Despite some drama in the game’s final moments, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish picked up a huge win on Saturday in a 31-24 victory over the previously undefeated Louisville Cardinals. The tenor of the contest shifted from chaotic to quiet to tense before the Irish emerged with the victory. The win boosts Marcus Freeman’s squad to 4-1 on the season and keeps them in contention for a postseason berth in the College Football Playoff.
Clad in green jerseys for this big game, the Irish were outgained 395 to 280 in the yardage department and again struggled on third down, converting on just two of 10 attempts. Still, they accomplished their biggest task by finishing with the lead on the scoreboard.
Below are some of the key parts of the Notre Dame victory:
Nervous Conclusion
With 5:17 left in the game, Notre Dame found itself ahead by just seven points. Palms became even sweatier for the Irish faithful when two short Riley Leonard runs were followed by the signal-called getting sacked. Things got even stickier when a 36-yard punt by James Rendell and a five-yard return put the ball at the Louisville 45 with just under three minutes to play
Eight yards on the first two Cardinal plays were followed by a one-yard gain that created a fourth-and-one situation. Louisville then committed a huge blunder with a delay of game penalty and Tyler Shough’s subsequent pass attempt fell incomplete to give the Irish the win.
Early Mistakes All Over
Things started out disastrously for Notre Dame when Devyn Ford’s fumble on the opening kickoff gave Louisville possession near the Irish red zone. The Cardinals needed just three plays to take a quick 7-0 advantage and put Notre Dame in an immediate hole.
The Irish responded by putting together a 12-play drive that culminated with Jeremiyah Love’s six-yard scoring run. A key decision during this stretch came when the Irish chose not to attempt a 48-yard field goal. Instead, they converted on fourth down when Leonard found Jayden Thomas to move the chains.
On the ensuing kickoff, Louisville fumbled but recovered at its own seven. However, on the first play, Cardinals quarterback Tyler Shough broke loose for a 46-yard run, only to be stripped by freshman Leonard Moore near midfield, allowing Jaden Ausberry to recover for Notre Dame. Leonard then needed only four plays to find Jaden Greathouse for a 34-yard scoring toss to give the Irish its first lead at 14-7.
Notre Dame stopped Louisville at midfield and forced a punt, which created a horror show for the Cardinals. A bad snap resulted in the ball being recovered by Irish specials teamer Kenny Urlacher at the Louisville four, with Leonard quickly taking it in on the first play of the drive for a 21-7 Irish lead.
Dual Leonard, the Sequel
Leonard again paced the Notre Dame offense by throwing for 163 yards and two touchdowns while also leading Irish rushers with 52 yards on 13 carries and one score. His 17 completions were split up by seven different receivers, led by Love with five grabs. However, Greathouse served as this week’s deep threat with four catches for 61 yards, including a 34-yard connection with Leonard.
Questionable Decision
Notre Dame fans may have been scratching their heads about Marcus Freeman’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-three at the Louisville 46 early in the fourth quarter. Just over a minute remained in the third quarter with the Irish leading 24-14 when the call for a Leonard run came up one yard short. That ended a time-consuming drive that had eaten up over six minutes on the clock.
Freeman has spoken before about his desire to be aggressive during games, but those fans no doubt had some misgivings about that approach. The Cardinals picked up one first down but after the drive stalled out three players later, Cardinals kicker Brock Travelstead blasted a 56-yard field goal to slice the margin to a single touchdown.
D as in Delivers
Notre Dame’s defense held Louisville to 395 yards, a dip of over 100 yards from the 502 yards per game the Cardinals had been averaging. On three occasions, the Irish stopped Louisville on downs, with two of the three turnovers accounting for 10 points. Another seven points were made easy with the aforementioned bad snap that led to a convenient one-play drive.
Next Up
A brief respite from the rigors of preparing for another game with Notre Dame set to take in its bye week. When they return on Oct. 12, the Irish will host the newest member of the ACC, Stanford. This clash has often been a feature of the Irish schedule with this matchup making the 38th meeting. Notre Dame routed Stanford last season but still looks for a measure of revenge after the Cardinal upset the Irish during their last visit two years ago, 16-14.
Looking ahead the schedule is pretty soft. I can see ND sitting at 10-1 and ranked 7th or 8th when they travel to LA and face the Trojans. Question is will ND being facing a similarly ranked team or an unranked 8-3 or 7-4 team. Either way if ND finishes 11-1 they will be in the playoffs. Don’t see any scenario of ND making playoffs with two losses.
The NIU loss will hang over them all year. There’s a chance they don’t get in at 11-1. Plenty of SEC schools with 2 losses would jump them.
And as for the game, Louisville at their home would have won going away. I’m glad we handed them an L and that the Irish still have a season.
But I’m not impressed with the game prep, and why is a known offensive master at OC seemingly not dialing up a killer game plan.
And the offensive line truly looked slow and stumbling when Louisville turned up the heat. There was no real answer except a couple of plays.
Louisville is a good team but not a top 10. Notre Dame needs to match the top 5 for any chance to avoid humiliation if they even get a bid to the CFP.
Injuries: Does anyone thing Brian Kelly’s Turf Field may be a factor this year? Those of us who remember the traditional grass field and how until Kelly it was kept in world class condition, also know that turf has historically caused more injuries.
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