Notre Dame football score predictions: Irish at Louisville national picks
Last week, quite a few national reporters and analysts like Duke to pull off a home upset over Notre Dame. And, to be fair, they were a fourth-and-16 stop away from being right.
This week, most in the national media like the Irish. Here are their picks for Notre Dame at Louisville.
The Athletic (Stewart Mandel): Notre Dame 28, Louisville 14
“Notre Dame is in the midst of quite a grind. Two weeks ago the heartbreaking loss to Ohio State, last week the heart-stopping win at Duke, this week a 5-0 team on the road, next week USC. Jeff Brohm’s Purdue teams pulled off big upsets, but Irish quarterback Sam Hartman should be able to produce enough explosive passing plays to prevail.”
The Athletic (Bruce Feldman): Fighting Irish 30, Cardinals 21
“Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer is averaging more than 300 passing yards per game, but Notre Dame has shown it can be very tough against the pass. The Irish will be by far the best team the Cardinals have played, and they are battle-tested.”
Pro Football Focus: Notre Dame 31, Louisville 24
“Both teams have also done well to stop the run this season. Notre Dame is fifth in the Power Five with a 90.3 run-defense grade, and Louisville is tied for eighth with a 3.31-yard average depth of tackle in the run game. This game could come down to which running back [Audric Estimé for the Irish or Jawhar Jordan for the Cardinals] wills his team to victory. … The Fighting Irish begin the second half of their season with a win in their third straight ranked game. If you can believe it, a fourth awaits Notre Dame next week in No. 9 USC.”
Bleacher Report: Fighting Irish 31, Cardinals 24
“Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer has notched 10.7 yards per attempt in five wins, so the explosiveness of the Cardinals’ offense must be respected. However, he’s also tossed six interceptions — with at least one in four games. That’s a problematic trend opposite Notre Dame, which only has two giveaways all season.”
CBS Sports: Notre Dame -6
“The Fighting Irish were favorites of roughly the same size on the road last week against Duke and covered. Duke is a better team than Louisville, particularly on defense. While Ohio State and Duke were able to get stops against the Irish, I’m not as confident in the Cardinals defense. Louisville gets plenty of pressure on opposing quarterbacks, but it seldom gets home. This Notre Dame offensive line is far and away the best one the Cardinals have faced. I wouldn’t be surprised if this looks like last week’s game, with the Irish making more plays in the fourth quarter than Louisville does to close it out.”
USA TODAY Sports: All six experts picked the Irish
All six of USA TODAY Sports’ panelists — Scooby Axson, Jace Evans, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Dan Wolken — picked Notre Dame over Louisville.
