Notre Dame Hangs 35 on Purdue Before Halftime
Thirty-five to nothing at the half. That is the whole story, and everything after it was garbage time that Notre Dame was polite enough to let Purdue share in. The final was 49-10, with the second half already a formality by the time it started.
CJ Carr started it with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Micah Gilbert with 4:09 left in the first quarter. In the second, Aneyas Williams ran 22 yards for a score, Carr sneaked in from a yard out, Drayk Bowen recovered a fumble in the end zone (15 yards, and a free seven points for the visitors), and Carr hit Nolan James Jr. from three yards with 29 seconds left in the half. Five touchdowns, four of them in the second quarter, and the margin was 35.
Purdue did not get on the board until Jacobo Echeverria Lozano kicked a 47-yard field goal with 4:10 left in the third. Carr threw one more touchdown to Cooper Flanagan from two yards early in the fourth, Noah Grubbs found Matt Jeffery from four yards with 4:05 to go, and Evans Chuba hit Bisi Owens from 14 yards with six seconds left for Purdue's only touchdown.
The team numbers explain the rest. Notre Dame outgained Purdue 446 yards to 218 and sacked Purdue six times without allowing a sack of its own. Purdue ran 31 times for 40 yards (1.3 a carry) and lost a fumble. The Irish threw an interception and it did not matter at all.
Notre Dame moves to 4-0. Purdue falls to 1-3. For fantasy managers, this was a Carr afternoon: three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, which is the kind of game that wins weeks.