Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 7, 2023 39 GAME PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE average per play against rushing attempts. That essentially equates to having defended a lot of running plays to help boost the total points saved statistic but still giving up enough big plays to hurt the overall average. SIS gave the Notre Dame run defense a "Boom Percentage" of 8.3 percent through its first five games. That ranked No. 115 in the FBS, meaning the Irish were among the worst teams in the na- tion at doing something of extreme significance — fumble recovery, huge tackle for loss, etc. — against the run. In layman's terms, the Notre Dame defensive line has to be better. Advantage: Louisville LOUISVILLE PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Through Week 4, Notre Dame ranked No. 3 in the country in opponent quarterback rating (54.4). The Fighting Irish also had the No. 2 passing efficiency defense in the nation at the same time, even after having already faced Ohio State and its elite corps of wide receivers. The bottom line is, Notre Dame cornerbacks Cam Hart and Benjamin Morrison make up one of the best duos at the position in the country. Morrison made life difficult on Ohio State wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. even before Harrison Jr. was hobbled with an ankle injury. Hart is as good of a No. 2 corner as you'll find in the country. Morrison will likely draw the assignment of Lou- isville wide receiver Jamari Thrash for most of the game. Through Week 4, Thrash was one of 19 wideouts in the nation averaging at least 100 receiving yards per game. He's a top-flight wide receiver in college football. That'll draw the game- long attention of one of the best corners in the game. Plummer, whom Notre Dame has seen twice already, once with Purdue in 2021 and the other with Cal in 2022, is having a renaissance season reunited with head coach Jeff Brohm, formerly the head coach at Purdue. Plummer's 11.5 yards per attempt through Week 4 was the second-best mark nationally at the time behind only USC's Caleb Williams and Washington's Michael Penix Jr. tied at the top. Plummer threw for 247, 247, 238 and 388 yards in his first four starts of the season. This Notre Dame secondary, particularly the cor- ners, present an entirely new challenge for Plum- mer than going against Georgia Tech, Murray State, Indiana and Boston College, though. Morrison and company have the means to make life difficult on opposing quarterbacks and pass-catching options, and if the Irish pass rush would ever help out a little with a few quarterback takedowns it could be one of the best overall units against the pass in the country. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. LOUISVILLE RUN DEFENSE Through Week 4, Notre Dame had the seventh- most points earned per play via rushing offense of any team in the country according to SIS. The Irish also ranked No. 8 in points above average per play via the run. The Notre Dame offensive line, meanwhile, ranked No. 2 nationally in points earned run block- ing and No. 11 in points above average run block- ing per SIS. Basically, Notre Dame is a top-10 team in the country when it comes to running the foot- ball based on SIS's advanced metrics. It helps to have arguably the best offensive tackle in the country in junior Joe Alt. It also helps to have one of the nation's best tailbacks in junior Audric Estimé. The latter's numbers were down a bit in the loss to Ohio State, but he only carried the ball 14 times in that game. Through Week 4, he still ranked No. 9 nationally in rushing yards per game at 118.2. The average yards per rush for running backs in the top 10 in yards per game through Week 4 was 6.63. Estimé's was better than that at 7.68. The Fighting Irish have five running backs they're comfortable giving the ball to. Sophomore Gi'Bran Payne scored a huge touchdown versus Ohio State. Sophomore Jadarian Price and freshman Jeremi- yah Love both averaged more than 7.0 yards per attempt in that game. Graduate student Devyn Ford is getting back into the mix after missing time with a concussion. They'll go against a Louisville rushing defense that ranked No. 81 in the country in points above average per play through Week 4. For Louisville, it was actually points below average. The Cardinals had the first rushing defense to have a points above average per play figure in the negative num- bers at minus-0.004. A below average rushing defense against a healthy, hungry Notre Dame running back corps in tandem with a strong offensive line is not a good mix for the Cards. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. LOUISVILLE PASSING DEFENSE Even after only passing for 175 yards and a touchdown against Ohio State, Notre Dame still had the No. 5 points earned per play value in the FBS through Week 4 according to SIS. The only Stephon Herron, a redshirt senior who transferred to Louisville after four seasons at Stanford, notched 4 tackles, 2 sacks and a forced fumble in Stanford's 16-14 upset at Notre Dame last year. PHOTO COURTESY LOUISVILLE ATHLETICS