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Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons Irish will beat Louisville in Week 1

By Dante Pryor

SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 13: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly stands in the tunnel in front of his team before the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 13: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly stands in the tunnel in front of his team before the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – DECEMBER 29: Trevor Lawrence #16 of the Clemson Tigers scrambles away from Julian Okwara #42 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first quarter during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – DECEMBER 29: Trevor Lawrence #16 of the Clemson Tigers scrambles away from Julian Okwara #42 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first quarter during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /

5. Julian Okwara, Khalid Karem will after QB early and often

There might not be a better defensive end duo in the country than seniors Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem. Last season, they combined for 12.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss.

Louisville returns three of their five starters from last season, however, that unit surrendered 43 sacks. What will help Okwara and Kareem other than Louisville’s abysmal offensive line is the Irish depth along their defensive line. You can’t replace leadership and talent like Jerry Tillery, but Notre Dame can do the second best thing — rotate a lot of talented guys in several different positions.

Okwara and Kareem will get the lion’s share of snaps, but expect the Irish to go four-deep at the defensive end position with Daelin Hayes and Adetokunbo Ogundeji getting snaps. The Irish defense will also go at least four-deep on the interior as well with  Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Jayson Ademilola rotating at tackle with Kurt Hinish and Jacob Lacey seeing snaps at the nose guard spot.

Ultimately, the biggest help to those potential All-American defensive ends is their offense. If the Irish force the Cardinals to have to throw to stay in the game, Cardinals quarterback Jawon Pass might be running for his life for a good part of the game.

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