Louisville football will have their hands full against Notre Dame
By Kyle Brown
Offense
Senior quarterback Ian Book returns under-center for the Irish. Book split time with Brandon Wimbush throughout 2018, before finally winning the job outright in week 4, only to hand it back over for the one late-season game against Syracuse due to injury.
Book posted an impressive stat-line for someone that did not take all number one reps, finishing with a 68% completion percentage, throwing for over 2600 yards and 19 touchdowns. He was at his best against Stanford, when he threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns.
Book will have to look for a new favorite target, as leading receiver Miles Boykin heads to Baltimore as a new weapon for Lamar Jackson.
The most likely candidate to fill that role will be senior WR Chase Claypool.
Claypool played second-fiddle to Boykin in 2018, but still managed to post 50 receptions for over 600 yards and four scores. Also, solid senior slot receiver Chris Finke will give defenses fits. Cardinal CB Cornelius Sturghill must lock-down whomever he ends up matched against and not allow the big play.
At running back, Jafar Armstrong and Tony Jones, Jr. will look to replace Dexter Williams’ 1100 yards from scrimmage. This area is a minor question mark for the Irish, as Williams took a majority of the carries last season.
Armstrong and Jones split back-up duties, combining for 155 carries and 775 rushing yards. Both fell short of Williams’ 158 carries and 995 rushing yards. Armstrong does have experience in the end zone, though, as he found pay-dirt seven times last season.
The wild-card to the running game is Book’s ability to pick up yards out of the read option.
All of this will happen behind one of the country’s best offensive lines that will return four starters. The line’s success hinges on the one spot a starter doesn’t return, center.
The keys will be handed over to sophomore Jarrett Patterson after the departure of All-American Sam Mustipher from last year’s squad.
Patterson will have plenty of competition from incoming freshman Zeke Correll for the starting job, but it appears Patterson has it nailed down to start the year.
G.G. Robinson must apply pressure to Patterson early, hoping to cause mistakes from the weakest link along the front. The rest of the Cardinal front seven must ramp up their pass rush on Book, especially if there is help slid towards the middle for Patterson.
The ability for Patterson to gel with his battery-mates up front will determine the success of Notre Dame’s entire offense. If Book is given time to push the ball down the field, and the running backs are given the holes to run through as they’ve been given in years past, the Cardinal defense may be in for a long day.
That takes care of the offensive side of the ball, but what about the side that will look to give Jawon Pass nightmares in the coming weeks?