Notre Dame vs Louisville: Why the Irish Must Win Convincingly Over the Cardinals

Notre Dame has been sluggish to start the season, specifically at home. It has to come out hot vs Louisville

Sep 21, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) celebrates with wide receiver Jayden Thomas (83) after running for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Miami Redhawks at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

This isn't breaking news to anyone following the Notre Dame football program this season. Notre Dame must win against Louisville this Saturday, preferably in style.

So far on the season, Notre Dame has started slow in nearly every game bar Purdue and needs a quick start against Louisville for a multitude of reasons.

It seems when Notre Dame starts quickly, rather than sluggish and full of mistakes, naturally confidence is higher and the team plays with some swagger. In its only loss this season, Notre Dame did score on its first possession against NIU but it wasn't necessarily a pretty drive and as we know it all went downhill from there.

Against Purdue, the Irish offense ripped off a 40+ yard run through the brilliance of Jeremiyah Love and Notre Dame was off to the races in a trouncing of the Boilermakers.

It has become more and more clear that Notre Dame needs to start fast and that will surely be a point of emphasis for Marcus Freeman in practice this week. His team could not have started much uglier or slower against Miami University and he will not be looking to repeat that against a #15 Louisville squad that will be eager to put Notre Dame's playoff hopes to rest and invigorate its own with a win.

Freeman has not struggled to get his team up for big games throughout his coaching career, including big wins in marquee matchups with Clemson, USC and Texas A&M. Notre Dame has played well even in big game losses with Freeman, somewhat eliminating the stench of the "Notre Dame gets blown out in every big game" argument that casuals love to throw around.

𝙂𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠

🆚 Louisville
📍 South Bend, Indiana
📅 Saturday, Sept. 28
🕞 3:30 PM ET
📺 Peacock#GoIrish☘️ | @DICKS pic.twitter.com/I95U5f7IiB

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 23, 2024

There should be no issue for the Notre Dame players to be up for this one, a ranked matchup at home against a team that blew the Irish out of the water just last year at Louisville, but I have been wrong about this team and about Freeman before.

The vibes within Notre Dame Stadium have not been good to say the least and if things go sideways for Freeman and Company on Saturday afternoon, it could mark the third straight home game where the crowd audibly boos its own team. Not ideal.

In breaking down this game, Notre Dame has its collective back against the wall and is fighting for its playoff hopes each and every week. There is no time to be down or feel bad for yourself. It is go time.

Louisville is the toughest matchup remaining on the schedule, bar USC. Go handle business and put yourself in a position to continue handling business until week 12 when you head out to Los Angeles in a 'win or go home' with your biggest rival.

Handle. Business.