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Notre Dame's Game vs Purdue Holds MASSIVE SECRET Nobody Realizes! | Fighting Irish | Marcus Freeman · College Football Addiction: A Show About All Things College Football

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Notre Dame is 3-0. They're ranked third in the country.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: They haven't turned the ball over one time this season.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: They've won 13 straight games by double digits, which, by
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: the way, is something no head coach in the history
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: of Notre Dame football has ever done until Marcus Freeman
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: did it last Saturday night. And somehow, the mood coming
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: out of the Michigan State game was not celebration. It
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: was unfinished business. My name is TJ Pittenger. This is
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: College Football Addiction, and we are presented by PrizePix. Notre
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Dame beat Michigan State 27-10, and by Monday, the head
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: coach was talking about the game he felt his team
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: should have put away.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: A lot earlier.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: It tells you something about where this program is right now.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: A 17-point win over a Big Ten team is not
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: the bar anymore. The bar is control. The bar to
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Marcus Freeman is separation. The bar is making the other
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: sidelines stop believing by halftime. And this Saturday in West Lafayette, Indiana,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Notre Dame gets the perfect opportunity to show everyone what
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: that looks like. Or they get the perfect opportunity to
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: sleepwalk through a trap game in the one month that
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: has been manufactured to keep that from happening more than
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: any other. So which one is it going to be?
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Let's start with last Saturday because I don't think we
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: can talk about this game coming up tomorrow without understanding
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: why Notre Dame fans walked out of the stadium feeling
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: a little unsatisfied with a win.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: On paper, it was dominant.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Notre Dame outgained Michigan State by over 200 yards. They
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: held the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game. They
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: won the turnover battle by multiple turnovers. Micah Gilbert went
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: off for 170 receiving yards on eight catches, the most
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: by a Notre Dame wide receiver, I believe, since 2017.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Nolan James Jr.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Carried it 26 times for 121 yards in his score.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: C.J.
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  Speaker 1: Carr completed 18 of 24 passes. It is a box
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: score that should produce a blowout, but it didn't. Notre
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Dame went just four of 12 on third down. The
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: run game didn't really get going until the coaching staff
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: adjusted during the game, which Freeman acknowledged afterward. And right
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: after Notre Dame went up 17-3 in the second quarter,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: Michigan State answered with a three-play 68-yard touchdown drive capped
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: by a touchdown run, and suddenly it was a one-score
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: game going into the half, 17-10, in a game where
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Notre Dame was favored by four touchdowns. Now the Irish's
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: defense shut the door the rest of the way. Michigan
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: State did not score again. Notre Dame's defense was everything
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: it had been all season long, but the offense only
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: managed as 10 points in the second half against a
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: team that it had physically outclassed.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: And then there was the Aeneas Williams moment.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Williams scored on a one-yard run and then picked up
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the celebration, and Freeman's reaction
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: on the sideline was visible to anyone watching.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: To Freeman's credit, he owned it this week.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: He said he wasn't happy with how he reacted, that
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: he apologized to Williams and that he wants his players
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: to celebrate, just not in a way that costs his team.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: That is a coach that's modeling accountability that he's asking
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: his players for. But it's also a snapshot of a
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: team that isn't quite playing as clean as they need
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: to just yet. And the depth chart told the rest
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: of the story. For the first time this season, Nolan
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: James Jr. is listed as co-starter with Williams at running back.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Notre Dame almost never moves its depth chart during the
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: season unless somebody gets hurt.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: But this wasn't an injury. It was a message.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: So here's the question for Saturday. What does it actually
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: look like for Notre Dame to flex? Because beating Purdue
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: is not the story. Notre Dame has beaten Penn State
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: several times in a row. Freeman is undefeated against the Boilermakers.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: And those two games finished as lopsided laughers. The line
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: this week sits somewhere around four touchdowns. Nobody expects for
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: anything less than a Notre Dame win. The question that
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: we have is how. And to answer that, you have
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: to be honest about what Purdue does well, because this
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: is not the same Purdue team that I think Notre
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Dame embarrassed a couple of years ago. Before I talk
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: about that, I'll give some love to our friends over
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: at PrizePix. This might tell you a little bit how
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: I'm leaning in this game, but I like the great
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: house line to get more than 1.5 receptions. I like
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Brown's passing for Purdue to be less than 275.5 yards.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Use the PrizePick app. Use our code HMA. If you're
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: a new user and you win your first $ 5 lineup,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: you get $ 150 in lineups instantly. We appreciate PrizePicks for
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: their support. Again, that code is HMA. We'll start with
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: that quarterback that I just gave a pick for. Brown
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: is putting up legitimately good numbers. Through three games, he's
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: over 1,000 yards. He's got seven touchdowns and just one pick.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: He's gone over 300 yards in every single game this season.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Against Wake Forest, he set a career high with 329
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: passing yards. He had 32 completions. He spread the ball
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: out to nine different receivers. Purdue actually outgained Wake in
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: that game before losing in double overtime. Asad Wasim has
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: become his go-to target. He's got 20 catches for 321
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: yards already. Purdue ranks among the very best passing offenses
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: in the entire country. And here's the part Notre Dame's
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: fans should not gloss over. Notre Dame hasn't seen anything
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: like this yet. Notre Dame did not see a Wisconsin
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: team that can throw it like this. Rice certainly didn't.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Michigan State threw it 18 times all night. Purdue is
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: going to drop back and let it fly over and
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: over and over again. And it's going to do it
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: against a Notre Dame secondary that's already without safety Bronte
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Johnson and now without Luke Tallick too. Purdue is going
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: to drop back and let it fly over and over again.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: And it's going to do it against a Notre Dame
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: secondary that was without Tay Johnson already. And now without
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Luke Talich as well, two safeties, both out. And that's
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: the real stress point in this matchup. Notre Dame's past
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: defense has been excellent statistically allowing just 135 yards a
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: game through the air. But some of that is simply
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: because nobody has been willing to test it. And I
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: think Brown will, he was 21 of 34 for 250
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: yards against this defense last year. I think he's a
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: better player today than he was last year. So if
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: you're Purdue, that's your path. You throw it 40-plus times,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: you hunt for a couple of explosives, and you try
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: and keep it within striking distance in the fourth quarter.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: How effective will that be? We'll see.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Now, the other side. Because Purdue's defense has been a problem.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: A big one.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Through three games, the Boilermakers are allowing over 500 yards
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: per game. They're giving up more than 275 rushing yards
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: a game. which puts them very near the bottom of
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: the country. They haven't forced a single turnover this year.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: UCLA ran for 369 yards on them last week in
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: a 52-38 loss at the Rose Bowl. Against the two
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: power four teams on the schedule, Purdue has allowed 45
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: points per game, and the heat is starting to land
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: on defensive coordinator Kevin Kane, and by extension on Barry Odom,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: who's in year two after a 2-10 debut season. The
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: context around this makes it even heavier. Purdue came into
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: the Wake Forest game having lost 20 straight games to
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: power four opponents. Wake made it 21. UCLA made it 22. Now,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: here comes the third ranked team in the country. There
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: is no question that Purdue is a more competitive team
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: than it was a year or two ago.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: They've responded to adversity. The offense looks a lot better.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: The Wake Forest loss was a genuine coin flip, and
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: then if you play the transitive property just one point away,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Wake looks pretty good against Miami. However, being competitive isn't
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: the same thing as being ready for this. So let's
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: get a little more specific. Here are three things that
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: I want to see from Notre Dame and see them
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: do on Saturday to turn a win into a statement.
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  Speaker 1: Number one, I want to see yards turned into points.
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  Speaker 1: Let's say that this is the lesson from the Michigan
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: State game. Notre Dame moved the ball at will and
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: only scored 27. Against a Purdue defense that's sitting outside
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: of the top 100 nationally in yards allowed per pass
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: attempt and giving up nearly 280 rushing yards a game,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: the math on this one should look a lot different.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: C.J.
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  Speaker 1: Carr is averaging close to 10 yards every time he
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: throws it. He's been efficient, he's been careful, and he's
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: not turned it over. But last week, the drives didn't
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: always cash in. He threw for 234 yards and didn't
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: have one touchdown through the air. This week, you've got
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: Gilbert emerging as a downfield threat on offense, and Faison
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: and Greathouse around him. Carr should be able to hunt
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: for shots against a secondary that's been getting beat for
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: all of September. To me, though, it starts on the ground.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: If Nolan James runs the way that he did against
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Michigan State, downhill, physical, finishing runs, Purdue simply doesn't have
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: the answers. Now that James has the co-starter tag, watch
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: how the carries split. Watch whether Williams responds after a
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: tough week. Because competition in that room is a good
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: thing for Notre Dame, in my opinion. I think it
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: usually means somebody's about to have.
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  Speaker 2: A big day.
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  Speaker 1: The standard should not be 27 points. It should be
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Notre Dame finding the end zone on almost every single
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: trip near or in the red zone and forcing Purdue
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  Speaker 1: to chase from the very first quarter. Number two, I
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: want to see Ryan Brown uncomfortable early and often. Purdue's
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: offensive line has already given up six sacks in three games.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: It ranks near the bottom of the country in protecting
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: the quarterback. Now think about what Notre Dame's front has
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: been doing. The Irish are allowing less than 60 rushing
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: yards a game. Opponents are averaging around two yards a carry.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: Cam Edwards came in the last Saturday, leading the Big
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Ten in rushing. He left with 38 yards on just
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: 12 carries. And after halftime, Michigan State didn't gain a
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: single rushing yard. Freeman gave a ton of credit this
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: week to Chris Ashe's game plan and to Charlie Partridge's
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: defensive line, saying that that group has done an outstanding
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: job reading protections and taking advantage of what it sees.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Here's the thing, that front hasn't really gotten to play
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: against a true drop-back passing team yet. Nobody's been throwing
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: it enough for guys like Bryce Young and the defensive
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: linemen to really pin their ears back.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: Purdue is about to throw it a lot, and that
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: is an opportunity.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: If Notre Dame can stuff the run on early downs
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: and put Purdue into obvious passing situations, this becomes the
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: first game all year where the Irish pass rush will
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: really get to eat. And if that happens, Brown's 300-yard
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: streak is in serious trouble because you can't throw it
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: downfield if you're on your back. Number three, this one's
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: easy for me. No cheap ones. This is the one
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: area where I think Purdue can make this game feel
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: a lot closer than it really is. The Notre Dame
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: past defense has been stingy, but it's shown some tendencies
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: to give up an explosive here and there. And Brown
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: will make a living on those with a couple of
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: safeties out. The back end is thinner than Notre Dame
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: wants it to be. Next up on the depth chart
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: is freshman Joey O'Brien, and Purdue will absolutely go hunting
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: for him. This is where All-American corner Leonard Moore matters
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: a lot. Moore has only been targeted six times all season.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: Six.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: Opponents have completed two of those throws for a whopping
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: 16 yards.
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  Speaker 2: Quarterbacks have basically stopped looking at him. Brown probably will, too.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Which means DJ McKinney, Christian Gray, Aiden Shuler, and whoever
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: fills Talish's spot is going to see a lot of footballs.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: If they tackle well, if they keep everything in front
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: of them, Purdue has to go 75 yards and 12
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: plays every single time. And this Purdue team is not
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: built to do that repeatedly against this great defense. You
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: give up a couple of shots over the top, now
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: it's 28-17 in the third quarter, and everybody's still talking
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: about Notre Dame September issues all over again. And that
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: brings us to the thing lurking underneath this whole game, September.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Marcus Freeman has never had an undefeated September as Notre
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Dame's head coach. This weekend is his chance to finally
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: do it. And everybody remembers the Northern Illinois game, the
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: kind of loss that hangs around a program for years.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: That's why Notre Dame went into this season on a mission.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: The way they ended, getting left out of the playoff
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: and skipping the postseason entirely, made sure that nobody was
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: overlooking Wisconsin at Lambeau. Nobody was overlooking Rice, not with
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: the memory of Northern Illinois still hanging around. Nobody was
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: overlooking the megaphone trophy in a primetime rivalry game at home.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: But this week, it's a 2 p.m. kickoff on Peacock.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: It's on the road.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: It's against a team that Notre Dame has handled easily
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: the last few years. And next week, Bill Belichick and
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: North Carolina are waiting. That's the textbook trap spot, which
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: is exactly why I think a flex matters here. Because
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: great teams don't just avoid the trap. They make the
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: trap look silly. There's one more layer to this, and
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: I think it's a fun one. Marcus Freeman knows this building.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Before Cincinnati, before Notre Dame, Freeman spent four seasons at
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: Purdue coaching linebackers and eventually serving as co-defensive coordinator in 2016.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: He's walked those sidelines.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: He knows what that stadium sounds like if the home
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: team gets rolling a little bit early. He knows what
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: it sounds like when it doesn't. And don't underestimate the
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: stakes on that other side either. Purdue's trophy case sits
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: pretty empty right now. The Boilermakers hold none of their
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: three trophy games. The last time they beat Notre Dame,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: I think 2007. For Purdue, this is a chance to
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: change the entire conversation around Barry Odom's program in just
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: one afternoon. For Notre Dame, it's a chance to end
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: that conversation before halftime. So what do I expect in
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: this one? I expect Purdue to move the ball some
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: through the air. I think Brown is good. I think
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: that receiver room is productive. I don't necessarily think this
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: is a shutout. But I also expect Notre Dame to
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: look a lot more like the team that beat Rice
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: 52-0 than the team that let Michigan State hang around
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: until the third quarter. I think Notre Dame runs it
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: right at that defense early. I think Nolan James makes
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: the co-starter decision look obvious. I think Gilbert gets another
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: shot or two against the secondary that's been struggling. And
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: I think this is the week that Notre Dame, past Rush,
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: finally gets to show off what it's been hiding. Final prediction,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: give me Notre Dame 45, Purdue 13. Freeman gets his
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: perfect September for the first time, and the streak of
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: double-digit wins reaches 14. Now, I'd like to hear from
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: you guys. Is 45 the right number? Does Notre Dame
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: cross the 50 barrier? Where does Purdue get to from
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: a final point total perspective? Can my prediction of less
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: than 217.5 yards for Brown passing actually survive? For a
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: team with national championship expectations, winning the game is not
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: the question on Saturday. The question is whether or not
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: they will allow Purdue to make this close. Appreciate you
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: guys for watching. Appreciate you guys for being subscribed to
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: College Football Addiction.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: We'll see you next time.