Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527190
28 OCT. 12, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED That's what the Irish coaching staff is looking for and trying to get out of these guys. It's clearly in there, it just needs to surface more frequently. Nobody clad in green would have been sweating with the ball in Louisville's hands in the fi- nal minutes of the game if that was the case. Hea d coa c h e s l ove fa s t starts. That's why despite be- ing as close as he could be to a game that had just about ev- erything in all three phases, Freeman's mind still goes back to the beginning and what Notre Dame's potential would be if the Irish's first offensive possession was indicative of most of the ones that unit gets the rest of the year. "That's the offense I want to see," he said. "That's a per- fect drive on offense. And it's not just about Riley. We ran the ball well, too. Thought our whole offense did a really, re- ally good job on the first drive." DEFENSIVE BACK DEPTH ON DISPLAY FOR IRISH Xavier Watts was in the right place, at the right time. He always seems to be. The graduate student safety sat back in zone coverage, reading Louisville sev- enth-year quarterback Tyler Shough's eyes over the middle. They led him to- ward senior Cardinals wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooks, who dropped Shough's pass right into his hands. "No matter where it's at, I'm gonna find a way to get there," Watts said. "I really just trust the quarterback, what he's showing me." Watts made a similar read in a simi- lar coverage to help graduate student nickel back Jordan Clark break up Shough's desperation heave on fourth- and-6 in the final minute, which ended the ballgame. "I'm kind of mad about that," Watts said. "I wish I picked it." However, Notre Dame's win over Louisville wasn't just about superstars such as Watts in the secondary. The Irish believed sophomore corner- back Christian Gray (shoulder) would play in Saturday's game, but after test- ing it out in warmups, they determined he couldn't go. Junior Jaden Mickey de- cided after Week 4 versus Miami (Ohio) to redshirt and enter the transfer portal after the season, so Notre Dame started freshman Leonard Moore at the field corner spot. Then, in the third quarter, Morrison had to leave for a series with an appar- ent injury. For most teams, down each of their top three cornerbacks, the situ- ation would be dire. Notre Dame is not most teams. The Irish kicked Clark out to corner- back, sliding graduate student safety Rod Heard II down to nickel. Both transfer additions have played those respective positions before, but not yet this season with the Irish. Clark was not targeted. Heard was, twice. On third-and-2 from the Lou- isville 48-yard line, Shough went after him and tried to hit elite slot receiver Caullin Lacy over the middle. Heard broke it up. On the next play, Shough tried Heard one more time. He was denied, again, with Watts providing pressure. "We just have that next-man-up mentality," Watts said. "We have a good DB room. Any of the guys can play. So just those guys being able to come in, we trusted them and they were able to do the job." NOTRE DAME VS. LOUISVILLE QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 8:22 4:59 7:35 7:00 13:21 14:35 27:56 Third-Down Conversions 1-2 0-2 0-4 1-2 1-4 1-6 2-10 Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 0-0 1-2 0-0 1-1 1-2 2-3 Average Field Position LOU-44 ND-28 ND-37 ND-34 ND-40 ND-36 ND-38 Louisville 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 6:38 10:01 7:25 8:00 16:39 15:25 32:04 Third-Down Conversions 0-2 3-5 1-4 3-6 3-7 4-10 7-17 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-1 0-1 0-1 1-2 0-2 1-3 1-5 Average Field Position LOU-31 LOU-40 LOU-16 LOU-38 LOU-35 LOU-27 LOU-31 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND LOU Nega ve 7 7 0-5 32 45 6-9 6 9 10-19 5 7 20-29 0 6 30-39 3 1 40-49 0 0 50 or more 0 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 2 2 0 0 Louisville 3 2 0 1 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 2-10 ND34 Leonard pass to Greathouse for 34 yards and a touchdown • 3-6 ND29 Leonard pass to Harrison for 34 yards to LOU37 • 2-5 LOU32 Leonard pass to Love for 32 yards and a touchdown Louisville • 1-10 LOU7 Shough rush for 46 yards to ND 47 and fumbled • 2-11 LOU16 Shough pass to Brooks for 27 yards to LOU 43 • 1-10 LOU5 Chaney rush for 27 yards to LOU32 • 2-3 LOU13 Shough pass to Johnson for 27 years to LOU 40 • 3-7 LOU28 Shough pass to Lacey for 34 yards to ND38 Graduate student cornerback Jordan Clark contributed 5 tack- les (1 for loss) and 1 pass broken up to help the Fighting Irish knock off the Cardinals. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER