Notre Dame vs. Louisville Preview: Can Irish Exploit Cardinals Biggest Weakness?

Louisville has a very strong team but has been especially vulnerable in one spot defensively

Nick Shepkowski | 2 Hours Ago

Sep 14, 2024; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) throws the ball during warm ups before a game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium. / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

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Most other weeks Notre Dame and Louisville's meeting this Saturday would be the biggest on the college football schedule as both sit inside the top 16 in the national rankings.

However, with Alabama hosting Georgia in one of the most hyped games of the year, Notre Dame and Louisville isn't getting near the hype it deserves for how big it is nationally.

For Notre Dame, every game is a must-win if it wants to make the College Football Playoff - as a loss against Northern Illinois allows no wiggle room for another loss.

For Louisville, a win would go a very long way in building a College Football Playoff resume for the Cardinals if they're not to end up winning the ACC and securing an automatic bid.

Looking over some numbers ahead of the matchup, Louisville's biggest weakness statistically comes at a place that hasn't been a strength for Notre Dame. Can the Irish improve their performance enough to exploit it?

Notre Dame vs. Louisville Preview: Cardinals Troubling Pass Defense

Louisville brings a very talented defense that makes teams put together long drives to score against it. Allowing just 0.252 points per play against, Louisville ranks 23rd nationally in that category, indicating this is a very solid defense that doesn't give up a whole lot of big plays.

However, Louisville's defense does have a weak spot. If you can give your quarterback time to throw, Louisville has allowed opponents to average 7.9 yards per pass attempt against them this year. That ranks just 90th out of 134 FBS programs. For comparison, Notre Dame allows just 4.9 yards per pass against, the 14th best nationally.

TOUCHDOWN IRISH

1️⃣3️⃣ ➡️ 5️⃣#GoIrish☘️ | @beaux_collins | @rileyleonard13_ pic.twitter.com/INzcY8Cfv0
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 21, 2024

Can Notre Dame take advantage of this is the question, though. Notre Dame's 5.9 yards per pass attempt this season ranks just 104th nationally so if Riley Leonard and company are to take advantage, they'll need to perform through the air in a way they haven't yet this season.

Notre Dame vs. Louisville Preview: Cardinals Against the Run

As much as Louisville has struggled to stop the pass, it has been very strong against the run. The Cardinals have allowed just 3.3 yards per rush this season, ranking them 32nd (10 spots better than Notre Dame against the run) in 2024.

Comparatively, Notre Dame has run wild on opponents (the Purdue game certainly skews this a bit) as its 6.7 yards per rush attempt is the fifth-best in the nation so far.