Notre Dame's Offensive Onslaught Over Purdue Leaves Key Questions Unanswered

Do the Irish pass the ball well enough against Purdue? It was a blowout win, but there's still work to do.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) breaks the tackle of Purdue Boilermakers defensive back Markevious Brown (1) Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, during the NCAA football game at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Notre Dame Fighting Irish won 66-7. / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Riley Leonard loaded up his stat line, in most categories

For all of the talk last week about Riley Leonard having an injured shoulder and possibly not being able to play the entire game against Purdue, he wasted no time putting that talking point to rest against the Boilermakers.

Leonard ran for 100 yards on 11 carries for 3 TDs with a long of 34 yards on the day to help bolster Notre Dame's overall run game output of a whopping 364 yards on the ground in a display of total domination over the hapless and outmanned Boilermakers.

The passing game is still very much a work in progress for Leonard and Irish

For all of the excitement in the run game, Leonard also went 11/16 through the air for 112 yards with an average of 7 yards per completion. He had no touchdowns and no interceptions before he got an early rest the second half due to the lopsided score.

Nobody can argue that Leonard didn't help the team win or that he wasn't impressive with his legs in the first half against Purdue. He did and he was. But the passing game is still a work in progress. Leonard has yet to throw a touchdown this year and that is alarming.

It feels like at times receivers aren't creating space when Leonard is scanning for them and then at other times when Irish receivers are open Leonard doesn't see them and or cannot pull the trigger to distribute the ball to them.

Notre Dame must find a way to become more multi-dimensional quickly with Leonard if they have any hopes of running the table the rest of the way in hopes of a CFP bid.

For more Irish news & notes follow John on Twitter @alwaysirishINC, Always Irish on Youtube and or your preferred audio podcast provider.