What they’re saying about Notre Dame’s 31-24 win over Louisville
It was a roller coaster for Notre Dame, jumping out to a 21-7 lead and looking like a well-oiled machine offensively to a group that could only get a field goal on its ensuing six drives. Louisville out gained the Fighting Irish by 115 yards, but at the same time, it felt as if Notre Dame was always in control of the matchup. Regardless, the Irish improved to 4-1 on the season heading into a much-needed bye week.
In this article, we’ll take a look around at what the media is saying about the Fighting Irish’s triumph against the Cardinals, including Blue & Gold’s Mike Singer and Tim Hyde giving their instant reaction to the game in a YouTube live show. You can watch the replay of the show in the video player below.
And now for what they’re saying…
Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold—’Awkward’ & ‘weird’: How Notre Dame football won ugly on offense vs. Louisville
Notre Dame had the ball five times in the second half against Louisville excluding the “drive” that equated to two quarterbacks kneels at the end of the game. Based on what happened — and what didn’t happen — in those five true drives, senior Riley Leonard and everyone who roots for him and his team were fortunate he was indeed touching his knee to the wet Notre Dame Stadium turf.
He almost didn’t deserve to, for reasons not all his fault.
Three of the possessions spanned four or fewer plays. One resulted in a turnover on downs. Thankfully, for the Irish’s sake, the other went 75 yards on five plays for what was ultimately the game-winning touchdown march.
Point being? Lotta ugly. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman admitted as much. Louisville had 395 total yards. The Irish had 280.
Freeman was asked about the Irish offense being largely inept in the final 30 minutes in the context of the conversations he was having with Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock.
This is what he said.
“Hey, we got to get a first down. What we’re doing right now is not working. Let’s try something else. That’s about it.”
Jack Soble, Blue & Gold—Five thoughts: Notre Dame defense proves faith is warranted, again
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman made the controversial decision to run senior quarterback Riley Leonard up the middle on fourth-and-3 from the Louisville 46-yard line with a 10-poing lead in the early fourth quarter.
Leonard gained 2. Cardinals football. But Freeman wasn’t concerned.
“I know the game gets close, but we have a lot of confidence in our defense,” Freeman said. “It’s why I’m so aggressive as a coach on fourth down. You got a lot of confidence in your defense.”
And why wouldn’t he? That defense has consistently risen to the task.
After the failed fourth down, Louisville made it to Irish territory but not much further. Graduate student nickel back Jordan Clark (a pass breakup) and junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison (a quarterback hit that nearly became a sack-fumble-touchdown both made plays, and Notre Dame forced a 56-yard field goal attempt.
The kick went in, but the Irish will take that any day.
Some will point to Louisville’s 395 total yards. That number would be 437 if not for a botched punt snap. But while Notre Dame often bent, it rarely broke, save for a couple short fields.
The Cardinals ended drives of 46 yards (fumble), 48 yards (interception), 60 yards (turnover on downs) and 45 yards (punt) without points. That’s what a playmaking defense does.
Here are four more thoughts on Notre Dame’s 31-24 win over Louisville.
Conor Shea, Card Chronicle—Louisville falls to Notre Dame, 31-24
Where to begin?
The more I sit in this frustrating defeat, the more it feels like all those Clemson games of yesteryear where it felt like Louisville had everything in front of them to win, but made just enough mistakes and the opponent had just enough help to slip away.
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However, unlike most games against Clemson, Louisville looked and felt like the better team for the majority of the game. There were just too many mistakes made by players, coaches, and the referees for them to overcome what I think most of us would agree to be a decent, but not elite Irish team.
Let’s just go through the miscues.
The game had the start we could only dream of this week with the fumble deep in Irish territory. Then brilliant play call after brilliant play call had the Cards up by 7 just moments later. It was all going better than we could have hoped, until it wasn’t.
John Kennedy, Notre Dame on SI—Notre Dame Could’ve Folded After Early Mistakes vs Louisville, But Didn’t
For the third time in as many tries, Notre Dame got off to a slow start at home in Notre Dame Stadium. After a fumbled opening kickoff followed by a poor quick change defensive series which allowed Louisville to quickly grab momentum and a 7-0 lead, Notre Dame had options.
The Irish could’ve gotten deflated and discouraged leading to an uninspired loss to a Louisville team for a second year in a row. But that didn’t happen. Notre Dame responded to their early mistakes emphatically with a touchdown drive of its own followed by a great defensive play to get the ball back again soon after.
This resilience was refreshing.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman
Opening statement from postgame press conference:
“Yeah, man, great win. Obviously wasn’t perfect as everybody saw, we saw, our players saw. You find a way to get it done when it matters most. (The) defense had to go out there and prevent them from scoring that last drive.
“A lot of confidence — I know the game gets close, but we have a lot of confidence in our defense. It’s why I’m so aggressive as a coach on fourth down. You got a lot of confidence in your defense.
“I’m proud of them. Proud of the coaching staff. Proud of the players in terms of how we learned, hopefully from the lessons this last year taught us, from the lessons of this year, and we were able to go out and perform and get the job done.
“At the end of the day, we are evaluated, win or not. Did you get it done? We found a way. We’ll go back. We’ll clean it up as we go into the bye week, look at the areas of improvement, have a plan and attack them.
“We know we got to improve. Seven guaranteed games, I told them. We’re going to need everybody. Have to continue to get better, but it’s a great feeling going into the bye week with a big win over a good Louisville team.”
