Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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36 OCT. 7, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE his coach at Louisville, the late, great Howard Schnellenberger. Schnellenberger, Brohm told Ritten- berg, was exceptional at "getting his team to think that they're better than they are." "You can't be in awe, you can't lose confidence, you can't listen to what ev- eryone says and writes, which may be accurate," he said. "You've got to be- lieve that on any given day, if you pre- pare right and you play aggressive — not timid, not to keep the game close, but aggressive — that you can have a chance." NEW ROSTER, NEW HOPE Brohm hopes he can be more than just a spoiler at Louisville, where he started at quarterback for two full seasons and became a hometown hero. Once he got into coaching, it was as the Louisville quarterbacks coach. When he became a head coach, many assumed he would wind up back in northern Kentucky at some point. He was offered the job in 2019 but turned it down, feeling that the tim- ing wasn't right. When the Louisville job opened this past December, it was. And now, as Hale wrote for ESPN, he has some intense intrinsic pressure to succeed. "When you're coaching somewhere else, you put in the work, but if it doesn't work out, hey, I can always go 1. A Crazy Quarterback Coincidence Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer knows the Fighting Irish very well. He's set to start a game against Notre Dame for a third straight season with a third different team. Plummer was with Purdue in 2021 and California in 2022. He didn't light the world on fire with his statistics in either game, but both of them were relatively close contests. Notre Dame beat the Boilermakers 27-13 on Sept. 18, 2021, and got the best of Cal 24-17 on Sept. 17, 2022. Plummer completed 25 of 36 passes for 187 yards with 1 touch - down and 0 interceptions for Purdue. As a member of the Bears, he connected on 16 of 37 throws for 184 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Plummer has barely averaged 5.0 yards per attempt against the Irish, who have his number. Plummer is off to the best start of any season in his career, though, with a career-best 11.5 yards per at - tempt through Week 4. We'll see what gives in Louisville. 2. Playmakers Around Plummer Louisville has two of the best skill position players in the country in running back Jawhar Jordan and wide receiver Jamari Thrash. Through four games, Jordan had 50 carries for 478 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground with an additional 6 catches for 133 yards and another score through the air. Thrash had 19 catches for 400 yards and 5 touchdowns at the same point in the season. Jordan was No. 3 in yards from scrimmage per game through Week 4. His 9.56 yards per carry ranked fourth nationally as well. Mainly because of Jordan but with the help of a couple other players as well, including Plummer, Louisville ranked No. 5 nation - ally in team rushing yards per game with 237.3 through Week 4. Add in its top wideout averaging north of 21.0 yards per reception, and the Notre Dame defense will have its hands full against the Cardinals' offense. 3. Shaky Defense Louisville played FBS opponents in three of its first four games. In that trio of matchups against Georgia Tech, Indiana and Boston College — teams that started the season with a combined 5-7 record — the Cardinals' defense gave up an average of 424.0 yards per game. Through Week 4, that would have ranked 117th in the country as a season-long average. Defense is usually something that takes time to get right early in a new head coach's tenure, and Jeff Brohm is an offensive guy by trade anyway. Notre Dame should be able to move the ball on the Cardinals both through the air with quarterback Sam Hartman and on the ground with running back Audric Estimé. — Tyler Horka Senior quarterback Jack Plummer is set to start against Notre Dame for a third consecu- tive season with a third different team. PHOTO COURTESY LOUISVILLE ATHLETICS Three Things To Know About Louisville