To be honest, I was debating even bothering with this thread this week as I'm clearly dejected, as are many of us on this board. MF was supposed to be the chosen one to lead us back to glory. It seemed like the stars were aligned with the Admin's support through fuND, the hiring/extension of "dream" coordinators, and a QB like Leonard, who it turns out might be a watered-down version of Brandon Wimbush, if you could even believe it.
Alas, I owe it to the board to keep this thing going, if for nothing else but to further vent.
@TNUtoNotreDame is the only poster who got last week's prediction right, and he is at one total with the other 55+ who got aTm, so I won't be updating the standings here.
If Angeli was starting under center, I'd be very bullish on the Irish's chances on Saturday. Unfortunately, I think Freeman appears to be stubbornly loyal to the new QB from the portal, even though Angeli has already proven we can win with him under center. There is enough skill talent to have a game manager approach to win football games in South Bend this fall, but apparently, we are prioritizing having a running QB with virtually no threat to pass the football, instead.
I think Purdue is going to do a lot of what NIU did and they're going to force Leonard to beat them over the top, and frankly he just hasn't connected with his WRs yet. Purdue will find a way to score once or twice offensively, and I'm predicting a ST or Defensive score to keep us pulling our hair out. I think this will feel a lot like Cal 2022. ND finds a way but it's not gonna be pretty.
ND 24-Purdue 20. Purdue covers, take the under.
