Notre Dame Football: Report card for tough win vs. Louisville in Week 1

The Notre Dame football season has finally begun after a long and painful offseason, but how did the Irish look against Louisville?

Notre Dame football fans have been disappointed ever since Clemson ended their season in the College Football Playoff. With a tough schedule, every game matters. Without a conference championship, the Fighting Irish will likely have to go 12-0 if they want to make it back to the CFP.

They didn’t have a perfect game against Louisville, but they managed to get the job done. With tougher games on the schedule, they are going to have to show some progress if they want to go 12-0 and make it back to the College Football Playoff.

Notre Dame has plenty of talent from last year’s team that they have to replace. On offense, the running game will be without Dexter Williams. Williams was a work horse in the offense last year. On defense, the Irish will be without Jerry Tillery in the pass rush. Julian Love will also have to be replaced in the secondary. They played pretty well at these positions against Louisville, but we will have to see if that can be sustained throughout the rest of the season.

Against Louisville, Notre Dame got off to an ugly start. When the Cardinals scored on each of their first two drives, Irish fans started to sweat a little. However, some key turnovers and improvements on defense led the Notre Dame to victory.

With the start of the school year happening, what would a Notre Dame report card look like? It’s not perfect, but it’s good enough to avoid a trip to the principal’s office.