Everything Louisville coach Jeff Brohm said about Notre Dame football

Jeff Brohm has made a name for himself as a college coach upsetting powerhouse programs. He’s got a chance to take down Notre Dame, again, for the second time in as many tries Saturday.

Here’s everything Brohm said ahead of taking his No. 15 Louisville Cardinals (3-0) on the road to face the No. 16 Fighting Irish (3-1), who are a 6.5-point home favorite.

Opening statement

“Definitely excited about this weekend and the opportunity ahead for our football team. It will be a great chance to test and see exactly how we stack up against one of the nation’s best. I know our team is looking forward to having a great week of practice and trying to get better each and every day and going out there and trying to play our best on Saturday.”

On Louisville’s penalty problem

“They were kind of unique penalties that we can get fixed. One was a screen that we’re supposed to catch behind the line of scrimmage. The nose tackle didn’t rush so we had to get in the second window and he went upfield a yard. The other one was an unfortunate block below the waist that we can’t have on a little bit of a trick play. A couple untimely holding calls. For the most part this year we’ve been pretty good but we got to make sure we clean it up as much as we can because it took away some big momentum swings for us.”

On getting the right fit at QB from the transfer portal

“Well, there are risks involved without question. It’s not like you can go and fully scout them and get to know them. Things have to happen fast and you need to do your research and you’ve got to trust what you see but also get to know the individual as fast as you can because that position is very important. Luckily for us Tyler [Shough] has come in and done a great job and really led this football team really good through three games and of course we got many tough games ahead of us, but to this point he’s played very, very well and has been a great addition for us.” 

On Notre Dame playing a ‘revenge game’ vs. Louisville

“Without question when you lose to a certain team one year maybe when you’re supposed to win you’re going to be prepared and go above and beyond to make sure it doesn’t happen again so I’m sure they are going to do that. First off it’s a very talented football team. I mean really, really talented across the board. A lot of great players. They’re well coached, the defense has been outstanding, they want to run the ball and use their quarterback as a runner and not turn it over. It presents challenges.

“When you face those types of teams, you have to find a way to kind of beat them at their game a little bit while still doing what you do well. It will present challenges for us. Last year we just played very efficient football. They turned it over a lot, which really hurt them. The game was still close for a while until we broke a couple runs that really shifted the momentum to us.

“With Notre Dame, it’s important to figure out a way to get a lead and to make them do some things that they’re not as comfortable doing and when you do that you can create a little bit of advantage. But until then they are very talented and they are going to challenge you and it’s going to be a tough game for us.”

On growing up Catholic and if he was ever a Notre Dame fan

“They recruited me. A little bit later in the process. They had signed Rick Mirer at the time, who was only rated the No. 1 quarterback in the country. So when they got down to me even though they still wanted me I would rather go somewhere and play and not have to fight that battle. I can recognize talent as well and knew they already had the guy they wanted.

“I have a great respect for their program and the history and tradition of Notre Dame. The chance for our team to go up and play in that atmosphere and our fans to go up again, I know it happened years ago for them and they found a way to pull out the win, it will be a great opportunity. We’re looking forward to it. This is big-time football against one of the nation’s best every year. And once again this year they are extremely talented and one of the best.”

On preparing for a desperate Notre Dame team

“Well because the game didn’t go the way they wanted last year and because of what you said, we expect their best. They will be ready to play, and they will be fired up to win this football game. So that’s why we have to worry about ourselves, have a great week of practice and come ready to play. We can’t have a lot of mistakes and there’s things we have to correct from this past week that we can’t do again, in order to keep this game close as long as we can and figure out a way to win in the end. So without question we expect their best and they will be ready to play.”

On Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard

“Well once again he is very similar to the quarterback we faced last week at Georgia Tech. He can run the football, he can use his legs to win. They have done a good job this year of calling specific quarterback runs and making you defend against an extra blocker, which presents challenges. He still has the ability to throw the ball.

“So I just think it will be another good test for our defense. We’ll have to be really sharp. Not giving up big plays will be big, not giving up big quarterback runs. It’s one thing if you get two, three, four sometimes five yards but big runs will be a big play. Then trying to stop the run, making them throw the ball vertically will be something we have to really concentrate on. But they’re well coached and they’ve utilized his talents very well to this point this year.”

On Leonard as a runner and defending the QB run

“We work hard at it. I wouldn’t say we’ve been great at it. Jacksonville State’s quarterback ran for a lot of yards on us. Georgia Tech’s quarterback ran for some yards on us. We’ve got to get better at it. The quarterback pulling the ball and running on the edge, we had plans for it. It wasn’t executed. The quarterback draw, we gave him too much space. Our safety and linebacker weren’t in conjunction together and he got some big yards. So there were some things we got to do better. Now, we did hit him. There were times we defended it well. We got some negative plays and yards for loss. It just wasn’t all the time. Is it always going to be all the time? No it’s not. But we do want to defend the quarterback run better. Riley is very good. They have designed runs for their quarterback. He’s put up a lot of yards running. So we’ll have our hands full and we need to have a really good plan ready.”

On Louisville’s injuries

“Well like everyone we had a little injury bug this past week and Jadon (Thompson) will be out for the year with a knee injury, (Dakadrien) Saunders on the special teams play will be out for the year with a knee injury. Quincy (Riley) will be a game-time decision and Maurice (Turner) we’ll see, I’m not optimistic.

“But we’ll continue to work through that, and those things happen and that’s why you’ve got to have depth. Other guys have to practice every week like they’re going to be on the field every play and if they are great, if they’re not they need to keep practicing every day like their numbers called because it will be called throughout the course of the year. Definitely this game will have some new pieces out there and they’ll have to perform well.”

On how similar Notre Dame is to last year’s Irish team

“It’s very similar. On defense, they’re really good. They’re well coached and they understand the package and they challenge you, they get after the quarterback and they hit him a lot. Really good up front, two outstanding defensive tackles that are really highly ranked. My old teammate, Roman Oben, his son [RJ Oben] is a defensive end transfer who’s done a good job. Their linebackers have played for a long time, they’re really good. The secondary, two outstanding players – corner and safety – and the others that are really good. So we’ll have to play well and we’ll have to be sharp in all aspects.

“And of course on offense, they pride themselves on running the ball and with this quarterback it presents more challenges. He can run the ball and he can throw it as well, but he will use his feet. They will have designated runs for him, they will make you account for him and all the plays and formations they have, which is challenging. We have to prevent him from getting yards in the running game and that will be a challenge for us and they’ve been really good at it.” 

On Louisville’s running game vs. Georgia Tech

“It was not a great day for us running the ball. Sometimes, that will happen against good teams. Could we have done some things better? Without question, we could have. We probably need to make sure we utilize certain runners on certain runs, maybe a little more specifically and make sure we’re doing what they do best. At the same time, if people are loading the box and they’re putting some guys in there, unless you’re going to use your quarterback as a runner a lot, you might have to take what they give you. That means maybe throwing the ball and doing some things when you get those looks.

“But teams disguise well now. They’re not going to show you everything they do, so you’ve just got to be good at both. Yes, being efficient running the ball helped us in the game last year. Our defense’s performance and our running game is what won us the game. And being efficient and not turning the ball over won us the game.

“So, to this point, we have had zero turnovers and that’s hard to do. You practice it, you talk about it, but it’s hard to do. Possessions will be vital this game, and that will be the starting point — making sure we’re aggressive but smart enough to not give them more opportunities and more possessions because they will run the ball at you, they will use the clock, they will use the quarterback as a runner and we need to try to find a way to get the lead.”  

On playing at Notre Dame as the head coach of Purdue

“We just played them once at Notre Dame. The game was close. They shut our our offense down for the most part and we turned the ball over some. It was close because of that but they still won in the end and pulled away. Other than that, that was the only one.”

On what stands out about Notre Dame Stadium

“For fans, it is a great venue to come visit. There is a lot of tailgating going on. There are a lot of activities before the game that they take a lot of pride in. It’s a college campus. Outside of the campus, that’s the main sell, is the campus. And it’s a beautiful campus. And they are ready every Saturday for game day. That is impressive to see.

“Of course the stadium has been redone a few times. It packs them in there. It can get loud. It’s a heavy dose of green and gold, and they do a great job. Winning there is not easy, and we understand that. This is what you play for, what you coach for, these types of games. A great opportunity for our guys to see how we stack up.”

On the importance of the Notre Dame game for the Louisville program

“Well this is a huge stage for our team, to go up there and play in this atmosphere against a really good opponent. Can be a huge momentum swing in our direction if we can find a way to win, without question. It gives your team credibility and definitely elevates your program, so this is one of those games that you’ve got to take advantage of. You’ve got to come ready to play, you’ve got to give it everything you’ve got, you’ve got to lay it on the line, you’ve got to be aggressive and take some shots, and you’ve got to try to win. So, our team hopefully will prepare well this week. I think we understand what this game means. It’s important like every game, but this is just a great opponent, in their venue, that can be special if we find a way to win.”