Notre Dame might be in for a tougher battle than the experts predicted. Notre Dame holds a lead at halftime in Louisville, but the Cardinals are not about to go away. A late fumble by the Cardinals (one play after Notre Dame fumbled, which was one play after Louisville had fumbled) allowed the Irish to take the lead with Ian Book (who was responsible for the fumble) taking off for an easy touchdown run. At halftime, Notre Dame leads Louisville 21-14.
Notre Dame looked like it had an offensive game plan that has been worked on for months to set the tone after their playoff elimination last season. Ian Book was perfect throwing the football and took advantage of a Louisville defender turning his back on him for a 37-yard gain on the ground on the first play from scrimmage. Jahmir Smith finished the 75-yard drive with a short three-yard touchdown run to give the Irish an early lead. But Louisville wasted no time in providing some energy for the blackout crowd. Jawon Pass picked up an 18-yard completion to Seth Dawkins and Javian Hawkins managed to find some yards on the ground on the ensuing possession. On 3rd and 12, Notre Dame’s Julian Okwara gave away five free yards with an offside penalty, and Pass took off for a 13-yard gain on the next snap. A 15-yard by Javian Hawkins a few plays later led to an eventual touchdown run by Pass to draw even at 7-7.
Notre Dame went three-and-out on their next series, and Louisville took the lead after that with a 12-play touchdown drive. Pass once again did the honors by running the ball into the endzone for the lead. This time it was a reversal of fortune, however, as the Irish were the ones to answer right away. An 11-yard run by Tony Jones evened the score at 14-14 later in the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the scoring slow down, with only the late score by the Irish putting the dent on the scoreboard.
If you need to put on a pot of coffee, now is the time. You may not want to miss the end of this game.