SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Riley Leonard threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, and No. 16 Notre Dame capitalized on No. 15 Louisville’s first three turnovers this season to secure a 31-24 victory on Saturday.

Notre Dame (4-1) relied on a last-minute defensive effort to hand the Cardinals their first loss of the season. Louisville (3-1) received a delay-of-game penalty on a fourth-and-1 at the Notre Dame 46. After the five-yard penalty, an incomplete pass ended Louisville’s comeback attempt.

Leonard was 17 for 23 for 163 yards. Louisville’s Tyler Shough was 24 for 41 for 264 yards and three touchdowns but was intercepted once. Shough had thrown 88 passes without an interception this season before having a deflected pass picked off.

Louisville committed three turnovers in the first half and trailed 24-14 at halftime.

After a 56-yard field goal by Brock Travelstead with 11:25 to play put Louisville up 24-17, Notre Dame fought back and regained a two-touchdown lead.

Leonard’s screen pass to Jeremiyah Love turned into a 32-yard scoring play, and the Fighting Irish took a 31-17 lead with 9:16 left.

Louisville fought back with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Shough to Ja’Corey Brooks with 5:17 left, cutting Notre Dame’s lead to 31-24.

Louisville secured the early advantage after a rainy start at Notre Dame Stadium. TJ Capers forced a fumble from Notre Dame returner Devyn Ford on the opening kickoff. Tamarion McDonald pounced on the ball at the Fighting Irish 24.

The Cardinals only needed three plays to cash in. Shough threw a 10-yard strike to Isaac Brown for a touchdown, and Travelstead’s kick gave Louisville a 7-0 lead.

Notre Dame then took a 21-7 lead in 5 minutes and 42 seconds.

Notre Dame answered on its next possession, covering 75 yards in 12 plays. Love pushed his way into the end zone from the 6 for the touchdown.

What seemed like a huge win for Louisville turned into the Cardinals’ first turnover of the season. Shough burst out of the backfield on a misdirection play and ran 43 yards, but Notre Dame’s Leonard Moore caught up with Shough and forced a fumble. Jaiden Ausberry rebounded for Notre Dame’s 47th point. Leonard gave the Irish the lead with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Greathouse.

After another turnover, Leonard stormed down the middle for a touchdown and the Fighting Irish took a 21-7 lead.

Notre Dame’s second fumble, on a run by Jadarian Price, led the Cardinals to within 21-14 with 12:28 left in the second quarter when Shough hit Brooks for a 5-yard touchdown pass.

Louisville’s third turnover came when Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts, who led the nation with seven interceptions last season, intercepted a pass and returned it 34 yards to the Louisville 36.

The snack bar

Notre Dame: Notre Dame is hoping that impending bye defenseman Boubacar Traore, as well as defensemen Benjamin Morrison, Christian Gray and Jordan Faison, can recover from all the injuries they missed during the game. Leonard missed a play after being hit in the shoulder.

Louisville: The Cardinals need to work on fixing the mistakes they didn’t catch in the first three games of the season. Louisville had three turnovers and the Cardinals were 1 of 5 on attempts in the fourth, one of which included a crucial delay-of-game penalty.

Impact on the survey

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish should get a boost from their second win against a ranked opponent.

Louisville: Expect the Cardinals to drop a few notches, but a road loss to a ranked opponent might not knock Louisville out of the top 25.

Next

Notre Dame has a bye week and the Fighting Irish host Stanford on October 12th

Louisville hosts Southern Methodist on October 5th

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