SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 16 Notre Dame held on for a 31-24 win against No. 15 Louisville, earning a pivotal victory against a ranked opponent heading into an idle week. It provides a dose of optimism for College Football Playoff hopes three weeks after the upset loss to Northern Illinois.
The Fighting Irish (4-1) fell behind early but scored three touchdowns in less than five minutes to take a 21-7 lead in the first quarter. The offense then went largely cold before Riley Leonard’s 32-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiyah Love gave Notre Dame a 14-point cushion with 9:16 left in the fourth quarter. Louisville (3-1) scored with 5:17 to play to cut the lead to seven, but its final drive stalled after a delay-of-game penalty on fourth-and-1 was followed by an incompletion on a deep shot.
Here are some immediate Notre Dame takeaways:
In a must-not-lose spot, Notre Dame wins
The Athletic’s College Football Playoff predictor model was clear about what Saturday meant for Notre Dame. Beat Louisville and the Irish would have a 50.8 percent chance to make the CFP, even if hosting a game in the first round remains a reach. But lose to the Cardinals for the second year in a row, and the Irish would have just a 15.6 percent chance of making the postseason that matters.
It was all enough to make Saturday a referendum on the season and perhaps the head coach, too. Considering Notre Dame began the game by fumbling away the opening kickoff, then immediately gave up a touchdown to Louisville, the entire afternoon got off to an ominous start. But from there, Notre Dame showed poise through an otherwise tumultuous game of turnovers, big plays, crazy catches and basically whatever else this sport can cram into four quarters.
The result means Notre Dame remains on the national radar entering October, with games to come next month against Stanford, Georgia Tech and Navy. After getting the first of two idle weeks, Notre Dame will be heavily favored in all of those matchups. The Cardinal come to South Bend, while the games against the Yellow Jackets and Midshipmen are at neutral sites (the Georgia Tech game is at Mercedes-Benz Dome in Atlanta, but not Bobby Dodd Stadium on campus). Notre Dame faces Navy at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Is Notre Dame good enough to run the table through the next two months? That’s impossible to say. But the Irish would basically be out of contention entirely if they lost to the Cardinals.
Is Irish offense on the upswing?
During the game’s middle two quarters, Leonard looked like the quarterback holding Notre Dame’s offense back: an unwilling runner after getting beat up by Louisville and an unproductive passer, going 7-of-12 for 23 yards. But at the game’s start and its finish, Leonard looked like the quarterback Notre Dame hoped it was getting from the transfer portal last winter: a dynamic runner, confident passer and weapon in Mike Denbrock’s playbook.
Leonard finished 17-of-23 for 163 yards and two touchdowns while also running 13 times for a team-high 52 yards and a touchdown. It wasn’t the quarterback-does-everything operation of last week when Leonard had to create on his own, which was a good thing for Notre Dame. Leonard’s 34-yard throwback to Love for the crucial fourth-quarter touchdown was the kind of athletic play that athletic quarterbacks make. The inaccuracies in the short passing game against Miami (Ohio) were mostly gone, too.
Leonard ➡️ Love#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/IiM8z1WaEm
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 28, 2024
This was the kind of quarterback play that Notre Dame can build on the rest of the season, which isn’t something Marcus Freeman could say most weeks. Leonard is far from perfect. He remains a work in progress. But there was at least progress against Louisville, the kind of stuff that can put the season’s second half in a different perspective.
The issue with Leonard will be his health, as he again suffered a brief injury in the first half. It wasn’t clear if Leonard was injured or simply fell on the ball. Later, he took a hard hit in the fourth quarter and came up limping. It was all a reminder that the best of Leonard also puts the quarterback in jeopardy.
Defense was stretched to the limit and beyond
At one point during the second half, Notre Dame fielded a defense without starting cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Christian Gray and was also down defensive end Boubacar Traore. It was the latest reminder that even deep teams have limits, which Notre Dame found out during the second half and somehow played through to hold on. That’s even as Notre Dame’s offense sputtered for much of the game.
Morrison’s return in the third quarter after exiting in the second proved massive, as his blitz of Tyler Shough almost turned into a defensive touchdown on a fumble return. The call was overturned to an incompletion.
Still, the Irish were stressed in every way imaginable on defense during a week when they also lost third cornerback Jaden Mickey after he opted out of the rest of the season with plans to transfer. Notre Dame played nickelback Jordan Clark at cornerback for stretches, with safety Rod Heard filling in at nickel.
Traore’s apparent knee injury could still be devastating long-term, as the sophomore had become a star in the making. Just a couple of snaps before his knee appeared to buckle, Traore chased down a Louisville running back from the opposite side of the play, good for a TFL.
Considering Louisville’s first two touchdown drives were gifted by turnovers, including Notre Dame fumbling away the opening kickoff, the Irish defense played admirably through adversity. It’s just not clear how much longer they can keep this going, even with an off week upcoming.
(Top photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
