Notre Dame Football: writers’ picks vs. Louisville

Here’s how some of our writers see the Notre Dame football opener against Louisville playing out.

Tonight’s the night! the 2019 Notre Dame football season kicks off against the Louisville Cardinals in primetime. We’ve been waiting for a while, and tonight we finally get to see those gold helmets shine under the lights again.

Here’s how some of our writers see things playing out against Louisville.

Carlee North

Notre Dame starts off the season business as usual and takes care of Louisville in what ends up as a pretty impressive “Black Out” atmosphere with the new and improved coaching staff for the Cardinals on Labor Day. And because of that, the biggest take away from this ends up being the atmosphere, which will give the Irish a head start on the gauntlet road tests to follow. Irish pull away in the second half and win 35-17.

Daniel Morrison

The Irish cover the spread (18.5), and do it pretty easily. Louisville’s defense will be better by default, as Brian VanGorder is no longer their defensive coordinator. They still don’t have the talent on defense to slow down Notre Dame, nor do they have the talent on offense to make it a shootout. So it’ll be a blowout.

Jack Leniart

Like most Irish fans, I am confident that Notre Dame will beat Louisville this Monday night. However, I am less confident that they will cover the 18.5-point spread. My wariness has to do with the absences of offensive players Cole Kmet (injury), Michael Young (injury), and Kevin Austin (suspension), as well as the fact that it is the first game of the season. All college football teams seem to take a little while at the start of each season before they hit their stride. It could be penalties, miscommunication, or just adjustment to game speed. Because of this, I don’t see Notre Dame scoring a whole lot early on. I think the Irish pull away in the second half to win by 17. Notre Dame 37, Louisville 20.

Mason Plummer

Notre Dame manhandles a very bad Louisville team from the jump and does not let off the gas pedal until the 2’s come in. Expect Chase Claypool and Jafar Armstrong to run riot against this lackluster Cardinal defense. Irish win 42-10.

Nathan Erbach

The first game of the year is always tough to predict. We see blow outs that were unexpected, we see close games that were not expected, and so on. An 18.5-point spread is big against any Power 5 team, and Louisville should be better in 2019 under new coach Scott Satterfield. With that said, they still won’t be in this game for long. I’ve got Notre Dame right around the spread total, but not covering, 35–17.

J.P. Scott

Everyone expects Notre Dame to win big tonight, but that’s based off what both teams did last season. It’s tough to dominate on the road, and the atmosphere is going to be crazy. Add in that the Cardinals are going to be a very well-coached unit, and this is no cakewalk. I see a close defensive battle in the first half before the Irish pull away in the second based on depth and physicality. I like Notre Dame to win 34-10.