Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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38 OCT. 7, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE BY TYLER HORKA LOUISVILLE RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE Despite having one of the nation's most efficient runners in redshirt junior Jawhar Jordan, Louisville ranked only No. 36 nationally in points earned in the running game through Week 4 per Sports Info Solutions (SIS). The Cardinals were even lower than that in points above average per play at 0.064. For reference, USC was No. 1 in the nation in the same statistic at that time with a mark of 0.262. Sometimes the advanced metrics can be a bit misleading, though. The Cardinals like to run the ball as evidenced by a 158-109 run-pass split through four games, and generally they do so quite effectively. Louisville racked up 227, 344, 184 and 194 rushing yards, respectively, in its first four games. The Cards had three players with 100 or more rushing yards in that span; Jordan led the way with 478, senior running back Isaac Guerendo had 142 and senior quarterback Jack Plummer had 100 on the dot. The main focus for the Notre Dame defense needs to be on Jordan, who started his career at Syracuse. He is finally on pace to flirt with 200 carries in a single season for the first time in his career. He set career highs last year with 142 rush- ing attempts and 815 yards. He's on track to break both marks if he stays healthy. The Notre Dame defense had the eighth-most points saved against the run in the country through Week 4 according to SIS, but the Fighting Irish were ranked all the way down at No. 75 in points above On PaPer Redshirt junior running back Jawhar Jordan was among the most efficient tailbacks in the country with an average of 9.56 yards per carry through Week 4. PHOTO COURTESY LOUISVILLE ATHLETICS Todd D. Burlage: Notre Dame 31, Louisville 24 A new day has dawned for the Louisville football program. And it started last December with the homecoming hire of head coach Jeff Brohm, a Lou- isville native and a former standout Cardinals quarterback. The first-year Louisville head coach has built a prolific offense this season that ranked No. 5 in rushing offense (237.2 yards per game), No. 15 in passing offense (304.8) and No. 9 in scoring offense (43.0 points per game) through four games. This is another tough road test that Notre Dame survives. Steve Downey: Notre Dame 49, Louisville 31 Head coach Jeff Brohm's return to his alma mater has gone about as well as could be expected. The Louisville, Ky., native and former U of L quarterback guided his team to a 4-0 mark with one of the more explosive offenses in the country. The Cardinals averaged 43.0 points per game and an impressive 7.7 yards per play (fifth in the country, one spot ahead of the Irish). On the flip side, the Louisville defense has yielded 25.3 points and 424.0 yards per game against the three mediocre-at-best FBS opponents (Georgia Tech, Indiana and Boston College) it has faced. I expect Sam Hartman and Co. to get back to their high-scoring ways in a shootout victory. Kyle Kelly: Notre Dame 38, Louisville 27 This feels like a game that could be much closer than it really should be, per- haps one that requires the Irish to pull away late in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman averaged about 34 points per game against the Cardinals in his career as Wake Forest's starting quar- terback. I think he guides the Irish to that total and surpasses it in a victory. Tyler Horka: Notre Dame 42, Louisville 21 The Louisville defense looked feeble against a few not so good teams, par- ticularly Georgia Tech and Boston College. The Fighting Irish will have their way with a Cardinals team that struggled to defend the pass and stop the run in those two games. Yes, the Cards' offense has been off to a hot start this season under the direction of Jeff Brohm back at his alma mater, but Notre Dame has recently stopped Brohm and quarterback Jack Plummer before when they were teamed up at Purdue, and the Irish will do it again. This game will be more about banner days for Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman and running back Audric Estimé anyway, just like the last time the Irish were on the road facing a red team from the ACC. See: Notre Dame 45, NC State 24. Jack Soble: Notre Dame 45, Louisville 27 After dealing with two difficult defenses in Ohio State and Duke, Sam Hart- man and company get a reprieve against a Louisville team that allowed 34 points to Georgia Tech and 28 to Boston College. The Cardinals can score, but their pass defense, which ranks 103rd with 7.6 yards per allowed attempt, won't be able to stop the Irish. Notre Dame will pull away late. Staff Predictions