Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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TURNING POINT After Notre Dame fell behind 17-6 at halftime, it began the second half with its best six minutes of offense, defense and special teams symbiosis this season. The effort began with a three- and-out Irish defensive stand that concluded with a sack. Notre Dame then drove 51 yards for a touch- down, forced another three-and-out, and then had a 61-yard punt return by sophomore running back Greg Bryant set up a three-yard touch- down drive and a 20-17 lead. Alas, just when you thought Notre Dame had seized control, Louisville answered with an 81-yard touch- down march. Power runner Bran- don Radcliff fueled the drive with five carries that gained 45 yards to re-establish the line of scrimmage, and a 21-yard scoring pass to wide receiver DeVante Parker gave the Cardinals the lead for good at 24-20. STAT OF THE GAME A case can be made for Louis- ville's 229 yards rushing and 4.6 yards per carry to take the burden off freshman quarterback Reggie Bonnafon. However, it's not a sur- prise that Notre Dame's vulnerable defense will give up points, requir- ing the Irish to tally about 35 points to have a chance. The top stat is Notre Dame scored only two touchdowns on five red- zone possessions, thereby leaving too many points on the field again. In the first half, the Irish had first- and-10 at the Cardinals 15 and sec- ond-and-three at the Louisville 17. Both times it had to settle for field goals. On the game's final drive, the Irish had first-and-goal at the Louis- ville 10 — but senior Kyle Brindza's 32-yard field goal attempt with 51 seconds remaining went wide right to preserve the Cardinals' 31-28 win. GETTING A HOLD ON THE KICKING GAME Senior kicker/punter Kyle Brin- dza has enjoyed a stellar career at Notre Dame that has had an unfor- tunate final chapter. In his final two home games, he was 0 of 2 on field goals in the 43-40 overtime loss to Northwestern, including missing a kick in the extra session, and versus Louisville he shanked a 32-yard at- tempt with 51 seconds remaining that would have knotted the game at 31. With the benefit of hindsight, the change in holders from former battery mate Hunter Smith to the left-handed sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire may have created some issues. If head coach Brian Kelly didn't make a change after Smith mishan- dled three snaps, he would have been blamed for that. The fact that he did almost put him in a "damned if you, damned if you don't" situation. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY LOU SOMOGYI