Game Thread | No. 15 Louisville at No. 16 Notre Dame

No. 15 Louisville (3-0) at No. 16 Notre Dame (3-1) 

Notre Dame Stadium | 3:30 PM ET | Peacock | Line: Notre Dame -7.0 | Total: 46.5

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Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame TE Mitchell Evans
Louisville gave up receptions of 28 and 33 yards to Georgia Tech's tight ends. Their safeties were undisciplined against play-action as well. It could all lead to the first big game for Evans, who was fantastic in Notre Dame's big games last season. 

Louisville WR Ja'corey Brooks
The Alabama transfer has found his game again after an injury shortened his 2023 season. He's averaging 17.3 yards per reception and already has six catches of 20+ yards in three games. Not many teams try to test Ben Morrison deep, but Louisville will take some shots with their top receiver.

Notre Dame S Xavier Watts
Watts best games last season were in the biggest games. He got it kicked off the same way this fall with an interception against Texas A&M in the opener. He's playing at an even higher level and he should be counted on for another standout performance.

Louisville DL Ashton Gillotte
Gillotte was a game wrecker against Notre Dame last season and they lined him up inside and out. Louisville moves him around often to find matchups and the Irish will have to be aware of him on every snap. Equally good versus the run or the pass, he might be the best defensive lineman Notre Dame plays this fall.

Notre Dame DT Jason Onye
Onye has made the most impact of his career in the last two weeks with dominating reps as a pass rusher. He's stepped up in Gabriel Rubio's absence and is now looking like a player other teams will have to worry about each week. Notre Dame needs him to continue to be disruptive against Louisvlle. 

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
”I think more than anything we want to continue to stop the run. I believe we’ve given up more running yards than we want to. It’s really important that we take away running opportunities, yards after contact, making sure we’re fitting the gaps correctly and being able to defeat blocks. That’s been an area we’ve really challenged our defense on. We’re greedy people and not give them any yardage running ball, especially against Louisville. We know they are a team that likes to run the ball. That’s something we worked on all week and we have to continue to tackle a high level. I thought we tackled well last week, but we have to continue to do that.” 

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock: 
”He's (Riley Leonard) putting in some really good, substantial work on the practice field with those guys and trying to continue to build confidence, not only in what he's doing, but what they're doing. I think some of that resulted in him being willing to let go of it a little bit more. I just hope that continues to build. Because, obviously, when we threw the ball vertically down the field, there were some good things that happened. Yeah, the balls weren't completed, but if we hadn't been dragged on, they may have been. He did a good job of trying to be more aggressive with his decision-making and when to let the thing go.”  

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
”You look at the characteristics going back because that’s who he is as a player (Tyler Shough). But there’s no doubt he’s executing this system at a high level. He’s doing a good job. I’m sure he was hand-picked by Coach (Brohm) to run this system, and he’s doing a really good job of doing it. He’s throwing the deep ball well. I don’t think he has an interception. That’s what you want. Good running game, explosive shots and a quarterback that doesn’t turn the ball over. That’s a good recipe. We have to do something to distract that this weekend.” 

Notre Dame OL Rocco Spindler: 
“Tough times don't last, tough people do. I think that's kind of been my motto. Not only, my motto with this team's motto. Losing the NIU, I feel like we have a chip on our shoulder going the rest of the season.” 

For Your Nerves 

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