Monday, September 2nd, 2019 the No.9 University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men’s football team will take a holiday weekend road trip nearly 250ish miles through Indiana arriving in the Bluegrass state of KY at Cardinal Stadium to kick off against their first opponent of the season, the University of Louisville Cardinals. The first and only meeting against these two teams nearly 5 years ago in South Bend ended in a missed field goal attempt to tie the game by Kyle Brindza, the special teams’ kicker, for a 31-28 Louisville victory. Now 5 years later, they face off for the second time in school history in the first game of the Scott Satterfield era.
OPENING WITH RANKED OPPONENTS
Hosting No. 9 Notre Dame marks the second straight year that the Cardinals begin the season versus a ranked opponent. Louisville kicked off the 2018-19 season with a heartbreaking 51-14 loss to No.1 Alabama at Camping World Stadium Orlando, Fla. The Cardinals are 55-39-6 all-time in season openers, with 35-17-3 at home. The Cards have won the past five consecutive home openers, last losing to Kentucky in the 2010 home opener in Charlie Strong’s first game at Louisville.
KEY STORYLINES
Newly hired head coach Scott Satterfield, who grew up in ACC country and served 29 years between coaching and playing at Appalachian State, is ready to get his career as a Cardinal underway versus Notre Dame. Satterfield went 51-24 in six seasons at Appalachian State, winning three straight Sun Belt titles and making four consecutive bowl appearances. On the offensive side, Louisville hopes to have some major improvements from announced starting quarterback against the Irish Jawon Pass from his 2018-19 season under Bobby Petrino when he threw for 1,960 yards and eight touchdowns while throwing 12 interceptions. The junior recorded two 300-yard games, including a career-high 358 passing yards in a loss to Wake Forest. The defense for the Cards, which gave up 44.1 points per game last season, returns seven veteran starters but has had changes in the position of defensive coordinator Bryan Brown. Brown guided the nation’s sixth-ranked scoring defense while at Appalachian State last year under Scott Satterfield holding their opponent to 10 or fewer points in seven games.
LAST MATCHUP
In the first-ever meeting between the two programs, Louisville jumped on the board with a pair of first-quarter touchdowns and led 17-6 over the Fighting Irish at halftime.
Notre Dame scored two quick touchdowns early in the third quarter to take the lead, but the Cardinals answered with a pair of touchdowns of their own to scurry back in front. Leading by three in the final minutes, Louisville stopped the Irish at the 9-yard line and avoided overtime when Notre Dame’s Kyle Brindza missed a 32-yard field goal.
HOW NOTRE DAME WILL MATCH UP THIS TIME
Notre Dame ended their 2018 season at 12-1, return 14 starters, eight on offense and six on the defensive side. Ian Book is the starting quarterback after completing 68 percent of his throws for 2,628 yards and 19 scores with seven picks last season in guiding the Fighting Irish to the College Football Playoff. Book can come through with his legs as well as his arm — rushing for 280 yards and four touchdowns in 2018. Dexter Williams, who rushed for 995 yards last season, is gone, but Tony Jones, who ran for 392 yards and three touchdowns, returns as the team’s top rusher. Wide receiver Chase Claypool is the top producer returning at wide receiver after catching 50 passes for 639 yards. The senior caught a season-high eight passes for 130 yards at Northwestern. Senior safety Alohi Gilman should be one of Notre Dame’s top defensive performers this season. The 5-11, 201-pound Gilman came up with two picks last season – both against Syracuse – and broke up five passes. He was also solid against the run, finishing with 94 tackles. The former Navy transfer is quick, active, and was a highlight in the loss to Clemson with 18 tackles.
