Notre Dame outlasted Louisville on Saturday night in South Bend, winning 31-24.
It’s a massive victory for the Fighting Irish, who pick up another ranked win to add to their College Football Playoff résumé.
IRISH WIN#GoIrish☘️ | @Gatorade pic.twitter.com/2tI4Q3RSkv
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 28, 2024
Notre Dame now has 2 top-25 wins this season, but also has the notable blemish of a home loss to Northern Illinois.
Notre Dame’s offense wasn’t perfect in this one, but it did enough to win the game. The Fighting Irish averaged 5.2 yards per play and struggled on 3rd down (2-for-10), but the Fighting Irish were perfect in the red zone and won the turnover battle.
Riley Leonard was 17-of-23 for 163 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He also rushed the ball 13 times for 52 yards and a score. Considering the level of opponent, this was arguably Leonard’s best game in a Notre Dame uniform.
Notre Dame was also the beneficiary of a major special teams snafu by Louisville. The Cardinals snapped a ball over the punter’s head in the first half, setting up Notre Dame for an easy score to take a 21-7 lead. Even though Notre Dame would only score 7 points in the second half, it proved to be enough of a cushion to earn the win.
Notre Dame entered the week on the outside-looking-in of the College Football Playoff debate, but the Irish are now back on track to earn an at-large berth if they take care of business the rest of the year.
Notre Dame is off in Week 6 but will face Stanford next weekend.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
