Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IRISH STRUGGLE EARLY WITH THIRD-DOWN DEFENSE In its first trip to Notre Dame Sta- dium, Louisville quickly jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter be- hind a pair of long touchdown drives. The Cardinals got on the board with a 10-play, 75-yard drive on their first possession and followed with a 93- yard march that took only eight plays to reach the end zone. It marked the first time this season the Irish had sur- rendered a touchdown drive of 80 or more yards. A pair of third-and-long conver- sions extended both of Louisville's drives and kept the Irish defense on the field. On their first possession, Cardinals running back Michael Dyer registered a 21-yard gain on an off-tackle rush on LOUISVILLE GAME NOTES NOTRE DAME VS. LOUISVILLE QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 6:24 5:24 4:51 7:50 11:48 12:41 24:29 Third-Down Conversions 0-2 0-3 1-2 3-4 0-5 4-6 4-11 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Average Field Position ND-31 ND-17 LOU-39 ND-23 ND-23 ND-46 ND-32 Louisville 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 8:36 9:36 10:09 7:10 18:12 17:19 35:31 Third-Down Conversions 2-2 2-6 1-3 1-3 4-8 2-6 6-14 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Average Field Position LOU-16 LOU-44 LOU-22 LOU-22 LOU-34 LOU-22 LOU-28 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score ND 5 2 2 1 LOU 5 3 1 1 Senior nickel back Matthias Farley and the Irish had a tough time stopping freshman quarterback Reggie Bonnafon early in the game, when he converted three third-and-longs and ran for two touchdowns. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA BY ANDREW OWENS AND DOUGLAS FARMER