Notre Dame football: 3 Takeaways from upset loss to #25 Louisville.

Notre Dame football falls to the Louisville Cardinals. 

After the third quarter, Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm mentioned to the sideline reporter how Louisville had out-executed Notre Dame and won some one-on-one matchups. Coach Brohm was correct. Though this game is considered an upset, Brohm knows how to coach big games.

Ask Iowa, Ohio State, and Michigan State about how Brohm gets his teams ready to play big games in big moments. Here are some takeaways from tonight’s game:

Notre Dame football offensive takeaways:

Everything for the Irish began and ended on the line of scrimmage. There’s no excellent way to say it; Notre Dame got whipped up front. Louisville’s scheme was not complicated. They played a heavy box most of the game and dared Notre Dame to beat man coverage. The Irish could not beat man coverage tonight.

Notre Dame’s running game struggled all night. Audric Estime, college football’s leading rusher, ran for a meager 20 yards on 10 carries this evening. Louisville never lightened the box since the Irish could not take advantage of man coverage.

Sam Hartman’s struggles against Louisville continue. He accounted for all five of Notre Dame’s turnovers, throwing three interceptions and losing two fumbles.

Louisville running back Jawhar Jordan had another outstanding game, running for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Coach Brohm mentioned before the game he wanted to see more consistency from quarterback Jake Plummer. The numbers were not spectacular, but he did not put the football in harm’s way and made some key throws.

Plummer did a great job of not forcing anything since the defense played as well as it did. He allowed the running game to dictate the action; Jordan’s 143 yards was a career-high. Louisville did a solid job of neutralizing Notre Dame on the line of scrimmage. Jordan ran for over six yards per carry.