Notre Dame Football Schedule 2024: 5 Things to Know About Louisville, September 28

Louisville shocked Notre Dame last season, but this year the showdown is in South Bend. What are the 5 things you need to know about the Cardinals?

Oct 7, 2023; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals defensive back Devin Neal (27) and Louisville Cardinals linebacker Stanquan Clark (6) tackle Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (12) during the second half at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Louisville defeated Notre Dame 33-20. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports / Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Louisville at Notre Dame, September 28

After a 4-0 start last year and a good fight in a painful loss to Ohio State, the Irish pulled off a miraculous comeback over Duke to get back on track as momentum was building for the showdown against USC. First, they had to get by Louisville.

The Cardinals were unbeaten with a few nice wins, but it was a struggle to get by Georgia Tech, Indiana, and NC State. This wasn't supposed to be a problem, and then ...

Louisville 33, Notre Dame 20.

The Irish got it back in a dominant win over the Trojans a week later, but considering the third loss was at Clemson in a good game, the date with Louisville was the low point of the season.

This time around it's in South Bend, the team should be on a roll, and there's a week off after this before hosting Stanford.

What are 5 things Irish fans need to know about this year's Louisville team? (Hint: It's a lot like the 2023 version, only with a better quarterback.)

5. Notre Dame has to grind out drives

Get ready for a theme over the next few parts of this.

Louisville was able to dominate the time of possession battle throughout last season, keeing the ball for over 32 minutes per game and owning the tempo on a regular basis. The offense was on the field almost four minutes more than Notre Dame's was.

The Irish were held to fewer than 300 yards of total offense, did nothing on the ground, and struggled up front meaning this time around ...

4. The Irish have to stop the Louisville pass rush

It all tied together. There were plenty of mistakes, too many stalled Irish drives, and misfires that weren't normal for the offense throughout the year. Notre Dame was 3-for-13 on third down conversions partly because Cardinal defenders were having a party beating up Sam Hartman.

The Irish allowed 16 sacks last season, and five of them came against the Cardinals. There's still a problem to deal with; Louisville star edge rusher Ashton Gillotte is back, and three of them came in last year's meeting.

3. Stop the run, stop Louisville

New year, new teams, new personnel, new styles, and all the rest of that - the Irish have to hold up against the Louisville ground game.

Last year the the Irish defensive front wasn't bad in the loss, but it allowed 194 yards and 4.6 yards per carry. The Cardinal passing attack should be even better than the 2023 version, but it's still about running well to pull this off. Louisville was 9-1 when running for 4.6 yards or more, and 1-3 when it didn't.

2. Louisville has a defense, too

Along with the pass rush that gave Notre Dame so many problems last season, the rest of the Louisville defense will be terrific, too.

The Cardinals - not Clemson, and not Florida State - had the No. 1 D in the ACC against the run and was among the best in the nation in the red zone. This bunch bent, but didn't break.

The secondary is loaded with veterans, the transfer portal filled in the gaps, and this should be a full 60 minute fight for the Irish offense.

1. Tyler Shough might be the best quarterback Notre Dame faces

One massive caveat here - Shough has to be healthy at this point in the season.

The former Oregon Duck-turned-Texas Tech Red Raider-turned-Louisville Cardinal has first round NFL Draft pick skills, but there's a reason you probably haven't heard of him - he keeps getting banged up.

This is his seventh season in college, and when the experienced 6-5, 225-pounder is right, he can do a little of everything. So far he has thrown for 4,625 yards and 36 touchdowns, and ran for 714 yards and ten scores. If he rocks in this, he'll be on the national map.

Notre Dame vs Louisville early summer prediction is ...
Really, so how did Notre Dame lose last year to the Cardinals?

Turnovers, and then more turnovers, and then another turnover.

There were five in all, wasting a strong performance by the Irish defense that was okay against the Cardinal running game and didn't let anything from the passing attack happen deep. It'll be a fired up Notre Dame crowd for this, the pressure will be on, and Brock Travelstead is still around.

Travelstead hit four field goals for the Cardinals last year, and he'll have another big game. Only this time, the Irish won't help the cause with all the mistakes. It'll be tight, but Notre Dame will hang on late.

Notre Dame 23, Louisville 16
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- Week 1: Texas A&M 5 Things to Know
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