Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 12, 2024 21 done when it matters most … At the end of the day, we are evaluated win or no. Did you get it done? We found a way." Senior quarterback Riley Leonard was nearly flawless on Notre Dame's open- ing touchdown drive. He completed 5 of 6 passes for 31 yards, including a perfect ball on fourth-and-3 to keep the drive alive, in addition to a 9-yard gain on the ground. It wasn't always that easy for Leon- ard and the Irish offense, however. He finished 17-of-23 passing for 163 yards with 2 touchdowns, and Notre Dame had only 280 yards as a team for the entire game. Louisville racked up 395. The Irish cashed in on short fields pro- vided to them by special teams and the defense to put 17 of the points on the board. That was the difference. The short fields are where the afore- mentioned wackiness came into play. Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough faked out just about every Notre Dame defender on a disguised, play-action quarterback keeper. He gained 46 yards, running free. Irish freshman corner Leonard Moore and graduate student safety Xavier Watts punched the ball out, though, and sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry fell on it. Leonard found sophomore wideout Jaden Greathouse wide open in the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown a few plays later. That gave Notre Dame its first lead, 14-7. "Those are the ones that freak me out because I'm like, dude, don't miss him," Leonard said. "I missed a couple last week. But yeah, it was good, man. Al- ways a good feeling." Louisville later botched a snap on a punt, and Notre Dame gunner Jordan Faison knocked the loose ball all the way down inside the Cardinals' 10-yard line. Freshman Kennedy Urlacher recovered it at the 4-yard line. Leonard scored his seventh rushing touchdown on the next snap to put the home team ahead, 21-7, late in the first quarter. Watts has had many " look what I found" interceptions in the last two seasons, and he added another midway through the second quarter. Mitch Jeter made a 48-yard field goal after an Irish three-and-out. Notre Dame led 24-14 at that point. L o u i sv i l l e 's se co n d to u c h d ow n , meanwhile, followed a fumble inside the Fighting Irish 9-yard line by Notre Dame junior tailback Jadarian Price. The Irish weren't the only ones who re- ceived a gift. This triumph, bolstered by sopho- more running back Jeremiyah Love's 32- yard receiving touchdown and a last- minute defensive stop, is Notre Dame's gift to Fighting Irish faithful. With it, winning out and reaching the College Football Playoff remains a possibility. Don't lose sight of Louisville, a 10-win team that beat the Irish a year ago, com- ing in unbeaten and likely being a CFP contender in its own right coming out of the ACC as well. Freeman's team responded to an early in-game blunder and, on a larger scale, responded to critics calling for them to play better than it did a week prior against Miami (Ohio) against a better opponent. Check and check. Season stays alive. "We're a really tough group," Great- house said. "We're a really resilient group. There's been a lot of adversity that's come our way throughout the season so far. But we remained strong, we remained confident and we trust each other. That's what this team is built on, and it's going to continue to lead us going forward." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 21, LOUISVILLE 7 Top moment: Already down 14-7 and facing fourth down, disaster struck for Louisville. The Cardinals snapped a ball over senior punter Brady Hodges' head, and Faison lit him up as he at- tempted to recover it. Urlacher scooped it up at the Louisville 7-yard line and was tackled at the 4. Feature performer: The breakout quarter finally came for both Leonard and Greathouse. The former was re- sponsible for two scores — one through the air and one on the ground — and finished the frame with 96 total yards. The latter caught that passing score over the middle for a 34-yard touch- down, and he totaled 3 catches for 58 yards. Notable Stats: Notre Dame picked up 132 total yards to Louisville's 92. The Cardinals fumbled three times and lost two of them. Items: Ford fumbled the opening kickoff, and Cardinals senior defensive back Tamarion McDonald recovered … On the ensuing possession, Shough completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to freshman running back Isaac Brown … Love punched in a 6-yard touch- down run to tie the game 7-7 … Love's score doesn't happen if Leonard doesn't complete a 5-yard pass to senior wide receiver Jayden Thomas for a fourth- and-3 conversion … Greathouse's touchdown was preceded by Moore "punching" the ball out of Shough's arms after a lengthy run, and Ausberry's recovery. Junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison and the Irish defense made enough plays to fend off Louisville's comeback bid. The Cardinals turned it over three times and were only 1 of 5 on fourth-down plays. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER