Michael Chen
September 29, 2024 11:55 am ET
For one quarter, it seemed like Notre Dame was one of the best teams in the country, but Louisville answered and ultimately came up short losing 31-24.
The Irish victory moves them into 4-1, as a bye will help them sort out some of their injuries issues. They return to the field to face Stanford the following weekend, so this was our last time seeing Notre Dame on the field for almost two weeks.
There was so much to digest about the Notre Dame win, and here are my final thoughts on the Irish defeating the Cardinals.
This team needs a bye
While we didn’t get much information from head coach Marcus Freeman regarding Boubacar Traore’s injury, multiple other important players got dinged up. Quarterback Riley Leonard was shaken up, cornerback Benjamin Morrison and running back Jeremiyah Love sat out plays as well. They all returned, but clearly not at 100%, as this bye couldn’t come at a better time for Notre Dame to get healthy again.
Offensive issues
I have no idea what happened between the first quarter and the rest of the game for the Irish offense. It looked like offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock had figured out the Louisville defense early, only to see them make the necessary adjustments to stop Notre Dame from moving the ball. Leonard didn’t seem the same after his one play off, which obvious hurt the rhythm of the offense. Luckily, the Irish put together a much needed insurance touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, but like the injuries, the bye comes at a great time. Self-scouting should happen over the next week, so hopefully Denbrock can figure out how to really get this offense humming.
Where have the tight ends gone
For many years, Notre Dame’s tight ends have been a focal part of the offense. They have disappeared this fall, as they have combined for 18 catches for 179 yards and two scores. It’s a far cry from what we have seen in the past, but there is still hope for this group. Again, the bye week is important here, as Mitchell Evans works his way back from last year’s season ending injury. This group needs to be involved more, and hopefully we see an uptick in production when they hit the field against Stanford.
Running back rotation
While we all know that Jeremiyah Love is the clear cut No. 1 back, RB2 is now a bit more murky. Jadarian Price didn’t help his own cause with a fumble, which opened the door for Aneyas Williams to get more playing time. I’d like to see all three of them getting more opportunities going forward, as this group is very deep and talented.
3rd and 4th down offense
It was a significant difference between the two, as the Irish struggled to make it past the chains on 3rd down, going just 2-of-10. On fourth down, it was a completely different story, as the Irish went 2-of-3. I loved the mix of plays on the final down, as the first attempt was a pass for 5-yards, the second was a run by Leonard. Unfortunately, the final attempt looked like the second, and it failed. It makes sense to run Leonard on those plays, but there is a need to add some trickery to it. Once you’d done it once, the defense has seen it, so you have to try to confuse them if you want to use it again.
The defense did exactly what I thought they would do
Louisville came into the game with a high-powered offense, and they were going to get yards, but the key was to keep them out of the end zone. Both of their touchdowns were on short fields after changes of possessions, so you can’t put much blame on them for those. It was really just one drive that the defense faltered, the 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Many will look at the 437-yards given up as bad, but what was most important was allowing just 24-points. Defensive coordinator Al Golden did a great job slowing down the Cardinals offense.
The Northern Illinois loss keeps looking worse
The Huskies found themselves ranked following their upset win over the Irish, and at that point it looked like it would be a “good” loss. Well, that’s not the case now, as NIU fell again, this time to NC State. Back-to-back one score losses for the Huskies is going to hurt Notre Dame in the long run. The win this week helps the cause, as the door isn’t closed to make the College Football Playoff, but you have to believe that the committee will dock them for such a bad loss.