Game Thread | Louisville at No. 4 Notre Dame

Louisville (1-3, 0-3) at No. 4 Notre Dame (3-0, 2-0)

Notre Dame Stadium | 2:30 p.m. ET | NBC

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Offensive Fireworks Coming?

Louisville and Notre Dame will likely light up the scoreboard on Saturday afternoon as both offenses can score and score quickly. The Fighting Irish should be able to whatever they want against an undersized Louisville defense on the ground, but the Cardinals 3-4 scheme could make life a little difficult to start. 

Tutu Atwell and Javian Hawkins are two of the top big-play weapons in the ACC if not the country. Speed is the name of the game here and the Irish defense will need to account for both players all afternoon. 

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Irish pull away in the third quarter tomorrow and I don’t take that as a negative sign. Louisville had high expectations coming into 2020 and despite the record, the Cardinals are a team more than capable of hanging with anyone in the ACC.

Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame LB Bo Bauer
Bauer has emerged on 3rd downs for Notre Dame and has flashed as a run defender. He pretty much split snaps with Drew White in the Florida State game and it will be interesting to see if he can push White for more playing time this week and beyond.

Louisville WR Tutu Atwell
A big play waiting to happen in the slot. His numbers aren't reflective of his impact so far this season. Notre Dame has to do everything they can not to let him get loose.

Notre Dame WR Javon McKinley
McKinley just had the first 100-yard game of his career against a Power 5 opponent and he's taken advantage of his opportunities. Ian Book hasn't found his go-to guy yet, but McKinley put his name into the mix after that performance.

Louisville RB Javian Hawkins
One of the most elusive backs in the country, Hawkins, is a dangerous runner when he's had space. He's ninth in the country in rushing yards per game. He'd be in the top-five if he had more help from his blocking. 

Notre Dame DE Ade Ogundeji
Ogundeji has been Notre Dame's best pass rusher and had two sacks against FSU. He should have favorable matchups against both of Louisville's offensive tackles. Look for Ogundeji to harass quarterback Malik Cunningham several times.

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah:
“There are a few adjustments and tweaks, but in the overall process, you want to treat everybody the same in terms of competition. 

“Coach Lea always tells us, 'The duty as a competitor is to respect all of your opponents.'”

Notre Dame S Kyle Hamilton:
“I just try to leave all of that in a different space in my brain and just focus on being a regular college kid; just hanging with my friends, chilling, playing video games. I feel like that keeps me humble, knowing I’m never too big of a deal. At the end of the day, I’m just myself.

“I don’t need to get caught up in accolades or, ‘He’s this’ or ‘He’s that.’ I feel like once I start doing that is when I start falling off. I feel like I’ve just got to be the kid I’ve always been and that will make me my best.”

Notre Dame OL Liam Eichenberg:
"When I got injured, there was no thought in my mind that was like I want to stay out for the whole game. My first thought was, 'I need to go back in the game because you've got to take care of business no matter what.'

"I can tell you a lot of guys have dealt with a lot of things in past seasons and they were able to be out there. So felt like it was no exception for me."

Notre Dame CB TaRiq Bracy:
"When you get away from football for a few days or weeks, you're not going to play the same at first. Once we got into the game, we started to get a rhythm and we were able to win the game."

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on having no one in quarantine or isolation:
"When you have all your guys back, you feel, from my perspective, you feel complete. You have your team together. You have depth. You have competition. You have practices that are a lot different because they are structured in a manner that brings that competitiveness out during your preparation. That's extremely positive in so many areas."

For Your Nerves