Notre Dame football left West Lafayette with a commanding 49-10 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers, pushing head coach Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish to 4-0 on the season. Ranked No. 3 in the AP poll entering the week, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr and the offense reeled off chunk plays early, building a 35-0 lead.

While the Notre Dame offense was impressive in many spurts, it was the defense that made the biggest impact. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash’s unit was dominant from start to finish, and even when they were put in less-than-advantageous situations, the Fighting Irish defense still made a ton of big plays.

When you win by this type of margin, it’s hard to call anybody on Notre Dame a “loser”. There are, however, some players who may have slightly underwhelmed or didn’t have their best showing on Saturday. Notre Dame also had plenty that impressed. Here are the top performers and the others who may have come up short in the contest.

THE WINNERS

The CJ Carr/Micah Gilbert connection

On the day, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr was 14 of 22 for 237 yards and three touchdown passes. He did throw his first interception of the season, but there were still plenty of explosive plays through the passing game for the Fighting Irish.

The biggest passing play of the day was a 56-yard gain to wide receiver Micah Gilbert, who also had a 27-yard touchdown. He ended the day with just those two receptions for 83 yards, but that 41.5 yards-per-catch average is even better than his 21 yards per catch during his eight-reception, 170-yard performance last week against Michigan State.

If Gilbert continues to make big plays, this Notre Dame offense has the chance to be truly special. It has been a great start to the year for the junior pass catcher.

Bryce Young

Starting defensive end Bryce Young came into the year with expectations that he would take the next step forward, and he has done exactly that through four games.

He had arguably his best game in a Notre Dame uniform, posting four total tackles, two sacks, and two tackles for loss. The 6-foot-6, 260-pound pass rusher has gone from a toolsy developmental player into arguably the team’s top defensive player through these four games.

Young set the tone early with a sack on the very first play of the game. He also had a sack-forced fumble that linebacker Drayk Bowen picked up for a scoop-and-score touchdown. If the early season heroics are any indication, we could be seeing one of the best breakout stars in all of college football.

Leonard Moore

When you look at the stat sheet, you’re not going to see much for cornerback Leonard Moore during this contest.

He only had two total tackles against Purdue. That’s because teams rarely test him. It was Moore blanketing receivers when they were testing him vertically. It was him sniffing out a screen that turned into a scramble drill for just a modest gain.

He is one of the very best defensive players we’ve seen at Notre Dame since the 2000s began. He’s an All-American. He is elite. He will be a top-10 NFL Draft pick in 2027. He is truly a special football player.

Notre Dame’s pass defense

We’ve talked ad nauseam about Notre Dame’s secondary and how good they are even outside of Leonard Moore.

While Luke Talich was out for this contest, true freshman five-star Joey O’Brien filled in, and Notre Dame’s secondary did not miss a beat. DJ McKinney made several big plays during this contest, and Christian Gray was solid along with the consistent impact from senior safety Adon Shuler.

Heading into the contest, Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne was averaging over 340 yards passing a game. He ended the day just 18 for 28 for 111 yards. That is four yards per pass attempt. The Fighting Irish stifled this talented Purdue passing attack from the onset.

Jordan Faison

It was another typical day from wide receiver Jordan Faison, who hauled in four catches for 66 yards, including a long of 31. That’s an average of 16.5 yards per catch. Whether it was after the catch or a contested grab down the right sideline, Faison was tremendous. He has hauled in at least four receptions in each of his first four games and has become one of the more consistent wide receivers in all of college football.

Defensive line

A lot of credit goes to defensive line coach Charlie Partridge on this one. We already talked about the ascension of Bryce Young, but guys like Armel Mukam and Francis Brewu continue to make a ton of plays. Boubacar Traore and Keion Keeley each made a couple of flash plays. Loghan Thomas even had a nice stop. The defensive line, from one to seven or eight deep, was making plays all over the place. Partridge deserves a lot of credit for the impact and the consistency we’ve seen from this unit so far this season.

Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa

It was another modest box-score day for junior linebacker Kingston Villamo-Aza, who totaled just three tackles. But if you watched him, you know the impact he was able to create as a blitzer, in pass coverage, and as a run defender. I don’t care about the raw stats. I don’t care if you even want to say that he’s not technically a starter on this Notre Dame defense. He is one of the true stars in all of college football.

The 6-3, 230-pounder has recovered very nicely from his ACL injury down the stretch of the 2025 season, and he looks like he’s already in mid-season form.

DJ McKinney

When you play on the other side of Leonard Moore, two things are very true. One, you’re not going to get as much credit as you probably should. Two, you’re going to get targeted a ton. DJ McKinney has been up to the task during the first four games of the season, and this may have been his best game in a Notre Dame uniform so far.

He consistently made plays against screen passes. He was constantly in the right position. He is just a good cover man, and down the stretch of the season when Notre Dame faces some better passing offenses, I expect him to make a ton of huge plays.

Special teams

It’s the underrated part of the team for Notre Dame, but the special teams were once again very good. Most notably, freshman kicker Jasper Scaife averaged over 46 yards per punt. Jordan Faison set the team up with a short field to end the first half as a punt returner. The punt and kick coverage was fantastic all day.

Notre Dame has recruited at an all-time level under Freeman, and the initiative has always been to get longer, faster, and better range. That is showcased on the coverage unit for special teams coordinator Marty Biaggi.

THE LOSERS

Purdue’s offensive line

I usually keep these specific to Notre Dame, but this Purdue offensive line was overwhelmed from the onset. The Notre Dame defensive line played tremendously, so much so that Ash even opted to mostly just rush four early in this game. He was able to unleash his big guys against a Purdue offensive line that had no chance from the very first snap.

The slot position

Jaden Greathouse ended up with two receptions for 36 yards, including a nice 28-yard in route, but the slot position has not been a consistent one. Mylan Graham did not have a reception in this football game. With the success we’ve seen from Jordan Faison and Micah Gilbert, the hope has been that the slot position can start getting more opportunities and becoming a more consistent element of this passing offense. So far that has not been the case.

Second-half start

Notre Dame came out of halftime with some very mixed results, including CJ Carr’s first interception of the season. The offense put the defense into some less-than-advantageous situations early in the half. You just want to see Notre Dame come out of halftime or any break in action with a little bit more urgency heading into the next football game.

My score prediction

I had Notre Dame’s score total almost perfectly. I predicted a 45-17 win, but I gave the Purdue offense way too much credit. I thought Ryan Browne and this Purdue offense would be able to create some more big plays against the Fighting Irish, and they barely had any. Credit to Chris Ash’s defense, which was fantastic on the day overall.