Louisville vs. Notre Dame Betting Preview - Week 5

It’s a top-20 battle in South Bend as the 3-0 Louisville Cardinals invade Notre Dame Stadium to take on the 3-1 Fighting Irish Saturday afternoon. The teams are Nos. 15 and 16, respectively.

Kickoff is 3:30 PM (ET).

Both teams lured transfer quarterbacks who’ve been terrific this season. Louisville’s Tyler Shough, ex of Texas Tech has eight touchdown passes without an interception in three games.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame has seen former Duke Blue Devil star Riley Leonard throw one touchdown pass and add six ground scores.

Of course, Notre Dame has that albatross of an ugly home loss to Northern Illinois, so minimal margin of error if it has designs on making the College Football Playoff.

Louisville is coming in off a 31-19 home win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, though the Cardinals were outgained, 410 yards to 326.

Notre Dame has won its last couple (at Purdue, home versus Miami [OH]) by a combined score of 94-10. Against the latter, Leonard had 297 total (passing/rushing) yards (three touchdowns). ‘
 
The Irish are six-point favorites (total at 45), according to college football odds.

It’s the fifth meeting between teams, each side with two wins (Cards were 33-20 winners in ‘23).

In the Cards?

The Louisville Cardinals of coach Jeff Brohm sit at No. 15 after a double-digit win over Georgia Tech, though the defense, as was mentioned earlier, allowed in excess of 400 yards.  

It’s not a stat that plays well as the Cards get ready to see their first ranked opponent of 2024.

Louisville’s after a berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game in a second consecutive season. With the new, 12-team College Football Playoff format, the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC champs get the first four spots. Whether the ACC gets a ‘wild card’ slot isn’t guaranteed.

While Ja’Corey Brooks (17 receptions, 297 yards, two touchdowns) has been Tyler Shough’s receiver of choice, do not dismiss the Cardinals’ balanced ground game, as Isaac Brown, Duke Watson and Keyjuan Brown have a combined 440 yards and five touchdowns.

Running the Table?

That aforementioned 16-14 home loss to the four-touchdown underdog Northern Illinois Huskies put the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and coach Marcus Freeman squarely behind the eight-ball. There’s not much in the way of speed bumps if the team has any shot of a first title since 1988.

The Irish did respond by incinerating subsequent foes Pursue (road) Miami (OH) at home, but get a much more legit opponent this time around. Read into the 13-point Cardinal win over Notre Dame any way you wish, but the key personnel on both sides have drastically changed.

Notre Dame has excelled in its ground game, as Jeremiyah Love, quarterback Riley Leonard and Jedarian Price are each over seven yards per carry.

Note that both Louisville and Notre Dame each allow triple figures against the opposition rush, so don’t be surprised if both sides try to establish the ground game.

Points at Premium?

If you’re a fan/believer, Notre Dame is 50-1 (+5000) to win the title, Louisville at 125-1 (+12500), as per college football championship odds.

It’s not even October, but already a make-or-break game involving teams with designs on being labeled as elite,

Louisville and Notre Dame scored a combined 53 points in the Commonwealth last season, but don’t expect nearly that offense this time around.

While the Cards have compiled some bloated stats, the level of competition wasn’t compelling.

Both Louisville and Notre Dame have had success running the ball, so we’d surmise that’s the plan of action. Remember as well the Cards’ defense did not distinguish itself against Georgia Tech last week, so the offense might be wise to try and keep it off the field as much as possible.

While the total in this game has moved south (48 to 45), we are inclined to go under, regardless.