LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Tenth-ranked Notre Dame and unbeaten No. 25 Louisville are eager to move past admittedly ugly victories in their first meeting while ranked.
Saturday night’s sold-out, nationally televised non-conference clash offers both teams an opportunity to execute the way they hoped to by the season’s midpoint. For the Fighting Irish (5-1), it’s the latest challenge in a four-game stretch against ranked teams. Louisville (5-0) has its best start in 10 years and first AP Top 25 ranking since early last season but faces its biggest test under first-year coach Jeff Brohm.
“It’ll be a challenge for us to be efficient and move the football,” Brohm added, noting the Irish’s standing in several national categories.
“We’re going to have to win a lot of the small battles, not turn the ball over, be efficient, be good in the red zone, and find ways to get turnovers.”
Both had room for improvement after last week.
Notre Dame led Duke before having to rally late for a sorely-needed 21-14 victory over the No. 17 Blue Devils after a crushing home loss to No. 6 Ohio State. Another second-half comeback helped the Cardinals claw past North Carolina State 13-10 and enter the rankings after inching close in recent weeks.
The game features two of the nation’s top offenses despite last week’s uneven play. Both feature two transfer quarterbacks who have history with their opponent.
Louisville enters with a 13th-ranked attack averaging 494.8 yards per game under Brohm. The Cardinals managed just 306 and with three giveaways against the Wolfpack, but QB Jack Plummer fought through two interceptions to pass for 286 yards and a 39-yard touchdown to spark the rally.
Irish coach Marcus Freeman said his team will be challenged to slow up the Cardinals and the former Purdue and Cal QB.
“We’ve got to be good in our pre-snap disguises and try to give him some different looks and not just give him one or two looks, and try to get him to hold (the ball) a little bit," Freeman said.
The Cardinals have a similar mission in stopping Notre Dame’s No. 20 offense (477.2 yards) led by Sam Hartman.
The Wake Forest transfer has thrown for 14 TDs and no interceptions, the best streak to start a season in school history. That TD total includes five in the fourth quarter, where Hartman has completed 17 of 27 for 213 yards. His 17-yard scramble on fourth down helped set up Audric Estime’s 30-yard scoring run before the QB tossed the game-winning, two-point conversion pass.
Louisville wants to avoid any such scenario and force him into making his first mistake.
Said Cardinals defensive end Stephen Herron, “He’s a veteran quarterback who’s going to make plays, and we’re going to have to do the same against him.”
JERSEY CHANGES
Plummer will face Notre Dame for the third year in a row, each time on a different team. He played under Brohm at Purdue from 2018-21 and in 2022 at Cal. Plummer has lost the last two years against the Irish while completing 56.2% of his passes for 371 yards and two TDs. Hartman was 2-3 against the Cardinals from 2018-22 with Wake Forest and tossed three interceptions in last year’s 48-21 loss here, two of which were returned for TDs.
JUMP-STARTING JORDAN
Louisville running back Jawhar Jordan leads the ACC with 510 yards rushing but managed just 29 yards on 20 carries at N.C. State. Brohm stressed the importance of getting him the ball and space, especially against an Irish defense allowing just 124 yards against the run.
“That’s what he needs to be at his best,” the coach said. “He played hard, he hung in there. It was just one of those games where the running game wasn’t as efficient as we’d like it to be.”
ACC MASTERS
Notre Dame has beaten ACC teams 30 consecutive times since losing 41-8 to Miami in 2017. The Irish moved past Florida State (1992-1995) for the longest such streak, according to ESPN. Louisville is 1-2 against Notre Dame and seeks its first series win since the 2014 inaugural meeting.
STACKING UP SACKS
Louisville defensive end Ashton Gillotte has recorded four of his five sacks the past two games. Three came against Boston College, his third career multi-sack effort, and he ranks fifth nationally.
HONORING THE ‘OTHER’ BROHM
Cardinals offensive coordinator Brian Brohm, Jeff’s younger brother, will have his jersey honored during the contest. He ranks among the school’s top five in several passing categories and led Louisville to an Orange Bowl win in the 2006 season.
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AP Freelance Writer Andrew Mentock in South Bend, Indiana, contributed to this report.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
