Notre Dame vs. Louisville Predictions: The Fighting Irish Are Back, Again

College football’s two-week-long opening weekend finishes up tonight with No. 9 Notre Dame visiting unranked Louisville. The Fighting Irish are 18.5-point favorites and the over/under is 55.

Here are some predictions bound to come true or not.

Jawon Pass Will Not Resemble Cam Newton Against Notre Dame

From ESPN.com:

BACK IN 2017 during joyful times at Louisville, the Cardinals’ quarterbacks gave each other nicknames. Lamar Jackson, the lightning-quick Heisman winner, was “Vick,” a nod to former Virginia Tech great Michael Vick, perhaps the only real comparison for Jackson’s scrambling wizardry. Jawon Pass, the Cardinals’ 6-foot-4 heir apparent with a tantalizing blend of arm strength and athleticism, was “Cam,” in honor of Cam Newton, who used a similar skill set to win a national championship at Auburn. It was a mutual love fest, a reminder that, yes, they’re different players, but they’re both capable of something spectacular.

Yeeeeaaaah…. Pass threw for eight touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season. Against Notre Dame tonight he’ll look more like the kid from the Play60 commercial than any version of Cam Newton.

Notre Dame Will Win and Cover, And the Over Will Hit

This is the second meeting in the history of Notre Dame and Louisville football. Louisville won the first game, 31-24, so they have history on their side. Plus, they get karma points because the Fighting Irish successfully avoided the Lamar Jackson era by playing the Cardinals in 2014 and then waited for him to be a starting NFL quarterback before they scheduled them again.

Notre Dame is coming off an undefeated regular season and its first College Football Playoff appearance. Louisville is coming off a 2-10 season where they lost to four ranked teams (including then-No. 1 Alabama and then-No. 2 Clemson) by an average of 43.3 points. The teams shared four opponents last season in Syracuse, Clemson, Florida State and Wake Forest. Notre Dame beat them all handily. Louisville lost to all four, though they did keep it close against FSU.

Louisville had one of the weaker recruiting classes in the ACC and they have a new coach and the same quarterback. Notre Dame always starts strong when they’re good. High off the fumes of fresh golden spray paint from preparing the helmets, the Fighting Irish love to stand up and remind everyone that they are BACK. Tonight should be no different as they dismantle the Cardinals on national television and talking heads spend the week wondering if Notre Dame is for real this time.

Well, guess what?

Notre Dame Starts Building Their Resume For Nothing Tonight

Notre Dame is a historic program. They were the home to Knute Rockne and the Four Horsemen and Rudy. They claim 11 national championships and some of them even took place so recently that some people saw them on color television. But in 2019? They’re just building a resume to get a job disappointing their subway alumni. The independent school has twice put together records so impressive in the modern era that they earned a shot to compete for a real national title. In 2014 they were steamrolled by Alabama. Last year it was Clemson. This year, it starts with a big win against Louisville and ends with another footnote. Still, they should be super-hungry next season!