Tag: Louisville Cardinals

Upsets highlight ACC football early kickoff games in Week 6

It’s looking more and more like it’s Clemson vs. Miami for the ACC after Louisville fell to SMU on Saturday.

This story was updated to add new information. 

It’s looking more and more like a two-team race in the ACC between the Clemson Tigers and Miami Hurricanes.

The 22nd-ranked Louisville Cardinals, the league’s only other ranked team in Week 6, fell at home to the SMU Mustangs, 34-27, Saturday at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.

SMU (5-1) started hot and got out to a 24-13 lead at halftime. Louisville came to life in the second half but a critical stop by the Mustangs’ defense on 4th and 1 from the SMU 19-yard line early in the fourth quarter allowed SMU to take over on downs.

The Mustangs then drove 89 yards on 11 plays, highlighted by a 19-yard run by Brashard Smith that included a fumble that was initially awarded to Louisville but which was overturned on video review. Four plays later, LJ Johnson Jr. carried it into the end-zone from a yard out for a 34-27 SMU lead with 6:39 to play.

RELATED: What channel is Clemson vs Florida State on today? Time, TV schedule for Week 6 game

Tyler Slough was picked off in the end-zone on fourth down on the Cardinals’ next drive with 2:30 to play. SMU got two first downs to run out the clock for their seventh straight road victory dating back to last year.

Elsewhere in the early slate of ACC action, the NC State Wolfpack fell 34-30 to Wake Forest in Raleigh, giving Dave Doeren’s team three losses to fall to 3-3.

Boston College fell 24-14 in Charlottesville to the Virginia Cavaliers. Bill O’Brien’s Eagles fell to 4-2 while the Hoos improved to 4-1.

Clemson (3-1) takes on the Florida State Seminoles (1-4) at 7 p.m. ET at Doak Campbell Stadium. The game can be seen on ESPN.

RELATED: Staff score predictions for Clemson-Florida State Week 6 matchup

Following Clemson-Florida State, Miami (5-0) faces the California Golden Bears (3-1) beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET in Berkeley on ESPN.

Michigan, Ole Miss on upset watch ahead of Week 6 matchups

A look at four ranked college football teams who could be upset in Week 6 of the season, including Ole Miss and Michigan.

The college football slate in Week 6 only features one matchup between two ranked teams – the No. 9 ranked Missouri Tigers going to College Station to face No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies – but that just means there are plenty of opportunities to see big time teams get upset.

While the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide are probably safe on the road at Vanderbilt, many other top programs could see their perfect record dashed while their chances of making the 12-team College Football Playoff dwindle as well.

Below is a look at four ranked teams who are all facing unranked opponents that could pull off an upset, including a pair of Big Ten teams taking lengthy road trips and an SEC team trying desperately to avoid a second straight loss.

We start in the ACC in a battle between two teams hoping to earn a share of first place in the conference:

Louisville Cardinals

Saturday, October 5th at 12:00 PM ET vs. SMU Mustangs

Louisville and SMU are each fighting for a share of first place in the ACC, with Saturday’s tilt carrying massive implications for the standings behind Miami and Clemson.

The Cardinals are coming off their first loss of the season at Notre Dame, and SMU is rolling with two major scoring outbursts against TCU and Florida State in its last two games. This one has all the makings of a very close game and a potential upset by the Mustangs.

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Ole Miss Rebels

Saturday, October 5th at 3:30 PM ET vs. South Carolina Gamecocks

Ole Miss is the favorite on Saturday, but there are very few easy road games in the SEC and South Carolina is more than capable of handing Lane Kiffin and the Rebels a second straight loss.

In fact, the team Ole Miss lost to in Week 5 – the Kentucky Wildcats – were absolutely throttled by South Carolina in Week 2, losing 31-6. Transitive property doesn’t always apply, but it’s worth keeping an eye on here.

Michigan Wolverines

Saturday, October 5th at 7:30 PM ET vs. Washington Huskies

Michigan’s offense has struggled a bit with new quarterback Alex Orji, but Washington’s defense is a perfect opportunity to fix some of those issues.

However, travelling all the way to Seattle to face UW in the evening in a hostile road environment is not easy whatsoever, and this Huskies team has nothing to lose. Expect a tight one for all four quarters.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

USC Trojans

Saturday, October 5th at 7:30 PM ET vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers

Like Michigan, the USC Trojans’ offense hasn’t been able to put together a consistent performance across all four quarters this season – and that presents a problem against a very good Minnesota defense.

Playing on the road doesn’t help either, and in order to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive the Trojans absolutely need to avoid looking past this game toward a matchup with Penn State in Week 7.

Notre Dame DB Jordan Clark explains why he was called for a personal foul

Clark offered some clarity on the situation

It wasn’t a great look for Notre Dame football cornerback [autotag]Jordan Clark[/autotag] when he was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty for head butting a Louisville wide receiver during the 31-24 Irish victory.

At the time, it looked like a huge mental error with no justification for his actions. However, Clark went to social media and explained the what led to it, saying that “If you were brought up to let someone spit in your face, and not do anything I get it. Not me though, be easy.”

Now we have some clarity on the situation, as what [autotag]Chris Bell[/autotag] did was inexcusable. Football is a physical game, but there is no place in the sport for spitting on an opponent.

After finding out what really happened from Clark, you can pretty much disregard his actions. While it would have been nice to see him take the high-road, emotions run high in games like these, and it might have gotten the best of him in that moment.

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Every photo from Notre Dame’s triumphant win over Louisville

Check out all the great photos from Notre Dame’s win over Louisville

It was a great Saturday in South Bend this weekend, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team held off the Louisville Cardinals to win 31-24.

The top-25 win makes that No. 9 for head coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] in his third year, which is close to besting an Irish record that was started in 1940. Notre Dame moved to 4-1 on the year, as they continue to make their way to a potential [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] spot.

The game against the Cardinals had a bit of everything for both teams, as multiple big plays happened early and although they didn’t span the whole game, it was still extremely exciting.

You can re-live all of the action below, photo-style, as these are the best shots of Notre Dame’s win over Louisville.

Watch as you can see there is still bad blood between Notre Dame and Louisville

These two teams don’t care much for each other

While it was just the fifth ever meeting between Notre Dame and Louisville on Saturday afternoon, the two teams clearly do not care much for each other.

The two teams have alternated hosting a budding rivalry that started in 2014, as the Irish broke the series tie to take a 3-2 advantage after their 31-24 victory. It was somewhat of a revenge game for Notre Dame, as Louisville dominated their meeting last year.

There was some noticeable trash talking happening on the field, which is fairly normal when two top-25 teams are competing against each other. What you don’t often see is the bad blood continuing following the conclusion of the game.

It not uncommon for major rivalries to have post-game scrums, but this isn’t one of those. That didn’t stop the fact that both teams were still chirping at each other following the game in a video shared by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. You can draw your own conclusions from what transpired following the contest.

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Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard explains why he sat out a play vs. Louisville

It wasn’t what it looked like

While it may seemed like Notre Dame Fighting Irish starting quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] had re-injured his shoulder, that was not the case in the win.

The broadcast didn’t mention much of the injury, as he sat out just one play before re-entering the game. It seemed like it was nothing at the time, and Leonard confirmed exactly that after the game.

The Athletic’s Pete Sampson grabbed the quote from the “injured” one, and it wasn’t exactly that. Leonard told the press that he just got the wind knocked out of him, and needed a play to regroup. He said that “it was really no problem after a couple minutes. It really didn’t play an impact on me.”

While he might not think it impacted his game, it seemed like it did. The Irish offense was cruising and shortly after taking that hard shot, it seemed like the whole offense followed its quarterback. Clearly this is good news for Leonard in avoiding something serious, as he does have an extensive injury history.

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Notre Dame starts fast, then holds off Louisville for the victory

The Irish get a top-25 home win

After one quarter of play, it looked like Notre Dame football was going to run Louisville out of Notre Dame Stadium.

After running back [autotag]Devyn Ford[/autotag] fumbled the opening kickoff and the Cardinals found the end zone, the Irish responded with three straight touchdown drives.

Running back [autotag]Jeremiah Love[/autotag] got it started with a 6-yard plunge, then quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] found wide receiver [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag] for a 34-yard score. To cap off the flurry, Leonard ran one in from 4-yards away after Notre Dame recovered a botched snap on a punt.

Then the Irish’s offense went extremely quiet during the next two quarters, just a [autotag]Mitch Jeter[/autotag] 48-yard field goal, which kept the Cardinals in the game. Early in the fourth quarter, they cut Notre Dame’s lead to 24-17, but another response happened.

The Irish would march 75-yards on just 5-plays capped by a Love 32-yard touchdown reception from Leonard. The lead went back to two scores, which gave them a solid cushion.

Sep 28, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) celebrates with wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (1) after a touchdown against the Louisville Cardinals in the first quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

The Cardinals would come back and score a touchdown, to pull within a score once again. Notre Dame would need a big drive to seal the deal, but they couldn’t get it done. The defense saved the day as they made a final stop to end the game.

The Irish would win 31-24, improving to 4-1 on the year with a bye next week. They return to the field on October 12th to take on the Stanford Cardinal.

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Notre Dame Week 5 highlight: Jeremiyah Love comes up with another big touchdown

Jeremiyah Love has been a huge part of the Notre Dame offense today — and all season.

Running back Jeremiyah Love has been carrying the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on his back a lot this season.

He just put the Irish back up by two scores against the Louisville Cardinals with 9:16 remaining in the game when he took a pass from quarterback Riley Leonard 32 yards for a touchdown.

That score capped off a 5-play, 75-yard drive that took 2:09 off the clock. It also gave some momentum back to the Irish after a Louisville field goal made it a one-touchdown game. That Louisville field goal came one play after what looked like a sack and scoop and score by the Notre Dame defense was overturned to an incomplete pass upon replay review.

Love’s touchdown hasn’t quite sealed the deal — there’s still a lot of time left — but it has put the Irish in charge of the ball game.

 

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Notre Dame Week 5 highlight: Xavier Watts pick kills promising Louisville drive

Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts continues to make big plays.

The Louisville Cardinals were driving against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after forcing the Irish to punt. It looked like the Cardinals would have a solid shot at the end zone for a potentially game-tying touchdown.

Then a deflected Tyler Shough pass ended up in the hands of Irish safety Xavier Watts. Watts returned it 34 yards to the Louisville 36.

Unfortunately, the Irish were unable to find the end zone on the ensuing drive — Jeremiyah Love was stuffed for a loss of three on a third-and-1 run. Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter hit a 48-yard field goal, so the Irish didn’t come up totally empty.

 

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Notre Dame Week 5 highlight: Riley Leonard runs it in

Notre Dame took a two-touchdown lead over Louisville with this play.

It didn’t take long for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to take advantage of a bad snap on a Louisville Cardinals’ punt.

Just one play later, Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard ran it in from the 4-yard line with 2:40 left to play in the first quarter to give the Irish a 21-7 lead over the Cardinals.

This after Notre Dame fell behind 7-0 to start the game.

It’s been a turnover-marred, back-and-forth affair so far, but the Irish haven’t looked flat early the way they have in games earlier this season. This could be a white-knuckler all the way to the finish.

 

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