After eight straight seasons of being bowl eligible, Louisville went 2-10 last season. Now they welcome No. 9 Notre Dame to their home turf to open their season with a Monday night showdown.
It wasn’t a fun year by any stretch of the imagination last season for Louisville after the loss of Lamar Jackson at quarterback crippled their team. They crawled to a 2-10 record and looked completely lost on both sides of the ball at times last season.
2019 doesn’t exactly get off to the easiest of starts either for the Cardinals as reigning college football playoff participants, Notre Dame, travel to their home field.
The story was quite the opposite for the Fighting Irish in 2018 as they were able to enjoy a 12-0 regular season before a semi-final loss to the eventual champions Clemson.
Now the Irish are tasked with likely having to go undefeated again this season in order to make the playoff, especially with a poor showing in their first-ever playoff appearance.
Ian Book leads the Irish behind center after taking over for Brandon Wimbush last season. Book completed 68 percent of his passes for 2,628 yards and 19 touchdowns. Book will be fantastic this season again for the Irish, the question is can the defense continue to be one of the best in the country? They were No. 11 in points allowed last season but they lose 209 tackles at linebacker and shutdown corner Julian Love.
Jawon Pass was named as the starter on the flip side for the Cardinals and he returns after starting last season as well. The pass was less than stellar last season though as he threw for 1,960 yards, eight touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season.
The Cardinals also return their leading rusher as well in Malik Cunningham, the only problem is that Cunningham only rushed for 473 yards last season. For most teams, having both the leading rusher and passer would be a great thing. Who knows, Pass and Cunningham could improve this season. Honestly, I would be surprised if they don’t, but to beat Notre Dame on Monday night, they are going to have to improve immensely and fast.
How to bet and watch Notre Dame-Louisville online
- Date: Monday, Sept. 2
- Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Location: Louisville, KY
- Stadium: Cardinal Stadium
- TV Channel: ESPN
- Odds: -18.5 Notre Dame (Bovada)
- Over/Under: 55.0 (Bovada)
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
Prediction: I am a little shocked Notre Dame isn’t favored by more than -18.5 points. Louisville was really bad last season and unless they get things fixed, with the same quarterback that threw four more interceptions than he did touchdowns, things could get ugly quickly in Louisville. To make things worse for Louisville, Book is back and the rest of this Notre Dame team is motivated to make it back to the College Football Playoff. I think Notre Dame comes out with a purpose to get a convincing win over Louisville. I’ll take Notre Dame to cover as well as the under in this one.
Score: Notre Dame 48, Louisville 10