Marcus Freeman Deserves Credit as Notre Dame Bounces Back, Destroys Purdue

Marcus Freeman deserves credit after last week's letdown

Sep 14, 2024; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second quarter at Ross-Ade Stadium. / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

If it was a fight it would have been stopped in an early round.

There are butt-kicking's and then there is what Notre Dame did to Purdue on Saturday.

For 60 minutes Notre Dame imposed its will on Purdue, routing the Boilermakers 66-7 and handing the in-state rival its worst loss in the 137 year history of the program.

Notre Dame did exactly what it needed to do one week after suffering one of the most embarrassing losses in program history.

Marcus Freeman Deserves Credit for Notre Dame's Bounceback

Marcus Freeman was public enemy number-one across Notre Dame football the past week, after suffering a third home upset as a double-digit favorite last week against Northern Illinois, the Irish were flat out dominant a week later.

How little trust did Notre Dame and Freeman have after last week's loss?

Notre Dame was a 16-17 point favorite against Purdue according to most online sites before losing to Northern Illinois. By kickoff Saturday the point spread went all the way down to Notre Dame being favored by just seven.

Heck, Pat McAfee even picked Purdue to upset the Irish on College GameDay, Saturday morning.

IRISH WIN#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/Vl0FWA4287

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 14, 2024

Notre Dame looked the part of a team that was ranked nationally in the top-five just a week ago.

Both the offensive and defensive lines dominated in a way that isn't often seen against a Power Four opponent.

Notre Dame's running game did whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted.

Defensively the Irish were flying around, making life hard on Purdue quarterback Hudson Card from the first play of the game all the way through when reserves and underclassmen were manning the defense late.

The blame for last week's no-show against Northern Illinois falls on the head coach, make no doubt.

But responding by handing Purdue the biggest blowout defeat in program history deserves credit and Freeman gets that from me following Saturday's win.

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