Ryan Walters Explains Where Purdue Might Have Biggest Advantage vs. Notre Dame
With as much youth has Notre Dame has along its offensive line, Purdue coach Ryan Walters believes his team can win the battle in the trenches. But he also knows it's going to be a challenge to bring quarterback Riley Leonard to the ground.
Notre Dame starts two freshmen — Anthonie Knapp and Sam — and three sophomores — Ashton Craig, Billy Schrauth and Aamil Wagner — along its offensive line. It's a talented group, but one with a lot of inexperience. It's no secret that the Fighting Irish were mistake-prone during their 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois last week.
That bodes well for Purdue, which recorded 11 tackles for loss and three sacks in its 49-0 win over Indiana State in its opener.
"You can see the inexperience. Anytime you're starting a true freshman at left tackle (Knapp), that's a big deal," Walters said of Notre Dame's offensive line. "He's talented. There's a reason he's starting at Notre Dame as a true freshman. But you can tell there's the lack of experience there.
"There's been some communication errors in protection. They struggled last week. So, we have to be able to take advantage of that matchup."
Purdue will likely bring pressure from linebacker Kydran Jenkins and rush ends Will Heldt and Shitta Sillah. CJ Madden will likely get involved, as well.
The only problem? Leonard has proven to be pretty elusive this season. The veteran quarterback has yet to throw a touchdown pass but has rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Walters knows that could be problematic for the Boilers.
"Yeah, you'd much rather play against a statue back there," Walters said. "It forces you to play with all 11 players on the field when the quarterback can take off and get out of there. We'll have to have a great rush plan going into the game. We're going to have to pay attention to where he's at and have our eyes on our men downfield."
Notre Dame hasn't made the journey to West Lafayette since 2013 and has won each of the last eight meetings against the Boilermakers. Purdue heads into that game with a big chip on its shoulder.
"This group is hungry. They're pissed off. We've got a chip on our shoulder, and we've got a lot of belief," Walters said. "That's a recipe I feel really confident in."
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