Notre Dame Falters In Loss To Louisville

Everything ends at some point. Just a week ago it seemed Notre Dame’s dominance over the ACC might continue infinitely after a miraculous last-minute comeback to extend the program’s winning streak against the conference to 30 straight games.

Playing their third straight unbeaten and ranked team, it all came crashing down this Saturday night in Louisville as the No. 10 Irish (5-2) fell 33-20t o the No. 25 host Cardinals (6-0).

Notre Dame’s first possession started with promise, but quickly turned ominous, as Sam Hartman completed his first three passes for 29 yards. But on his fourth attempt, Hartman looked for Rico Flores on the left sideline and threw his first interception of the season when Riley Quincy yanked the ball away from the freshman receiver. Hartman had gone a Notre Dame record 148 pass attempts without an interception to open the season prior to the turnover.

Hartman threw two more interceptions and finished the night by going 22 of 38 for 254 yards with two touchdown passes. A week after his late game scramble on 4th and 16 set up the game-winning score against Duke, the Irish were 0 for 2 on 4th down, while Louisville sacked the veteran quarterback five times.

Louisville took full advantage of the first interception. The Cardinals marched 70 yards downfield in 12 plays for the game’s first touchdown of the night when Jack Plummer hit a wide-open Jamari Thrash in the back of the end zone. The drive used 7:06 on the clock.

The first quarter ended with Louisville leading 7-0. The Cardinals have not allowed a first quarter point in their six games this season.

Notre Dame’s offense was stagnant on its first three drives and it took a walk-on receiver to pull it out of the doldrums. Walk-on wide receiver Jordan Faison, a scholarship lacrosse player, reeled in a 36-yard touchdown pass from Hartman on the fourth Irish possession of the night to make it a 7-7 game. Faison caught his first career pass, a 12-yarder, two plays earlier in his first career action.

The Irish fumbled when Chris Tyree mishandled a handoff late in the first half. It was the second Irish turnover of the half after the team had committed just two turnovers in the first six games of the season. The Notre Dame defense forced a fourth straight punt, but the offense went three and out when it got the ball back.

They used just :44 seconds and gave the Cardinals the ball at midfield with :39 seconds to play in the half. Louisville kicker Brock Travelstead missed a 42-yard field goal, and the teams went into the half tied 7-7.

Notre Dame’s running game was non-existent in the first half. The Irish entered the game averaging 192 yards on the ground. They managed just 22 yards on 17 attempts (including three sacks on Hartman). Jeremiyah Love had three carries for 21 yards, while Audric Estime was limited to 18 yards on three carries.

Love finished with 37 yards on five carries to lead the Irish, while Estime had a season-low 20 yards on 10 carries.

Louisville's Plummer, who had lost to Notre Dame the last two years as quarterback at Purdue and Cal, was 8 of 12 for just 57 passing yards in the first half. The Irish sacked him twice in the half. He finished 17 of 24 for 145 yards and one touchdown.

The Irish got their first big break of the game when Cam Hart forced and recovered a fumble on the first play of the second half. Hart stripped the ball from Thrash, giving Notre Dame the ball at the Louisville 39. Spencer Shrader connected on a 53-yard field goal to give the Irish their first lead at 10-7.

Louisville responded with a 48-yard drive that ended with a 44-yard field goal from Travelstead to tie the game 10-10 at the 8:24 mark of the third quarter. After the Cardinal defense forced an Irish three and out, Jawhar Jordan scored on a 45-yard run on Louisville’s second offensive play to put the hosts up by a touchdown.

The Irish got points back when Shrader bombed a 54-yard field goal after a seven-play drive stalled at the UL 37. The kick tied his own Notre Dame record he set earlier this season.

Jordan struck again from 21 yards out when he bolted through the middle of the Irish defense at the end of a 75-yard drive to make it a 24-13 game. It looked like the Irish defense was off the field four plays earlier after a short pass to Thrash on 3rd and 15 but Notre Dame linebacker Marist Liufau was flagged for face masking, giving the Cardinals an automatic 1st down.

Jordan had his eighth career 100-plus yard rushing game. He ran for 143 yards to help the Cardinals out rush the Irish 185-44.

Marcus Freeman took a big roll of the dice at the end of Notre Dame’s ensuing possession, opting to go for it on 4th and 11 from their own 35. Hartman was chased from the pocket and fired incomplete to give the Cardinals the ball back in Irish territory with 9:49 to play. A 45-yard field goal by Travelstead made it a 27-13 Cardinal lead.

Louisville’s Devin Neal came up with the second interception off Hartman of the night on the first play of the ensuing drive. Neal returned it to the Irish 10 and Travelstead’s third field goal of the night put the game away at 30-13 with 5:02 to play. Travelstead hit a fourth field goal a few minutes later.

Hartman connected with Mitchell Evans for a final touchdown pass with 1:35 remaining and then the Irish recovered an onside kick to take possession at the Irish 44. Hartman completed his first two passes before being intercepted for a third and final time.

Notre Dame was just 3of 13 on 3rd down in the loss. They went a combined 6 for 28 in their last two games.

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