Notre Dame compliments, criticisms and conclusions vs. Louisville

Notre Dame gave us plenty to digest in the season opener against Louisville

On Monday evening, Notre Dame survived a scare from a much improved Louisville Cardinals team, who came out strong under the tutelage of new Head Coach, Scott Satterfield — formerly of FBS powerhouse Appalachian State.  After Notre Dame scored quickly on a six play, 75 yard drive, Louisville answered with a 12 play, 88 yard scoring drive of their own, led by junior quarterback Jawon Pass.

The back-and-forth play would continue for the entirety of the first half, before Ian Book and the Irish capitalized on a sequence of back-to-back-to-back fumbles, where possession would change on three consecutive plays, ultimately leading to an Irish touchdown with 17 seconds left in the first half.

In the second half, the Irish defense tightened up and held Louisville to a lone field goal and the offense provided two touchdowns to give the Irish the 35-17 win.

Here are some takeaways — compliments, criticisms, and conclusions — from the Notre Dame’s first test of the season:

Compliments

Chase Claypool’s Big Play Ability 

Many experts pegged Chase Claypool as the heir apparent, No. 1 wide receiver for the Irish following the departure of Miles Boykin to the NFL. The 6’4″, 229 pound senior from Abbotsford, British Columbia did not disappoint.

Claypool ended the night with five receptions and 94 receiving yards for a solid average of 18.8 yards per reception. His longest catch of the night came on  a 34 yard catch on a 1st and 10 with 9:36 remaining in the game, placing the Irish on the goal line.

Jahmir Smith was able to punch it in for the score, to put the game away on the very next play.

While Claypool did not have any touchdowns on the evening, it seemed as though the Cardinals were unable to defend him any time Book threw in his direction. Claypool seemingly had his way with the defense — hopefully a sign of what Irish fans will see on a regular basis throughout the upcoming season.

Dominance Of The Irish Running Game

There were times in the game where the Irish run game seemed unstoppable, leading some analysts to clamor that they should abandon the passing game entirely. As a team, the Irish carried the ball 42 times for 230 yards and four touchdowns. Tony Jones Jr. led the Irish with 15 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown. Ian Book was second on the team with 81 yards and a rushing touchdown of his own.

Sophomore running back Jafar Armstrong was lost for the game after two plays with a groin injury, leading the Irish to lean heavily on Jones.

In addition to the strong rushing performances of Jones Jr. and Book, sophomore Jahmir Smith chipped in with eight rushes for 24 yards and two touchdowns to account for the remainder of the Irish rushing scores. Outside of three missed opportunities to convert on third and short and one on fourth and one, the running game was absolutely dominant against a speedy and aggressive Louisville defense.

Leadership Of Alohi Gilman

The Irish defense scuffled out of the gate against the Cardinals, thanks in part to a number of young players making their first collegiate starts due to the departures of veteran leaders such as Drue Tranquill, Te’Von Coney, Julian Love and Jerry Tillery.

Thankfully, the Irish had junior captain Alohi Gilman to provide a spark from the safety position. Gilman was credited with ten total tackles, six of which were of the individual variety. In addition to leading the team in tackles, Gilman provided the Irish with a critical forced fumble and fumble recovery as part of the back-to-back-to-back fumble sequence that ultimately led to the go-ahead Notre Dame touchdown.

Gilman was consistently flying around the field, making hard tackles on Louisville players and acting as the heartbeat for a once listless Irish defense. Thanks to the leadership and play of Gilman, the Irish settled down after starting the game by giving up 14 points and 163 yards on the first 18 offensive plays. From there, they only allowed three points and 185 yards on 58 plays the remainder of the game.

The Irish will undoubtedly lean on the leadership and playmaking ability of Gilman going forward.