This Saturday, the Fighting Irish host the 3-0 #16 Louisville Cardinals in South Bend. Notre Dame, led by Head Coach Marcus Freeman, should have revenge on their minds after last season’s 33-20 defeat to the Cards.
For a preview of the explosive Louisville offense, click here. Now, let’s preview an equally dangerous defense:
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
The Cardinals' defense is led by coordinator Ron English, one of the top assistants in the country. Before Louisville, English was the head coach at Eastern Michigan and later served as Purdue’s defensive coordinator under Head Coach Jeff Brohm in 2021 and 2022. English made the move to Louisville with Coach Brohm prior to last season and it has panned out successfully thus far.
Last season: This UL defense was elite. Here is where they ranked among the country’s best a year ago:
1st in opponent red zone conversion percentage (67.65%)
10th in opponent 3rd down conversion percentage (29.83%)
10th in rushing yards allowed per game (99.8 yards)
21st in total yards allowed per game (317.1 yards)
The good part for UL fans is this year’s defense is just as, if not, more talented than last season. This defense is polished and deep, featuring three sure-fire 2025 NFL Draft prospects.
The most talented group on this defense is the defensive line. Everything starts up front with two ‘25 draft prospects: Edge Rusher Ashton Gillotte and Tackle Thor Griffith.
Gillotte is the definition of a run-stopper who is very quick given his 6’3 270-pound frame. The senior edge rusher is coming off of his career-best season in which he totaled 45 tackles, 15 for loss, 11 sacks (led ACC), and 3 forced fumbles. He also recorded 58 pressures last season, which was the 10th-most among FBS edge defenders. Gillotte finished last year with an 84.8 PFF run-defense grade, the 8th-most among FBS edge defenders. The future NFL draftee has had a quiet but solid start to this season, posting nine tackles and a sack so far. Irish fans may remember last season when Gillotte recorded 1 ½ sacks and a forced fumble in last season’s matchup. Needless to say, the Irish offensive line will need to figure out a way to limit Gillotte this Saturday.
Another key piece to this defensive line is Tackle Thor Griffith. The Harvard transfer and 2023 First Team All-Ivy League selection has had a quiet start to his UL career totaling just three tackles and a sack. At 6 '2 and 320 pounds, Griffith is due for a big game, hopefully, it holds off for at least another week.
Even with the star power of Gillotte and Griffith, this defensive line has been getting production from almost everyone who steps in. South Florida senior transfer Tramel Logan has been very impressive to begin this season with a team-leading three sacks, in addition to his 11 tackles and a forced fumble. Redshirt junior Jared Dawson has broken out with two sacks and nine tackles this year, after only posting 2.5 sacks in each of the past two seasons. Other names to watch on this line include Myles Jernigan, Rene Konga, and Dezmond Tell. The Cardinals’ defense has combined for nine sacks through their three games, which puts their three sacks per game average at a tie for 14th-most in the country this season.
Louisville’s linebacker core is headlined by TJ Quinn, the team’s leading tackler a year ago. The 2023 All-ACC Honorable Mention racked up 10 tackles in last season’s meeting with the Irish. Quinn finished last year with 92 tackles, three for loss, two pass deflections, and an interception. The senior linebacker is currently tied for the team lead in tackles (14).
Quinn shares that lead for tackles with fellow linebacker Stanquan Clark, a sophomore who has broken out this year. This linebacker duo has serious potential to be amongst the best in the ACC if Clark can maintain his hot start.
Another player who is listed as a linebacker to watch is junior Antonio Watts. He serves more as a backer/safety hybrid on the field, but regardless, he has had a nice start to this season. Watts has recorded nine tackles and a pass deflection already after playing in a reserve role last year.
Both last season and this season, the UL secondary is talented on paper they seem to come up short of expectations. This secondary received the majority of blame from Cards fans after dropping three straight games to end last season. This year has been somewhat of a slow start, as they have only corralled one interception as a group through their three contests.
The unquestioned leader of this secondary is cornerback Quincy Riley. An All-ACC Honorable Mention, Riley is in line to hear his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft. The stud corner has notched three interceptions each of the past two seasons, including one in last season’s matchup with the Irish. As a redshirt senior, Riley has already recorded an interception and forced fumble, in addition to four tackles to begin this year. Riley did leave last week’s Georgia Tech victory early with a minor injury and is currently a ‘game-time decision’ according to Coach Brohm.
Behind Riley is a duo of transfer corners who have been impressive early this season. Illinois transfer Tahveon Nicholson has 13 tackles this year while UCF transfer Corey Thornton has recorded eight tackles and a pass deflection this season. If Riley is unable to play, both Nicholson and Thornton will need to have lockdown performances on Saturday.
Louisville’s safety group is led by Tennessee transfer Tamarion McDonald. The senior has recorded 13 tackles and two sacks this season. Junior D’Angelo Hutchinson is another safety, who has enjoyed a breakout start to this season. Hutchinson has recorded 12 tackles this season, which is already a career-best. The final safety to keep an eye on is former Temple transfer and 5th-year senior M.J. Griffin, who missed all of last season due to injury. Griffin has 10 tackles heading into Saturday’s contest.
The Notre Dame offense will have its hands full all game. The run game will not come easy against this stingy UL defensive line. Quarterback Riley Leonard needs to find success in the passing game. Leonard must maintain his accuracy while taking more shots down the field to create big plays against the potentially short-handed UL secondary. This UL defense will not be bothered by a one-phased Notre Dame offense.
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