Louisville football is 6-0. With Pitt up next, here is what we learned from Notre Dame win

Jawhar Jordan wasn’t going to shy away from the moment.

The Louisville running back was unsatisfied with his performance against N.C. State a week ago. The Wolfpack held him to fewer than 100 yards rushing. Jordan made up for that against an even tougher defense, scoring two late touchdowns and helping the No. 25 Cardinals to a 33-20 win over No. 11 Notre Dame on Saturday night in front of a sold-out L&N Stadium.

Jordan said the key to his success — his eighth career 100-yard rushing performance — was being patient.

“We just knew that the run game was going to hit once we were being patient,” he said. “We just embrace the moment. When our number gets called, just make the play.”

Louisville (6-0) made enough plays to pull off one of the biggest wins in program history, keeping the team undefeated through the first 1 ½ months of the season.

Here are three takeaways from Louisville’s win over Notre Dame:

Raising the bar

The Cardinals’ win over the Fighting Irish paints them in a different light. Despite the team’s undefeated record, it had yet to play a ranked team, especially one of Notre Dame’s caliber. The Cardinals went from being 6 ½-point underdogs to defeating the Fighting Irish by 13 points.

Beating Notre Dame was a “prove it” moment that puts U of L into the national spotlight for the first time since the Lamar Jackson era. With that comes a different level of responsibility.

“We're happy to be where we're at because it is a big win. We want to enjoy it. That's what excites us all,” coach Jeff Brohm said. “Just like I told the team, once you win a game like that, the bar goes from here, up to here. So, while we want to enjoy it and relax and go be around our family and friends, we’ve got to get back to work.”

Cardinals linebacker TJ Quinn believes the victory sends a statement that the team can “play with anybody," but U of L will have to continue proving it. Louisville next is scheduled to play a one-win Pitt team that’s undergone changes to its offense. The Cards won't underestimate the Panthers, though, and have an opportunity to be 7-0 for the first time since 2012.

“Coach (Brohm) always preaches it's a one-game season,” U of L quarterback Jack Plummer said. “We're only focused on the next opponent. That's it. We're not looking ahead. Just take care of business every single day and then just let it stack on each other.”

Using multiple quarterbacks

Louisville has nine quarterbacks on its roster and doesn’t mind using any of them. The Cardinals played two against Notre Dame, bringing in Evan Conley at different points. Brohm has been pleased with Conley’s athleticism and utilized him to help take some potential hits off Plummer.

On first-and-goal from the 7, Conley picked up 3 yards. After a false-start penalty, Plummer threw a 9-yard touchdown to receiver Jamari Thrash for the team’s first score.

One quarter later, Conley was brought back in, though his rushing attempt was for naught. He lost a yard, and the Cardinals were forced to punt after a three-and-out.

“Evan's a really good athlete,” Brohm said. “If I had to take it back, both calls, they max zeroed it and blitzed us and probably not a whole lot of room to run. We have to have some different things off of that if we're seeing that, so, that falls on me.”

Tweaking the defense

Through the first five weeks of the season, Louisville had nine sacks, though it could’ve had more. On several occasions, the Cardinals struggled to convert the pressure they got on opposing quarterbacks into the statistical category they dominated a year ago. The defense finally broke through and got to Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman five times. Defensive lineman Mason Reiger led the unit with two sacks. Safety Devin Neal picked off Hartman twice, and cornerback Quincy Riley had one for Hartman's first three interceptions of the season.

Louisville limited the Fighting Irish’s rushing attack to a season-low 44 yards. They previously averaged 192.17 yards per game.

Brohm attributed the increase in sacks to coaching, citing the staff’s adjustments of putting players in a better position to make plays.

“Every week we tweak the package to guard people tighter, get our hands on people more, challenge receivers and seam routes more and allow that defensive line just a little more time to get in there,” he said. “I think the blitz package has been more aggressive, and that comes from coaching and planning. So I give (co-defensive coordinators Ron English and Mark Hagen and) our whole defensive staff a lot of credit. We've continued to slightly tweak things even when things are working well.”

A moment to remember: Louisville football's win over Notre Dame is one of biggest in program history. Here are others

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football vs Pitt next. Takeaways from Jeff Brohm 6-0 start