Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, In. - The Louisville Cardinals (1-3, 0-3 ACC) conclude their three-game road trip against the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0, 2-0) on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 2:30 p.m. EST.
Here are some of the more notable storylines heading into Saturday's game:
Spirits High Despite Rocky Start
Following their 46-27 loss to the hands of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the Cardinals are now on a three-game losing streak for the first time in the Scott Satterfield era - a far cry from their 8-5 campaign a season ago.
Head coach Scott Satterfield admits it's an 'everyday process' going through becoming a championship caliber program, and the Cards' spirits are not as low as one would assume.
"It's not all doom and gloom when the guys are in the building," he said. "We're not just constantly looking all the negative things. I mean it's whether they're several negative things, but we're not just always looking at those. We're trying to build off of what we are doing good, and then trying to try to correct the mistakes that we have made."
It also has not impacted their approach behind the scenes. Even if Louisville had started 4-0 heading into their matchup with Notre Dame, it wouldn't have changed the day-to-day inner workings.
"Regardless of what those outcomes are at games, or what happens during the game - we got to be about a process of going about our daily business, preparing for our team and going out there and being the best that we can be in practice," offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford said. "Knowing that those practice reps, all of them, are so vital for us to to make improvements. I think our guys have done a good job with that."
Top Tier Offensive Line Awaiting Cards
A large part of the Fighting Irish's success has been due to the efforts from the offensive line. Notre Dame is averaging 270.7 rushing yards per game - the fifth most in the country - and is allowing the fourth-lowest tackles for loss at 3.00 per game.
"It’s arguably the best offensive line in the country," Satterfield said. "They have guys that have played a lot of ball together up front. I think Coach Kelly has even said this is his best offensive line since he's been at Notre Dame. These guys are good at pass pro and run blocking."
"They work really, really well together on a lot of the combos," defensive coordinator Bryan Brown added. "Whether it's their zone scheme, their counter schemes, their stretch schemes, and as well as in the pass protection. Those guys know each other like the back of their hand, and you know that's what you get with an older group that's been together for a while. Those guys have seen a lot of things and played a lot of ball."
Irish Have Few Weaknesses On Defense
On top of having one of the best offensive fronts in all of college football, Notre Dame also sports one of the more complete defenses. The Irish have allowed just 323.3 yards and 13.0 points per game, good for 16th and 8th in the nation respectively.
"I don't think there's one area that you can look at on their defense and say 'well this is a weakness'," offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford said. "They're very, very smart, well coached. They are where they're supposed to be, and they got great size, great length and great speed."
They have a lot of seniors, a lot of experience on that side of the ball," head coach Scott Satterfield added. "Guys can really run to the football. They try to keep everything in front of them and do an excellent job with that. They’re also excellent on third down.
Satterfield chalks up a lot of their defensive success to their ability to recruit at a high level and build an incredible amount of depth.
"It’s just an outstanding program," he said. "So as you look at them, there’s not a ton of weaknesses on this football team."
Turnovers & Missed Deep Balls Plaguing Louisville
A large portion of Louisville's overall struggles are because of a significant dip in offensive efficiency due to an uptick in lost turnovers and not connecting on a lot of their deep shots. The Cardinals have lost the fourth-most turnovers in the nation with 11, and are averaging 13.51 yards per completion - much lower than 17.12 from a season ago.
According to head coach Scott Satterfield, there are a variety of reasons as to why Louisville is not completing a lot of their explosive plays through the air.
"Now, Malik's overthrown a few of them, but it seems like there's been something different," Satterfield said. "Whether it be Malik not throwing the proper ball or the receiver not running the proper route or the O line or tight ends not protecting. So, in the course of the season, it's been a little bit of everybody, I think, that have attributed to some of those shots not being there."
When it comes to both missed deep balls as well as the turnovers, the coaching staff believes a lot of it comes down to a breakdown in fundamentals. Following the loss the Georgia Tech where the Cards coughed up the football three times, Louisville is not only emphasizing taking care of the ball but also creating more turnovers on defense.
"We're working hard at practice, not only the drills that we're doing but also emphasizing it with our scout teams trying to do a good job of stripping balls or trying to create turnovers themselves," offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford said. "We're trying to make these two practices that we have on Tuesday and Wednesday as much as a game like situation for us as possible."
Tackling Remaining An Issue
As far as on the defensive side of things, other than an inability to produce turnovers, proper tackling continues to be something that the Cardinals struggle with - and Satterfield didn't shy away from that.
"It's not been good tackling, and it's still not, he said. "You can teach tackling and you can work on it, and we do. We work on it all the time. But when you're playing the game of football, there's so many variables involved with it. It's angles, it's the point wherever I'm hitting the guy, am I trying to wrap up or am I just trying to go in with the shoulder?
"Also, what kind of makeup am I as a player? Do I have a great ability and athletic enough and more quick twitch and strength to go get guys down? All those things are involved with that, and we're not where we need to be obviously in regards to that."
One part of the equation is that the proverbial 'chip on their shoulder' had not been present through the first few games of the season due to increased expectations. Fortunately, this is something that defensive coordinator Bryan Brown has noticed and is attempting to remedy moving forward.
"This year we got a little expectations and don't know how to handle it," he said. "We kind of relaxed a little bit. So that's one thing we tried to get back this week. Just get that edge back to get those guys to understand we still have a lot to prove and we got to execute to a tee.
(Photo of Javian Hawkins, Shaun Crawford: Matt Cashore/USA TODAY Sports)
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