WR Jaden Greathouse Shines as Notre Dame's Offense Gains Momentum

Saturday’s game didn’t start the way Notre Dame expected as the Irish fumbled the opening kickoff and gave up a touchdown three plays later. 

Yet, Notre Dame didn’t flinch. 

The Irish offense responded immediately as Jeremiyah Love scored from six yards out to complete an impressive 12-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game. 

“That was a big influence for us all week, just knowing they’re a good team and starting fast,” stated. Greathouse. “All week, we had a good game plan throughout practice, getting our good competitive stuff earlier in practice and made sure that prepared us for the game. We know what kind of team they are and I think that definitely helped us today.” 

Notre Dame scored touchdowns on its first three possessions, which was highlighted by Jaden Greathouse’s 34-yard touchdown catch to put the Irish up 14-7 following a Louisville turnover.

The Texas native was quick to give credit to his fellow receiver, Beaux Collins, as he helped Greathouse get wide open in the end zone. 

“We just a great look that we wanted for the play,” recalled Greathouse. “We ran it to perfection. Beaux did a great job of clearing out that safety and making sure I was wide open. It took all of us to get me open on that play. It’s something we’ve been working on all week and we were able to execute it during the game.” 

Greathouse finished the day with four catches for 61 yards, while the Irish totaled 163 yards through the air. 

It wasn’t always pretty, but Notre Dame made plays when they needed to in crucial moments. 

“We had a lot of matchups we wanted to attack,” explained Greathouse. “We knew they like to play man against specific teams. We liked our matchups that we had. We had confidence in all our receivers and quarterback to get us the ball. That’s what we did. We went out there and made plays like we know we can do all season.”

And it appears Notre Dame took a step forward on the practice field, which led to the efficient performance and now the Irish will have a chance to get healthy, but also build on the momentum during the bye week. 

“Keep building off the confidence we built up this week,” Greathouse said. “We had a really good week of practice. Just continuing to build on weeks like that and just making sure that our preparation is as best as it can be so that we’re ready for any opponent that comes our way.” 

The win now puts Notre Dame back in a position to achieve long-term goals and the program will lean on its chemistry over the next three-game stretch before the second bye week. 

“I think we’re a really tough group,” Greathouse explained. “I think we’re a resilient group. There’s been a lot of adversity that’s come our way this season so far, but we remain strong, confident and we trust each other. I think that’s what this team is built on and it’s going to continue to lead us going forward.” 

Starting fast has been something this team has done well for the most part and the next step will be to find more consistency throughout the game to put teams away. 

“It really just comes down to starting fast and remaining consistent throughout the game,” stated Greathouse. “I think we do a really good job of coming out and striking from the first possession. It’s just a matter of continuing to do that throughout the entire course of the game and not giving them a second to breathe.” 

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