.
"We didn't do our job today, we didn't execute, we didn't play physically, and we didn't get to the ball. I can speak for us guys up front on defense. And I just know that we're going to bounce back. I know that we're not going to let this carry over into next game," sophomore rush end Will Heldt said.
Notre Dame finished the afternoon with 362 yards, on an 8.2 average, and six touchdowns on the ground. It had been nearly 13 years since a Purdue opponent reached the end zone six times running the ball, with the last coming against Wisconsin in 2011. The yardage total was also the most surrendered by the Boilermakers since 2019, which also happened to be against the Badgers.
Not only that, but Purdue also surrendered what becomes Notre Dame's best game throwing the football this season, which was a topic of conversation as a potential area to attack just days ago. Riley Leonard and Steve Angeli both threw for over 100 yards, while Angeli was on the passing end of Notre Dame's first two receiving touchdowns on the season.
All of that culminated in what could be considered the single worst defensive performance in school history, allowing 578 yards of offense to the Fighting Irish, on top of a now program record 66 points scored by an opponent.
The overall showing and result had Ryan Walters feeling an array of emotions, from anger to disappointment to embarrassment. It was the defensive showing that was a result of Purdue not being disciplined, having poor technique and not playing with physicality that bothered the Boilermaker head coach.
"The lack of physicality, undisciplined eyes, undisciplined technique, missed tackles, you name it. You know, every mistake we made, they capitalized on it. You gotta give them credit. But that type of play here, that style of play, I haven't seen. So I'm frustrated, I'm angry, embarrassed, and I gotta get it fixed. And I will," Walters said.
What was particularly concerning for Purdue, and the root cause of those issues, was the inability to make what seemed to be routine tackles. Especially with the unit's leaders factoring into said shortcomings. The typically sound duo of safety Dillon Thieneman and linebacker Kydran Jenkins weren't the All-Big Ten caliber defenders they have shown themselves to be previously.
Again, Walters pointed to Purdue's physicality, or lack thereof, as a key component as to how the Fighting Irish were able to run all over his defense on Saturday.
"I think the lack of physicality was disappointing. We pride ourselves in being tough and being physical and practicing hard and physical. We did not do that. We got beat up today," Walters said.
The historic defeat was historic for all the wrong reasons, if you're Purdue, but the defensive showing from a defensive-minded head coach is what stings more for Walters and company. A short-term memory could be needed as the Boilermakers get back on the saddle ahead of a trip to Corvallis next Saturday.
