Notre Dame's struggling defense will be short handed in the matchup against Purdue as preseason All-American cornerback Leonard Moore is unlikely to play. Notre Dame announced before the game that Moore was a game-time decision but the standout cornerback is not dressed out for the pre-game warmups, making it highly unlikely that he plays.
While the secondary was working through pre-game drills, Moore stood off to the side wearing sweats and his jersey, but no pads. Without Moore Notre Dame is likely to start true freshman Mark Zackery IV at the field corner position and move junior Christian Gray into the boundary. This will be Zackery's first career start for the Irish. He struggled in limited snaps against Texas A&M, but Zackery is a very talented player who had a strong fall camp for the Irish. Gray has played boundary cornerback in the past but moved to field so he could start opposite Benjamin Morrison last season. In some ways Gray has been a more natural boundary player, but he'll need to make a technical adjustment in this game.
Nickel defender DeVonta Smith is also listed as a game-time decision after injuring his ankle during pregame last week. During Notre Dame's pre-game drills the first nickel on the field for the Irish defense was true freshman cornerback Dallas Golden, who has yet to see action on defense this season. Golden has moved ahead of redshirt freshman cornerback Karson Hobbs, who struggled mightily during the first two games.
Notre Dame will also be without safety Adon Shuler during the first half of the game after the Irish captain was ejected from last week's second half for targeting. That means Shuler cannot play in the first half of today's game. Talented redshirt freshman Tae Johnson will start at safety along with transfer Jalen Stroman.
Putting two true freshmen on the field can certainly be problematic from an experience standpoint, but both Zackery and Golden are incredibly talented players. They were two of the top prospects in Notre Dame's 2025 recruiting class, and both players were ranked as Top 100 recruits with five-star upside on the Irish Breakdown board.
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