The Louisville Cardinals (1-3, 0-3 ACC) meet up against #4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-0, 2-0 ACC) in an Atlantic Coastal Conference battle. This will be the fourth-straight home game for the Irish, after a visit to Wake Forest was postponed early in the year. Conversely, this marks the Cardinals’ third consecutive road test.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. EST at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. The Fighting Irish are a 17-point favorite.
What to Know – Louisville Cardinals
The Louisville hopes an extra day of rest and preparation allows them to play better than they did last Friday night in a 19-point loss at Georgia Tech. They will need to come out and play better against the 4th-ranked Irish or it will be along day for the visitors. Louisville is 1-2-1 against the spread this year with three of their four games hitting the over.
Junior quarterback Malik Cunningham has taken all the snaps at signal caller this season for the Cardinals. Through four games Cunningham has completed 73-of-124 passes for 986 yards, nine touchdowns, and five interceptions. Cunningham also is a threat to run, rushing for 84 yards and three touchdowns.
Sophomore Javian Hawkins has accounted for just over half the carries out of the backfield. Hawkins has rushed 85 times for 468 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Tutu Atwell is the team leader at receiver, catching 5 passes for 281 yards and four scores.
The Cardinals’ defense is off to a rough start to the 2020 campaign. Louisville’s defensive unit is one of the worst in the ACC, surrendering 34.3 points and 389.8 yards of offense per game.
What to Know – Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Another season and another top ranking for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It seems year-after-year the Irish find themselves in the top 10 at some point during the regular season. The Irish, normally an independent, are playing in the ACC this year so they would be able to put together a schedule. The Irish are just 1-2 against the spread this season.
Senior QB Ian Book returned to South Bend for his senior season and has thrown for 608 yards on 47-of-75 passing, three touchdowns, and one interception through three games. Like Cunningham, Book has also used his legs this season, rushing for 79 yards and four touchdowns.
Sophomore running back Kyren Williams is putting together a fantastic season with four scores and 359 yards on the ground. Williams has carried the ball 48 times for a slick 7.5 yards per carry. Williams is also one of the team’s leading receivers, hauling in six passes for 114 yards.
Defensively, the Irish are 8th in the country and tops in the ACC allowing just 13.0 points per game. Notre Dame also ranks high in total yards allowed, coming in at 16th nationally and third in the conference.
The Pick is In
The Irish will be able to have their way with the Cardinals defense while the Notre Dame defense will provide enough stops for the hosts to win comfortably. Louisville is going to have a tough time scoring over 20 points against this defense, so the under is also a potential play here. Our plays are the Irish against the spread and under 62 with the former being our most confident selection.
