The Fighting Irish take on the Louisville Cardinals in a week 6 matchup in South Bend, Indiana. The Louisville Cardinals come in 1-3 and 0-3 in conference play. On the flip side the Fighting Irish come in at 3-0, 2-0 in conference play.
About the Cardinals:
Notable non-football Alumni: Mitch McConnell (Politician), Diane Sawyer (Journalist), Russel E. Dougherty (Commander in Chief of Strategic Air Command Air Force.) Notable Football Alumni: Johnny Unitas, Chris Johnson, Elvis Dummervile, Teddy Bridgewater and Lamar Jackson.
The Louisville Offense is lead by Quarterback Malik Cunningham a redshirt Junior. Who has thrown for 986 yards and nine touchdowns. He averages 246 yards through the air. He is third on the team for rushing as well with 180 yards and three touchdowns with an average of 36 yards a game.
The Running back to watch is Javian Hawkins a redshirt Sophmore who has rushed for 497 yards. He has three touchdowns for an average 117 yards a game. Watch out for receiver Tutu Atwell who has 281 yards with four touchdown grabs. He averages 11 yards a catch and 70 yards a game. Defense wise Linebacker Dorian Etheridge who is a senior will look to wreck havoc. He has 16 solo tackles and 11 assists for a total of 27 this season.
The Cardinal defense gives up on average 389 yards a game to their opponents. They give up more passing yards with 233 a game to opponents compared to their average of 156 rushing yards given up. Points wise the Cardinals give up 34 points a game to their opponents.
About the Match-Up:
This will be only the third time these two programs meet with the series deadlocked at one game a piece. The Cardinals will look to end their three game losing streak, 0-3 conference record and their most recent loss a 47-26 beat down by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Irish on the other hand look to continue their winning ways and stay undefeated after a 42-26 victory over the Florida State Seminoles. The Louisville Cardinals will have their hands full with the Fighting Irish Offense and Defense.
The Fighting Irish offense is firing on all cylinders. Averaging a whopping 40 points a game and out scoring their opponents 121 to 39. The Fighting Irish average 207 rushing yards and 204 passing yards a game for a grand total average of 475 yards a game. Look for the passing game to get going in a big way.
Braden Lenzy who hasn’t quite hit his stride yet could have a career day. He should be able to finally get going firstly since the Louisville Defense is giving up 233 passing yards a game. Secondly he has Ian Book throwing to him who is starting to look more poised in the pocket. Kyren Williams will look to have another monstrous game as he is averaging 119 yards a game. Williams is currently at 359 for the season and tied for the 12th best in the nation. Which is very amazing since he has one less game than the rest of the running backs currently on the list.
The Fighting Irish Defense will look to shut down the Louisville offense. Louisville’s Malik Cunningham will have his hands full since he has been sacked 14 times already through 4 games. He is averaging 246 yards through the air and the Fighting Irish defense only gives up 212 passing yards to opposing passing offenses. With only 111 yards given up the ground as well Javian Hawkins will be under fire. The Fighting Irish defense should be able to handle the Cardinal offense if they can contain Malik Cunningham.
In Conclusion:
The Fighting Irish should have no problem with the Louisville Cardinals. As a result the offense should look to put up some impressive numbers especially in the passing game! The defense should be able to get back on track against offense that is flashy at times but struggles to protect their QB and give him time to throw. The Fighting Irish Secondary could boost the Defensive line by locking down the Cardinals wide receivers.
Final score predictions for this game George’s pick Notre Dame wins 48-20. Ben’s pick Notre Dame wins 35-21. (Note* These predictions were made before the season started and before the Fighting Irish also had to stop their season for two weeks due to COVID-19)