No. 16 Notre Dame gets key win over ranked opponent with 31-24 victory over No. 15 Louisville

Notre Dame’s passing game still needs a lot of work. But it also proved to be the key to putting No. 15 Louisville away.

The No. 16 Fighting Irish beat the Cardinals 31-24 after two big pass plays in the fourth quarter helped put the game away. Louisville defenders got mixed up in coverage as Jayden Harrison got wide-open for a 34-yard catch. Two plays later, Riley Leonard hit Jeremiyah Love for a 32-yard catch-and-run TD on a screen pass to give the Irish a 14-point lead with 9:16 to go.

Leonard’s stat line was abysmal before finding Harrison. Ahead of that pass, he was just 15-of-21 passing for 97 yards. He finished the game 17-of-23 for 163 yards.

The lack of confidence in the pass game showed on the drives sandwiching Love’s TD catch, however. Before the TD, Notre Dame had the ball inside Louisville territory facing a fourth-and-3. Instead of throwing the ball, Leonard ran it up the middle. He got stuffed.

Notre Dame then didn’t put the ball in the air after Louisville cut the lead to seven with just over five minutes to go. Leonard was tackled for a loss on a rollout to the right on third down and the Cardinals got the ball back with less than three minutes to go.

The Cardinals then committed a crucial error. Needing a yard on fourth down, Louisville got flagged for delay of game with 1:10 to go before Tyler Shough snuck it for what appeared to be a first down. After the penalty, his ensuing deep throw into double coverage fell incomplete.

A turnover-filled first half

The opening kickoff provided a glimpse into the first half. Louisville kicked off to Notre Dame and RB Devyn Ford fumbled the ball as soon as he was hit on the return. The Cardinals turned the fumble into a TD.

From there, Louisville couldn’t stop turning the ball over. The Cardinals fumbled on back-to-back possessions after Notre Dame tied the game. That helped give the Irish a 21-7 lead that they would never relinquish.

The two teams combined for five turnovers as Notre Dame had another fumble and Shough threw an interception.

Why the win is so important for Notre Dame

Louisville was just one of two ranked teams remaining on Notre Dame’s schedule. Thanks to Florida State’s struggles to start the season, USC is now the only ranked team remaining for the Fighting Irish. And it’s hard to see Stanford, Georgia Tech, Navy, Virginia and Army getting into the AP Top 25 ahead of their games against Notre Dame.

Had Notre Dame lost on Saturday, its playoff hopes would have been on life support thanks to that schedule. Especially with a loss to USC. A 9-3 Notre Dame team with only one ranked win would seemingly have no shot at the College Football Playoff barring a maniacal season across the country.

Instead, Notre Dame’s path to 10-2 or better is still very clear. Even if the passing game is still, uh, a work in progress.

Leonard has thrown for just 750 yards across five games so far this season. The 163 yards he threw for on Saturday tied his season high. Notre Dame can keep winning games against its upcoming opponents with a strong run game and an offense that functions like this. But it’s not going to be a serious contender to do anything in the playoff unless it can throw the ball much more effectively.