Purdue expected to face a ranked Notre Dame team to come to Ross-Ade Stadium. It didn’t expect to be facing a team fresh off losing its home opener to Northern Illinois. So coach Ryan Walters realizes that his team will need to be especially smart in preparing for the upcoming game.
Walters knows the Irish have something to prove now more than ever, and he doesn’t anticipate them to be so demoralized by losing to the Huskies that just won’t bother to come out and play. In speaking with the media in West Lafayette, he said what should be expected:
Purdue hosts Notre Dame for the first time since 2013.
Ryan Walters talks about the matchup with the 18th-ranked Irish, who lost their home opener to NIU.#B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/gqUf5iyxOP
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 10, 2024
So the question is whether the Irish are so angry that they’ll double down on their focus or whether they’re so angry that they’ll lose their focus. This game against the Boilermakers will tell us a lot about this year’s team. Whether that turns out for the better or worse is up to them.
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