Sept. 14, 2000

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The rivalry which exists between the Boilermakers and the Irish dates back to as far as 1896. Currently, the series stand at 46-23-2. Today, the FANSzine takes a look back at the 1984 when Notre Dame and Purdue clashed at the Hoosier Dome.

Irish head coach Gerry Faust kicked off his fourth season as head coach with a tough loss to the Boilermakers, 23-21.

Sophomore quarterback Steve Beuerlein led a pumped Irish team into the Hoosier Dome for the first challenge of the season. Although, football critics believed that the Irish may have gotten to excited for this supposedly easy opener.

Notre Dame came out strong early on by dominating the first quarter but it would turn out to be the only quarter the Irish would dominate. The ground game established itself early behind the leadership of tailback Allen Pinkett. He hauled into the endzone for the first touchdown of the game off an 11-yard run.

Fullback Mark Brooks scampered in for the second touchdown of the game on a 3-yd run. The first two touchdowns of the game proved to really be the only major accomplishments of Notre Dame’s ground game. Pinkett finished the game with just 69 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns. Brooks did not have much success either as he finished with 29 yards on eight carries.

Fans could only gasp as Notre Dame went from the strong showing in the first quarter to the numerous mishaps in the final three quarters. The Irish punted the ball just two times in the entire contest. Every other sequence resulted in either a touchdown or a turnover for the team.

While the stats painted a picture of a close game, Notre Dame really handed the ball game to Purdue by making critical errors. Twice the Irish fumbled inside their own 15-yard line. Beuerlein managed to throw three interceptions as well.

“It’s apparent to everybody that we made too many mistakes,” Pinkett said after the game. “We beat ourselves.”

The Irish managed to rally at the end after a fourth quarter touchdown by the tailback. With two and a half minutes left, Notre Dame got the ball back on its 44-yard line. Beuerlein lofted a pass to the left side, only to see it picked off by Purdue’s Don Baldwin, dashing Notre Dame’s hopes of a rally.

Faust and the Irish would go on to finish that season with a 7-5 record and make an appearance in the Hula Bowl. As for Faust, he remained head coach for one more season before leaving.