Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 24, 2020 21 12‑7 game when it was a stinker. … But this game was a little different. It was hard fought." With no one testing positive for COVID‑19 during the week and vir‑ tually a full roster available, Kelly was not disappointed with the prep‑ aration. "Their mindset was great," he said. "When you're a top‑five team in the country, you're going to get the opposition's best game, period. That was not a 1‑3 football team we played today. "That was a team that played their absolute best, took care of the football." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME, 6-0 Top Moment: On Notre Dame's second series it controlled the ball 7:09 while running 15 plays, but was limited to a 30‑yard field goal by se‑ nior Jonathan Doerer for a 6‑0 advan‑ tage. Two Louisville penalties — a personal foul and holding — kept the drive going. Feature Performer: Sophomore running back Kyren Williams (25 car‑ ries for 127 yards in the game) had six carries for 33 yards. Meanwhile, the Louisville defense was led by linebacker Monty Montgomery, who compiled four total stops, two tackles for loss and a sack. Stats: Notre Dame ran 25 plays for 112 yards (57 rushing, 55 passing on 5 of 11 completions by fifth‑year senior quarterback Ian Book) while Louisville had only five snaps on of‑ fense for 12 yards. The Irish controlled the ball 12:43 to 2:17 and recorded eight first downs to the Cardinals' one. Items: On the game's opening pos‑ session, Notre Dame drove 61 yards before settling for a 32‑yard field goal by senior Jonathan Doerer with 9:26 left … Louisville's first series ended after four plays on a pass that was broken up by sophomore safety Kyle Hamilton on third‑and‑11. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME, 6-0 Top Moment: With eight minutes left, Louisville pinned Notre Dame at its 4‑yard line with a punt, but the Irish methodically drove to the Cardinals' 13‑yard line, highlighted by a 20‑yard scramble from Book. On fourth‑and‑nine from the Louisville 14, Doerer lined up for his third field goal attempt (31 yards), but sopho‑ more holder Jay Bramblett ran a fake inside that was stopped a couple yards short of the first down with 43 second remaining in the half. Louisville then had its best drive of the half, highlighted by a 28‑yard scamper by running back Javian Hawkins. A 52‑yard field goal at‑ tempt by James Turner hit the cross‑ bar on the final play of the half. Feature Performer: Louisville's red‑zone defense, led by Montgom‑ ery, forced a third field goal attempt inside the 20‑yard line, with the fake getting stopped. On the play prior, junior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. grabbed what was originally called a touchdown from Book in the corner of the end zone, but it was overruled when instant replay showed Aus‑ tin's foot was out of bounds when he came down with the catch. Stats: Notre Dame's 42 plays in the first half netted 195 yards, 116 on 28 rushing attempts and 79 passing on Book's 7‑of‑14 effort. Louisville's 20 plays resulted in 119 yards, 52 rushing on 10 attempts and 7‑of‑10 passing for 67 yards. More than half of Louis‑ ville's offense (60 yards) came on the final series in the last 43 seconds, prior to Turner's missed field goal. Items: Montgomery made his sec‑ ond sack of the half on Book, this time inside Notre Dame's 10‑yard line that forced a punt and resulted in possession near the 50. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME, 12-7 Top Moment: After Louisville took its first lead at 7‑6, it was called for The Fighting Irish defense limited Louisville to 233 total yards, including just 12 in the fourth quarter. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS