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Notre Dame Football

Game Thread | Louisville at No. 4 Notre Dame

October 16, 2020
74,483

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

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

Game Week Articles | Roster| Depth Chart Schedule |Staff Predictions 


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 

TEAM STATS Notre Dame Louisville
Points Per Game 40.3 29.0
Points Allowed Per Game 13.0 34.3
Total Yards 475.0 424.3
Yards Passing 204.3 246.5
Yards Rushing 270.7 177.6
Yards Allowed 323.3 389.8
Pass Yards Allowed 212.0 233.0
Rush Yards Allowed  111.3 156.8

Game Thread | Louisville at No. 4 Notre Dame

74,458 Views | 686 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by 6926bp
irishbearcat09
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It's clear they're going all in on the run an daring Book to beat them especially with their DBs getting a lot of almost picks already. They will blitz often on third down too because Book appears to be rattled. Rees needs to adjust accordingly, hopefully the D can hold again.
irishtank6900
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If you are disappointed in the OL...

A. Understand that a lot of these stops have been from guys beating TEs

And B. When you rewatch, look at where these Louisville defenders are lined up at the snap of the football.
Mike Frank
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Staff
Kelly made a HUGE mistake when he didn't bench Book last year for Jurkovec, and now we're paying for that decision. We will paying for it the rest of the year.

Mike
MAS
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I would dare ND to complete the deep ball. They can't. Book is awful at throwing it
IRISHFAN4LIFE77
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This reminds me of the point the coaching staff benched winbush due to lack of effectiveness. I'm calling for a change at qb , this doesn't resemble the level of play expected of a 5th year senior. Enter Brendan Clark please ! Sheesh
REMND
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I thought Louisville had a bad defense but good offense. We have 105 yds so far with 6 pts. The cards offense has been worse.
GoldenHomer
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Ian Book looks as comfortable and confident with the football as Rad Tad in Little Giants.
bmhend54
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Tommy needs to adjust the game plan. And Book....he just can't get out of his head and play. No feel, insecure, drops his eyes against pressure. He just is what he is at this point but we are never beating an elite team with him back there.
mattfreeman
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Staff
Personal foul on Louisville. -15.
blairkiel
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Do we not have hot routes...

Does book know how to read a d

Can rees give us a play to beat the blitz


This is terrible offense so far
IRISHLOYAL
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Running up the middle on 2nd and 10 has never worked. Ever. For anyone. At any level of football.

Book is marginal.
jmsheridan
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They have to try clark. This is ridiculous. Need a spark.
pbrad28
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The best they can do v. A 1-3 team?
rmirish
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GT D must really suck. I'm betting our D can hold Lawrence to under 50. If we can score 50 plus, we will beat Clemson.
mjshepard
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Mike Frank said:

Kelly made a HUGE mistake when he didn't bench Book last year for Jurkovec, and now we're paying for that decision. We will paying for it the rest of the year.

Mike

Amen
Rwolf101
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JOK everywhere today. I half expect to pass him in my kitchen on the way to get a refill
ndSlaw
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Sucks we're wasting a good D today...
mattfreeman
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Staff
3rd-and-21.....Louisville gets 13 from Hawkins.
GulfCoastIrish
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jmsheridan said:

They have to try clark. This is ridiculous. Need a spark.


I would be SHOCKED if BK did that.

Afraid he'd hurt Book's feelings.
Rwolf101
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Their punter has performed the best on their team today.
blairkiel
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Mike Frank said:

Kelly made a HUGE mistake when he didn't bench Book last year for Jurkovec, and now we're paying for that decision. We will paying for it the rest of the year.

Mike
That seems to me to be a in game overreaction.
irishtank6900
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jmsheridan said:

They have to try clark. This is ridiculous. Need a spark.


Can't. Not saying they shouldn't, but they can't.

We are married to book for this year, no matter what.
ejsjr
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Firefighter8196 said:

UL pretty much gonna make Book beat them with his arm which has been way below average so far today.


Then let's pass out of the T formation with play action.
irishtank6900
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I do want to thank Satterfield for running OZ right at JOK over and over again.

Probably not the best idea.
rmirish
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jmsheridan said:

They have to try clark. This is ridiculous. Need a spark.
Not going to happen
irishtank6900
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Play action, get him outside the pocket. Something easy to start this drive.
SWANSEA
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rmirish said:

jmsheridan said:

They have to try clark. This is ridiculous. Need a spark.
Not going to happen
The passes need to be released sooner.
irishbearcat09
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Mike Frank said:

Kelly made a HUGE mistake when he didn't bench Book last year for Jurkovec, and now we're paying for that decision. We will paying for it the rest of the year.

Mike


Lol Book looked great last week, this is a bit reactionary through 1.5 quarters. PJ has proven nothing yet that suggests he would be better than Book. We weren't sure he was even going to be the #3 this year.

He's looked better than BC's typical 2 star QB. Who cares.
jmsheridan
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Florida State must really suck
ndsean44
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Dude, what the **** is going on with the run game so far?

OL is creating zero holes so far.
SWANSEA
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Lou knows the plays.
Rwolf101
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Patterson struggling with their nose
bmhend54
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If they won't make a change Tommy has to change it up and get the ball out fast. Book is dropping his eyes as soon as he feels a rusher, not climbing the pocket and missing guys coming open. He's jumpy and isn't going to stay settled for straight drop backs.
mattfreeman
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Staff
Books runs for 21.
SWANSEA
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Lou forgot the QB.
 
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