Notre Dame Football: Hot and Cold Takes VS the Louisville Cardinals

How’d We Do Last Week?

As a refresher, I feature the most interesting, most wildly inaccurate, and most accurate takes for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from the previous week. Let’s get started!

Most Wild Inaccurate

We did not, in fact, come close to putting up 40 in this one. I think they probably should have put up 30 pretty easily, but the offense sputtered for a lot of the night. Also, there was not much downfield game as the WR could not get much separation. Greathouse and Thomas coming back against the Louisville Cardinals are HUGE.

Most Interesting

Santacos getting on the board again with the VERY appropriate “crying” takes after last week.

Most Accurate

Combo this week from Farhsdahl and yours truly. Penalties were atrocious and Riley Leonard threw for under 50% completion percentage. A no call on a hold negated my other prediction, as is resulted in a 30 yard rush by the QB. The combo of the penalties + my Leonard predictions gets us through!

And now onto the takes for this week’s matchup between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Louisville Cardinals.

Cold Take

Jeremiyah Love Gets His

Photo by David Jensen/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In my opinion, Love is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. His is an excellent counter punch to Estime’s power and should be getting more carries. He is gathering more confidence and the coaching staff SHOULD trust him more now. It is clear that Jadarian Price is going to be on a pitch count all year and Ford/Payne have specific roles. Love will see an increased role this week as the offense clearly needs a spark and he is arguably their most explosive athlete. Look for him to get closer to 10 touches this week and eclipse 100 yards.

Hot Take

Defense has 3+ turnovers

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Jack Plummer is a solid QB, but has already thrown 6 interceptions this year after throwing 9 last year at Cal. The defense is riding a high and should play confident after putting up back to back big game performances. They will bring a lot of pressure to stress Plumber as ND has the advantage on the defensive line. I like Liufau to get involved early as well as Xavier Watts to make a play over the top or off the edge on a blitz. Another player to look out for this week will be Thomas Harper, who is quietly having himself a very productive season. They key to the defense this week is consistency, though they absolutely can and should be helped out by a better offensive showing from Hartman and co.

Your Takes: Please leave your takes below (hot, cold medium-any temp). I will feature the Top Takes next week. GO IRISH!