Purdue won the coin toss and elected to receive. The Irish defended the South end zone.
The game was officially sold out making it the 202nd consecutive sellout at Notre Dame Stadium. Since 1966, every Notre Dame home football game has been a sellout except one - a 1973 Thanksgiving Day game vs. Air Force. The Irish have now played in front of sellouts in 250 of their last 251 home games.
TODAY'S VICTORY...
Make Notre Dame 3-1 for the first time since 2006 and fourth time in the past five years (2004, 2005, 2006).
Give the Irish a victory over Purdue for the third time in four years.
Improve the all-time record for the Irish to 16-3 (.842) against Purdue the week after facing Michigan State.
Improve the all-time record for Notre Dame to 5-2 (.714) against Purdue the week after losing to Michigan State and 3-0 in such meetings in Notre Dame Stadium.
Improve the Irish to 7-9 (.438) under Weis following a loss.
Improve Notre Dame to 52-26-2 (.663) in the all-time series with Purdue.
Improve the Irish to 27-11 (.711) in the all-time series with the Boilermakers in South Bend and 24-10 (.706) in Notre Dame Stadium.
Give Notre Dame its 15th victory in the last 16 meetings with Purdue in Notre Dame Stadium.
Improve an unranked Irish squad (post 1932) to 11-7 (.611) all-time against Purdue (snapping a three-game losing streak in such meetings).
Improve an unranked Notre Dame squad to 7-3 (.700) all-time against Purdue in Notre Dame Stadium.
Improve Notre Dame to 10-5 (.667) all-time against the Boilermakers when both teams are unranked.
Improve Notre Dame to 7-2 (.778) all-time against Purdue in Notre Dame Stadium when both teams are unranked.
Improve Notre Dame to 218-112-15 (.654) all-time against the Big Ten Conference.
Improve the Irish to 112-45-5 (.707) against Big Ten opponents at home and 91-40-3 (.690) at Notre Dame Stadium.
Improve Weis' record to 25-16 overall (.610), 3-1 (.750) against Purdue and 7-8 (.467) against the Big Ten Conference.
Improve Weis' overall home record to 14-9 (.609) and his home record against the Big Ten Conference to 4-3 (.571).
Improve Weis' record to 10-8 (.556) in September games.
Improve Weis' record to 18-13 (.581) in afternoon games.
Improve Notre Dame's all-time record to 827-279-42 (.738).
Improve Notre Dame's all-time record at Notre Dame Stadium to 301-96-5 (.755).
Blanton not only recorded his first career interception, but also returned it 47 yards for a touchdown. He becomes the fifth Notre Dame freshman to ever return an interception for a touchdown.
Irish Freshman With Interception Returns for TD (since 1972)
With Blanton, sophomore WR Golden Tate, sophomore RB Armando Allen and freshman TE Kyle Rudolph's touchdowns, 12 of Notre Dame's 14 touchdowns in 2008 have come from either freshmen or sophomores. Senior WR David Grimes is the lone non-first or second year player to score a touchdown this season.
NOTRE DAME KICKOFF COVERAGE EXCELS ONCE AGAIN
The Irish kickoff coverage entered today's contest ranked third in the NCAA FBS allowing just 14.0 yards per return. Purdue entered the game averaging 31.8 per return - second best in the country. Notre Dame limited the Boilermakers to 13.9 yards per return. In fact, the Irish kept the nation's top kick returner (averaged 40.3 coming into the game), Desmond Tardy, completely out of the mix. He failed to register a single kick return. Kory Sheets, who was 20th at 30.5 per return, managed just 13.9 per return on seven kickoffs.
THIRD QUARTER BAGEL OVER
Notre Dame picked up its first points of the season in the third quarter on Allen's 16-yard touchdown run. The Irish had run a total of 44 plays (over the course of 10 drives) in the third quarter over their first three games without a score. The Irish added two more third quarter touchdowns.
MOVING THE FOOTBALL
Notre Dame's 38 points, including 21 third quarter points, were the most scored in a four quarter (non-overtime) game since the Irish scored 41 against Army on November 18, 2006 at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame's 476 total yards was the most since the 2007 overtime loss to Navy, when the Irish racked up 543 total yards.
THIRD QUARTER EXPLOSION
Notre Dame entered the halftime lockeroom this afternoon with a modest eight first downs and 180 total yards, including 62 on the ground, but the Irish exploded for 11 first downs, 204 total yards and 90 yards rushing on their three third-quarter scoring drives alone.
The 21 points in the third quarter were the most for Notre Dame in any quarter since the 21 first quarter points against Michigan earlier this season.
The Irish had not scored 21 points in a third quarter since Oct. 22, 2005 against BYU.
Notre Dame managed just 188 total yards in the third quarter of its first three games (no points). The Irish ripped off 204 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday's third quarter alone.
NOTRE DAME RUNNING ATTACK AWAKENS
The Irish entered today's game with 234 yards rushing over their first three games of the season combined (ranked 111th in the nation at 78.00 per game). Notre Dame racked up 201 yards on 40 carries against the Boilermakers. The 201 yards rushing are the most for the Irish since the rushing attack picked up 220 against Duke on November 17, 2007 at Notre Dame Stadium.
CHECKING THE WEIS ERA RECORD BOOK
The 24-second half points ties for the tenth most in a half under Weis (2005 at Washington and 2005 at Stanford).
The 21-point third quarter also ties for second most for a Weis coached team. The Irish also scored 21 this season against Michigan in the 1st quarter. Those performances trail only the 28-point second quarter at Pittsburgh in 2005, Weis' first game at the helm of the Irish.
The 201 rushing yards marked the ninth best total under Weis and gives Notre Dame its ninth 200-plus performance under the current head coach.
The Irish averaged 5.0 yards per rush (40 rushes, 201 yards), which checks in tied for sixth in the Weis years.
Jimmy Clausen's three touchdown passes tied for the seventh most under Weis.
The Irish also held on to the football with 35:26 time of possession which is seventh-best for a Weis squad.
The ability to stay on offense was evidenced by the Irish going 3-for-4 on fourth down attempts. This tied for the fourth most fourth down conversions for a Weis team.
IN THE PURDUE SERIES
The interception return for freshman DB Robert Blanton was the first for an Irish player against Purdue since Vontez Duff returned an INT 33 yards for a score on Sept. 7, 2002 (ironically enough, all three Irish touchdowns that afternoon we scored by the defense)
Blanton's pick six was the 38th interception return for touchdown by a Notre Dame player since 1980, with six of those coming against the Boilermakers
Recorded his second start of the season and sixth of his career
Ripped off a 16-yard rush early in the second quarter
Added a career-best 21-yard burst up the middle on the scoring drive to open the second half
Capped the five play, 81 yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown run (the first of his career)
Rushed for 45 yards on the drive alone (entered the game with just 71 yards rushing the entire season)
Equaled his career-best run with two more 21 yard gallops on Notre Dame's second drive of the second half
Prior to Saturday, Allen's longest run was 15 yards, but he had four runs of longer than 15 yards against Purdue
Eclipsed 100 yards for the first time in his career (previous career-high was 91 yards against Navy on Nov. 3, 2008)
Finished with a career-best 134 yards rushing, good for a 7.9 per carry average (the 7.9 per carry average is the highest for a Notre Dame player since Darius Walker averaged 10.2 against Air Force on Nov. 11, 2006)
Totaled 247 all-purpose yards (-1 on punt returns, 105 on kick returns, 134 in rushing and nine in receiving)
Started for the 13th time in his career, including the last seven games for the Irish
Missed on his first three pass attempts to open the game, but connected on the next five straight passes to close the first quarter (extended streak to six early in the second quarter before an incompletion in the Purdue end zone)
After Purdue grabbed a 14-7 lead, Clausen led Notre Dame on a six-play, 65-yard scoring drive capped off by a touchdown pass to Golden Tate
Completed 3-of-4 passes on the drive for 61 yards, including a 38-yard pass to Michael Floyd
The touchdown pass was his seventh of the season and 14th of his career (extended streak to four consecutive games with a touchdown pass)
Added two more touchdown passes in the third quarter, one to freshman TE Kyle Rudolph and another to senior WR David Grimes
The three touchdown passes this afternoon give him nine for the season and 16 for his career
Has registered three touchdown passes in a single game on four different occasions (all in the last seven games for Notre Dame)
Eclipsed his career-high for passing yards in a game with 275 (previous career-best was 246 against Air Force on Nov. 10, 2007)
Maurice Crum, Jr., Sr., LB
Recorded the 41st start of his career
His 41 consecutive starts are the longest streak on the team and seventh-longest among current NCAA FBS players
Has started every game of his career and all 41 games for the Irish over the past four seasons
Picked up his third consecutive start (the first three of his career)
Registered a 38-yard reception (longest of career) on Notre Dame's six-play, 65-yard scoring drive that tied the score, 14-14, late in the first half
Had five catches for 93 yards in the first half alone
Finished the contest with six catches for 100 yards, making him only the second Irish freshman to have at least 100 receiving yards since Derrick Mayes in 1992 against Pittsburgh. The Boilermakers were the victims the most recent time it happened when Golden Tate had 104 yards on three catches with one touchdown in West Lafayette last season.
Hauled in his third touchdown reception of the season and fourth of his career (tied the game at 14-14) on a six-yard fade pattern from Clausen at 2:35 of the second quarter
Finished with five receptions for 64 yards (12.8 yards per catch)
Tate has 367 yards receiving on 20 catches through four games. Here is how Tate compares to the five previous top single seasons in receiving.
His 16 consecutive starts are the fourth-longest streak on the team (only trails senior Maurice Crum, 41, junior Sam Young, 29, and senior Terrail Lambert, 26)
