Louisville football: Three locks and three bold predictions vs Notre Dame

Bold prediction: Louisville wins the turnover battle

Last season, Notre Dame’s +0.3 turnover margin was good for 40th in the nation. They were far better, however, than Louisville who came in at No. 123 in the country in the same statistic.

It’s a new season though, and Scott Satterfield and the Louisville coaching staff are placing a huge emphasis on taking care of the ball. You better believe that the best way for a team who is outmatched depthwise to stay in a game is to force turnovers while not giving the ball back.

Louisville’s style this year is going to be ball control. The more they can get the ball, keep the ball, and shorten the game, the less likely teams can run up the score, and the longer they can keep things competitive.

If the Cardinals can keep it on the ground and bleed some clock, they are going to have a chance of being in this game late. Forcing Notre Dame to cough it up a few times could really make things interesting in the end.

Lock: Louisville covers the spread

I know there’s been a lot of talk about the potential of this game getting out of hand due to the overall mismatch between Louisville and no. 9 ranked Notre Dame, and deservedly so.

Louisville is going to be competitive no doubt, I truly believe that with all of the talk of buying in and playing hard every down that we’ll see that in their first game of the season. I just don’t see think that’ll be enough to withstand a team who made the College Football Playoffs just a few months ago.

However, with all of that being said. I still think Louisville is going to cover the spread.

The way I see this game going is Louisville playing hard and staying relatively close through the first half. Simply from the wear and tear of going head-to-head with a team as physically talented as Notre Dame – especially with a lack of depth as is – I believe the Cards will fall behind in the third quarter eventually leading Notre Dame to clear the bench.

Louisville won’t.

Using the fourth quarter almost as an extra “practice,” Satterfield will continue to be aggressive with playcalling and Louisville will have an opportunity to score points against the bench players. Maybe Louisville goes into the fourth quarter with the score 42-21, which would be more than the 19.5 line currently, but a touchdown or two in the fourth could make the game appear closer than it actually was.

Making sure the game doesn’t get so far out of hand that you lose your competitive edge is something I am weary of. there’s no denying that, but at the end of the day, I think Louisville will be competitive enough to stay within the 19.5 points.