Ryan Walters has early memories of Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish emerged as an arch rival to his father's alma mater, the Colorado Buffaloes in the early 1990s, facing off in back-to-back seasons. The second of which saw Colorado clinch its national championship at the Orange Bowl.
Fast forward over 30 years, Walters now gets his first crack at the Fighting Irish as a head coach. The opportunity against not only a top 25 opponent in Ross-Ade Stadium, a trophy game for his Boilermakers, but a chance to secure the first marquee win of his head coaching career is something Walters has been waiting for in West Lafayette.
"To be able to host a ranked Notre Dame team at home in Ross-Ade, in front of the best and loyal fans out there, it's a special moment. I'm excited for it, and our guys are excited for it," Walters said.
"I definitely think there is an element of proving it or earning respect. I'd be lying to you if I didn't say that this game was was circled on my calendar, you know. So we're excited."
The Fighting Irish began the season on a high note, dismantling Texas A&M in College Station to notch what looked to be a College Football Playoff resume booster in week one. Just a week later and Marcus Freeman's group is scratching their heads on the heels of a 16-14 upset loss at the hands of Northern Illinois.
Despite Notre Dame coming off a monumental defeat, and the potential ramifications of such a loss, Walters and the Boilermakers are still anticipating battling an angry group of Fighting Irish that are looking for something to prove on Saturday.
"We're going to err on the side of thinking of an angry football team. Anytime you are top five in the country and lose the home opener, that's gonna leave a bad taste in your mouth. I know Coach Freeman will have those guys fired up and ready to play, so we're fully anticipating their best shot," Walters said.
The Boilermakers have had a week in advance to study up on Marcus Freeman's 18th ranked Fighting Irish, coming off a bye week following the season-opening win over Indiana State.
Walters revealed that Purdue will be able to get deeper into the game plan earlier, after beginning to introduce Notre Dame into practice last week. The returns of the early season bye have already been positive, and he believes that trend will continue in the lead up to Saturday.
"We're glad that we had a bye week to get some guys healthy, to get some extra prep in, and we had a really good practice on Sunday. I'm anticipating having a really good week of practice this week and we'll line it up and go compete on Saturday."
"Get a chance to get your legs back fresh, coming off of fall camp and that first game. So, you're continually improving, that's got to be the goal throughout the course of the year," Walters said.
The extra week of rest also allowed a trio of contributors to get back into a position to play on Saturday, with starting left tackle Corey Stewart, wide receiver Kam Brown and defensive lineman Joe Anderson now set to make their respective season debuts against the Irish. When it comes to Brown in particular, Graham Harrell thinks the UCLA transfer will be a beneficial addition back to the receiving corps.
"A really, really intelligent guy, understands football, does a lot of great things. So getting him healthy will be great for us. He just adds so much experience and a ton of leadership to that room," Harrell said. "He sees things really, like the coaches see them. He tries to help the guys in the room and I think he makes that whole room better."
While the initial timetable for the returns of wide receiver CJ Smith and cornerback Nyland Green were the Notre Dame game, the returns and Purdue debuts of both Georgia transfers will likely be postponed another week, with neither expected to suit up this weekend.
"I wouldn't anticipate them being out there this week. They're close. They're really close," Walters said. "I gotta, like, not watch them work out and rehab, because, it's making me more excited and wanting them to be out there. But they are doing a great job just attacking every day trying to get back healthy. They're chomping at the bit to get out there," Walters said.
Defensive coordinator Kevin Kane and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell also got a head start on breaking down the Notre Dame offense and defense, respectively. The Fighting Irish boast a suffocating pass defense that has allowed less than 150 yards per game through the air, which makes them a tougher challenge for Hudson Card, who is coming off the best game of his career.
"They've been good on defense for a long time and seems to continue that. So it'll be a challenge for us, but the key is going to be just keep doing what we've been preaching all year," Harrell said. "This year will be no different, I'm sure, and we'll have a work cut out for us."
The key for Card and the offense is for the signal caller to continue to being smart with the football and making the correct decisions, which is something Walters believes he's shown with his passing dispersion early in the year.
"The good thing about our offense is the ball can find anybody, just depends on what the defense is presenting and how they're reacting post snap. Hudson does a great job of spreading the ball around and not forcing the issue and taking what the defense gives them," Walters said.
The Notre Dame offense has struggled out of the gates, with the Riley Leonard experiment not going to plan through the first two weeks of the season. Leonard does have a strong run game to lean on, which he also contributes to, as well as running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price.
Kevin Kane named Love specifically that the Boilermakers would have to stop in order to put Notre Dame in a position have to throw the football downfield. That has been a struggle for one of just five FBS teams without a passing touchdown this season.
"I feel like if we can be physical up front, if we can really knock back and squeeze the line of scrimmage and stop the run and make him have to throw the ball and do things down the field with this young offensive line, that's going to be a positive for us. So, just effort and physicality is what we got to stress all week long," Kane said.
Still, despite a slow start to the season, Kane views the Fighting Irish as a team filled with challenges on the offensive side of the ball, which Purdue is looking to conquer on Saturday.
"They have playmakers on the field. I think it's going to be a really great challenge for us defensively, because they create some matchup issues that I think our guys are excited to attack on," Kane said.
