Recap: Notre Dame talent and experience made the difference vs. Louisville
Both teams would agree that it wasn’t the prettiest game, but the final outcome between Notre Dame and Louisville is about what most people should have expected going in.
Notre Dame took the opening kickoff and quickly showed why their offense is considered both skilled and experience. On the first play of the game, Ian Book scrambled for a big gain and it was off to the races for Chip Long’s crew. Five plays later, the Irish were off to 7-0 lead — a theme that would follow most of Notre Dame’s touchdown drives throughout the night.
Louisville was equally impressive in their opening drive, clearly showing something under new head coach Scott Satterfield that Notre Dame didn’t expect. The Cardinals took advantage of an inexperienced Irish linebacker unit and displayed speed from multiple positions. Jawon Pass, Louisville’s starting quarterback, would score on a keeper from eight yards out to tie the game up.
As the 1st quarter came to a close, both offenses looked sharp. Louisville scored on their second possession in six plays to go up 14-7, but Notre Dame answered right back on a quick drive of their own. Tony Jones Jr. finished off a nice drive with an 11 yard run into the end zone. Louisville clearly had a game plan on offense. Run with Pass, use speed at running back and receiver attacking the middle of the defense. They barely tested Notre Dame’s secondary, instead focusing on finding mismatches against the linebackers. When they did test the secondary, it was typically unsuccessful, and true freshman safety Kyle Hamilton flashed his talent more than once.
Going into the game, I suggested earlier in the week in my key matchups article that Notre Dame would be able to dominate on the ground, and that is what they showed the majority of the game — especially on early downs.
Louisville was stingy on 3rd down and the reason many drives were stalled. Ian Book was uncomfortable in the pocket from the second drive on, and that likely played a factor on Louisville’s success on 3rd down.
At times the Irish offensive play calling was simply too predictable.
Stalled at 14-14 for the majority of the 2nd quarter, both defenses were able to adjust, but overall it was simply sloppy plays on both sides of the ball. Louisville was running through Notre Dame like butter, but they shot themselves in the foot too many times. After their flawless first two drives, they finished the half with 2 fumbles on consecutive possessions.
Notre Dame attempted to bail Louisville out, but after back-to-back-to-back fumbles — two by the Cardinals and one by the Irish in a span of 14 seconds — Notre Dame finally scored with under a minute left to take a 21-14 lead in the locker room.
If you told me at half time that Louisville wouldn’t score a touchdown the rest of the game, I would called you a liar, but that is exactly what happened. They continued make mistakes, while for the most part Notre Dame did not. On the opening drive of the second half, Louisville was able to get deep into Notre Dame territory before another costly fumble by Jawon Pass — his third of the game. Backup Irish defensive end Ade Ogundeji would make a nice play and Notre Dame would recover.
Both teams would trade punts after that before Chip Long made a nice adjustment to produce another score and give Notre Dame a two touchdown lead. He got the ball in the hands of Notre Dame’s most talented playmaker, Chase Claypool. He would take a crossing route for 31 yards to the Louisville 26 yard line. On the next play, Book would find uber-athletic tight end Tommy Tremble on a seam route for a 26 yard score.
With starting tight end Cole Kmet out, Irish fans knew that Tremble could see increased action and that score proved why. He would go on to catch 2 more passes and finish the day with 3 catches for 49 yards a score.
After going up by 14, Notre Dame essentially locked down the game. Louisville was able to work themselves down the field a few more times, producing a 42 yard field goal early in the fourth. However, the Irish put the game away on the next possession with a 4th touchdown run of the day and 5th score overall.
Final score: 35-17, with Louisville covering the spread by a half of a point.
Again, this wasn’t the prettiest showing by any means. Louisville showed why they are likely a better team than last year under the new coaching regime, while Notre Dame showed what experience and talent can do against inferior opponents, even when the play isn’t crisp and the team is missing three key starters on offense.
Next. Book's best throw was to a cheerleader. dark
Ian Book will tell you he needs to play better, but on the bright side, four of the touchdown drives looked easy. Give it a few more games and everything will be more crisp. On defense, Brian Kelly said it best in his post game presser. Blaming the young guys at linebacker, defensive tackle, etc. is the wrong approach. The veterans are the ones who need to take another step up.