Notre Dame-Louisville Predictions: Do Cardinals pose real upset threat?
It’s been an exhausting couple of weeks for Notre Dame football as the Irish have gone down to the wire each of the last two Saturday nights. Will this Saturday’s trip to unbeaten Louisville be the same?
It’ll be one of the bigger games in recent memory for a Louisville team who impressed through five games. They jumped into the top 25 this past week, can they soar up the rankings by upsetting Notre Dame?
The Irish have to find their offense again, something that has regressed the last two weeks. Will they be able to do so and keep their dreams of reaching the College Football Playoff alive for at least another week?
Here is what the Fighting Irish Wire staff sees happening Saturday night in Louisville:
Geoffrey Clark (6-0)
Hopefully, Notre Dame is settling into playing quality opponents having played Ohio State and Duke, now facing Louisville and with USC just ahead. If anything, this stretch has told the Irish that the first third of their schedule was an outlier that they simply had to feast on. In my opinion, the Cardinals are the weakest team in this brutal stretch, though that’s not really saying a whole lot about the talent drop-off. Still, the Irish should show they’re the better of the two.
Notre Dame 30, Louisville 24
Michael Chen (6-0)
Although Louisville enters this game as an undefeated ranked team, they’re not quite as good as their status suggests. The Irish know all about Jack Plummer, their best receiver, Jamari Thrash, transferred in from Georgia State, shouldn’t be much of a challenge for the Notre Dame defense. It’s on offense that I have a few concerns, but getting healthy out wide will help Sam Hartman a good amount. As long as the Irish can score over 28, they should win fairly easily and I think they do.
Notre Dame 38, Louisville 17
John Kennedy (5-1):
This is a tough month for the “Notre Dame doesn’t play anybody” crowd. Another week, another huge night game in primetime against an undefeated team. And with USC coming next, this trend will likely continue. While I respect Louisville’s unblemished record, I think there are some areas the Irish will exploit in ways they weren’t able to the last 2 weeks. I expect Notre Dame’s offense to get back on track and post some more robust numbers both through the air and ground aided greatly by the return of Thomas and Greathouse from the injured list. Defensively, I expect another solid outing by the Irish that includes some havoc up front against an at times suspect Cardinal offensive line. The home crowd is loud and proud early, as they’ve been on social media this week , but the Irish eventually ruin their buzz, literally and figuratively.
Notre Dame 34, Louisville 20
Jeff Feyerer (5-1):
While this game against Jeff Brohm and the Cardinals appears to be another tough matchup for the Irish, they pale in comparison to the Ohio State and Duke squads they’ve played the last two weeks. Louisville’s schedule has been light to far, thus the impressive raw numbers they’ve put up (one of only 8 teams in the nation in the top 25 of points scored per game and points allowed per game) hardly resonate in my mind. They’ve seen quarterback Jack Plummer before at Purdue so no surprises there and while running back Jahwar Jordan is a load (ACC leader in rushing yards), I expect the Irish defense to rise to the challenge. And after a few statistically below average games from Sam Hartman, my expectation is that he’ll get back on track. It’s nice to have a Notre Dame squad to still feel confident after a loss and an almost letdown. Let’s hope they continue to give us reasons to believe.
Notre Dame 37, Louisville 17
Nick Shepkowski (5-1):
You might think Sam Hartman has taken a step back but reality will tell you that he played against a pair of top 10 pass defenses the last two weeks and did so playing without a few of his favorite targets. The competition takes a step back in that department this week as Notre Dame’s offense takes full advantage. Louisville relies heavily on the big play – something Notre Dame mostly doesn’t give up. It’ll be hostile and difficult early on but the Irish pull away late.
Notre Dame 35, Louisville 17
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