in a game Irish illustrated and most Notre Dame observers felt the Irish could not afford to lose, they did not.

Beating Louisville today, 31 to 24 on the strength of a fantastic first quarter and a clutch fourth quarter drive.

And J.B. got a little hairy there in the middle as things slowed down for

notary name but that was a wild first oh 24 minutes of the contest yeah five turnovers just

unbelievable really when you think about Notre Dame holding louisville just before halftime on

that fourth and short that's a de facto turnover really four first half turnovers for Louisville in this contest, the difference in the game, frankly.

I think you give Notre Dame credit for finding a way to win.

You also very clearly say, man, this team has a lot of issues, and depending on how the injury news shakes out,

especially along the defensive front, you worry about how many more issues this team might have moving forward.

But this was a game they had to win. I called it the biggest game of Marcus Freeman's career.

I said it was a juncture point in the season. They get through the juncture with a W.

They get two weeks before they post Stanford. I know Stanford's at Clemson today. I'm not sure Stanford's schedule next week,

but you hope that if Stanford's not off,

you finally get a team that's beaten up a little bit

or a little bit more tired.

Yeah, and it's the game could not have started worse

for Markets Freeman and Notre Dame or for Devin Ford,

who fumbled the opening kickoff.

It took Louisville only three plays to score,

take a 7-0-0 lead.

And that was a little worrisome because the crowd was into it pregame.

They were ready to go.

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