Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 28, 2024 41 GAME PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE COACHING The last time Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm met, Freeman was thoroughly outcoached. It's impossible to give the edge to the home team here, with that game still fresh in Irish fans' minds. After that game, Freeman admitted that "for whatever reason," in his words, the Irish were not prepared to play. His opening statement after Notre Dame's loss to Northern Illinois sounded awfully similar. "We've got to go back and evaluate the way we prepared and figure out exactly how the mishaps occurred in the preparation," Freeman said. "I've always said performance is a reflection of prepara- tion. We've got to figure out where we failed in preparation." Freeman would later explain that Notre Dame did not "handle success" well against NIU after its win at Texas A&M, and that they didn't take the Huskies seriously as an opponent. One would think that will not be an issue against Brohm's Cardinals, who entered Week 4 just behind the No. 17 Irish as the No. 19 team in the Associated Press Top 25. Brohm's track record includes three top-five wins during his days at Purdue and rapid success at Louisville. The Cardinals won 10 games in 2023, Brohm's first season back at his alma mater, for the first time since 2012. As far as the coordinators go, it doesn't get much better or more experienced (or more ex- pensive, reportedly) than Notre Dame's duo of Golden on defense and Mike Denbrock on of- fense. But Louisville's aren't slouches, either. Brohm's son, Brian, has been his offensive co- ordinator since 2016 at Western Kentucky and is considered good at his job. D-line coach Mark Hagen and secondary coach Ron English co-coor- dinate the defense, and their units were excep- tional last season. Advantage: Louisville INTANGIBLES Thirty-seven players on Notre Dame's two-deep depth chart were here last season. They will re- member how it felt to see their College Football Playoffs dreams die in Louisville, Ky., on Oct. 7. 2023, and they will play with a passion that reflects that. The Irish also know that they have a bye week on the horizon in Week 6, and with that comes a chance to make significant strides in fixing their issues in time for the stretch run. They'll know all they have to do to get there is win this game. The Cardinals will be motivated, too, to pick up a critical road win and maybe, just maybe, put themselves in contention for an at-large bid to the College Football Playoff (entry by way of winning the ACC would still be on the table either way). But Notre Dame has more talent and, crucially, the game is in South Bend. Advantage: Notre Dame Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 5 Beaux Collins 6-2 206 Gr. or 83 Jayden Thomas 6-2 218 Sr. WR 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 So. or 2 Jayden Harrison 5-10 198 Gr. LT 54 Anthonie Knapp 6-4 294 Fr. 79 Tosh Baker 6-8 325 Gr. LG 72 Sam Pendleton 6-4 310 So. 75 Sullivan Absher 6-7 321 So. C 78 Pat Coogan 6-5 310 Sr. 72 Sam Pendleton 6-4 310 So. RG 50 Rocco Spindler 6-5 325 Sr. 55 Chris Terek 6-5 330 So. RT 59 Aamil Wagner 6-6 291 Jr. 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 323 Fr. TE 88 Mitchell Evans 6-5 260 Sr. 87 Cooper Flanagan 6-6 257 So. or 9 Eli Raridon 6-7 250 Jr. WR 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 184 So. or 10 Kris Mitchell 6-0 186 Gr. or 11 KK Smith 6-0 178 So. QB 13 Riley Leonard 6-4 216 Sr. 18 Steve Angeli 6-2 208 Jr. RB 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 210 So. or 24 Jadarian Price 5-10 206 Jr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. VYP 5 Boubacar Traore 6-4 243 So. 44 Junior Tuihalamaka 6-2 246 Jr. DT 99 Rylie Mills 6-5 295 Gr. 47 Jason Onye 6-5 291 Sr. NT 56 Howard Cross III 6-1 288 Gr. 41 Donovan Hinish 6-2 278 Jr. DE 9 RJ Oben 6-3 265 Gr. 40 Joshua Burnham 6-4 251 Jr. or 30 Bryce Young 6-7 238 Fr. WILL 24 Jack Kiser 6-2 231 Gr. 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 216 So. or 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 240 Fr. MIKE 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 239 So. 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 240 Fr. ROV 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 224 Jr. 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 216 So. CB 20 Benjamin Morrison 6-0 190 Jr. 15 Leonard Moore 6-2 191 Fr. SS 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 200 So. 28 Luke Talich 6-4 211 So. or 23 Kennedy Urlacher 5-11 196 Fr. FS 0 Xavier Watts 6-0 203 Gr. 2 Rod Heard II 5-11 195 Gr. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 98 Mitch Jeter 5-11 195 Gr. K 98 Mitch Jeter 5-11 195 Gr. P 16 James Rendell 6-6 224 Gr. 90 Eric Goins 6-2 209 Gr. LS 49 Andrew Kros 6-3 220 So. 39 Rino Monteforte 5-7 200 Jr. SS 39 Rino Monteforte 5-7 200 Jr. 49 Andrew Kros 6-3 220 So. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. H 26 Chris Salerno 5-11 208 Sr. 81 Jack Polian 6-0 183 Sr. PR 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 So. 37 Max Hurleman 5-11 202 Gr. or 20 Aneyas Williams 5-10 206 Fr. KR 2 Jayden Harrison 5-10 198 Gr. or 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 210 So. or 24 Jadarian Price 5-10 206 Jr. Special Teams Redshirt senior cornerback Quincy Riley has made 14 career interceptions. PHOTO COURTESY LOUISVILLE ATHLETICS