Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 SEPT. 16, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH OVERCOME SHAKY START Outside of its opening drive, Notre Dame looked sloppy on both sides of the ball early during its season opener at Louisville on Labor Day. Was it first-game jitters? Rust? Head coach Brian Kelly and Irish players used both to describe their hard-fought 35-17 victory versus the Cardinals. Notre Dame was penalized just four times for a total of 20 yards ver- sus Louisville, but they came at inop- portune moments. On three separate occasions, a member of the Irish de- fensive line jumped offside on third down to give new life to the Louis- ville offense. "We had penalties that kept drives alive," Kelly said. "We had missed tackles. We're going to have to be [physical in] coverage a little bit bet- ter. There's a litany of things that we can get better at." The Notre Dame offense faced six different third downs when they had to gain four yards or fewer — four of which were just two yards or less — and they were either penalized or did not convert a first down on all six plays. On the flip side, the Irish had five plays of 25 yards or more and a to- tal of 14 "chunk plays" in which they ripped off passes of more than 15 yards and runs of more than 10 yards. "I would say that there were bits and pieces of really dynamic play from them," Kelly said of his offense. "I just think that we need a little bit more from them consistently. "They would like to play a little bit more consistent. There was a little rust there." Notre Dame will have plenty of time to clean up those inconsistencies prior to its home opener against New Mexico Sept. 14. IAN BOOK WAS JUST GOOD ENOUGH Senior quarterback Ian Book did not have the opening game that he or his team was hoping for, but his play was good enough to come away with a win against a feisty Louisville squad. He completed 14 of 23 passes (60.9 percent) for 193 yards with one touchdown and was sacked twice. On the ground, Book ran for a career- high 81 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. "He knows that he can be better, and we're not going to beat him with a shoe," head coach Brian Kelly said during his post-game press confer- ence. "It's one game." Book connected on 7 of 12 throws for 63 yards in the first half, and was 7-of-11 passing for 130 yards with a touchdown in the second half. The difference was his pocket presence and keeping his eyes down the field longer while in the pocket. "He needs to be better, he knows that, and he will be better," Kelly said. "He's smart, he's athletic; you saw the first run he had. "[Quarterbacks coach] Tommy [Rees] will do a great job with him and get him to see the bigger picture and run through his progressions. I'm extremely confident that that will happen." Book also wasn't satisfied with his play. "I need to play composed and do what I'm supposed to do, play inside the system and trust my team," he said. "I've got to adjust to the speed a little bit. "But no excuses. I've just got to get better." IRISH RUNNING GAME DOMINATES From the onset, the Irish offensive line proved it could get a strong push against the Cardinals' defense and asserted its will. By the end of the night, the Irish had 42 carries for 230 yards (5.5 yards LOUISVILLE GAME NOTES BY ANDREW MENTOCK AND VINCE DEDARIO Senior quarterback Ian Book accounted for 274 yards of total offense (193 passing and a career-best 81 rushing) and two touchdowns (one on the ground and one through the air). PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER