Louisville vs. Notre Dame: TV Info, Spread, Injury Updates, Game Time and More

Once College Football Playoff contenders, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are now tasked with picking up the pieces against a game Louisville Cardinals team hungry to put an emphatic end to Brain Kelly's team.

A defensive collapse and the usual untimely turnovers have birthed a two-game losing streak for the Fighting Irish, the most recent being a dumbfounding overtime loss to 4-6 Northwestern.

The Cardinals enter freshly rested after a bye week and were last seen upending Boston College, 38-19. One of the league's best defenses and explosive wide receivers create a talented Louisville attack even teams such as Florida State have struggled with this season.

Saturday is not some decisive CFP resume game most thought it would be, nor is it some critical bout the rest of the ACC will watch very closely. That certainly does not prohibit it from being a great game, though.

For Pride

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

That would be all Notre Dame has left at this point.

About a month ago the Fighting Irish were 6-0 and had the globe whispering about a CFP berth, even if a meeting with the Seminoles went bad—which it did, a 31-27 loss that started the serious downward spiral for the program.

It is quite easy to point the finger at senior quarterback Everett Golson. He has completed 60.7 percent of his passes this year for 3,044 yards but has thrown 27 touchdowns to 12 interceptions with a number of costly sacks and fumbles to boot.

In the four-game span that began with the loss to Florida State, Golson has thrown eight interceptions. The blame was shared last week, though, as missed field goals and assignments, silly flags and more created one of the worst losses in recent memory for the program.

Matt York/Associated Press

"I'm not getting paid to make stupid decisions like that," Kelly said, per The Associated Press, via ESPN.com. "But you fall into that, right? And so I can't let our players fall into that. So that's what we talked about this week. We cannot let that affect the way we play. We've got to go play and we can't let those things affect us."

Mistakes need cleansed in a hurry with Louisville having a bye to digest the wealth of issues that plague the Fighting Irish.

Saturday is a way for Notre Dame to get back on track, but habitual, season-long errors have placed the Irish at a serious disadvantage against a Cardinals defense that ranks 10th in the nation with just 17.8 points allowed per game on average.

Overcoming Injuries

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Louisville has had plenty of time to prepare for this encounter but will do so without starting quarterback Will Gardner, who was lost for the season a few weeks back.

If the Cardinals are to take down the Fighting Irish to grab a marquee win, they will do so behind the arm of freshman Reggie Bonnafon. Coach Bobby Petrino sounds calm with the shift under center, as captured by Jeff Greer of The Courier-Journal:

Bonnafon turned in some iffy performances earlier in the season in spot duty, but Petrino is right to point out that the backup completed 4-of-5 attempts against Boston College for 69 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

It helps, of course, that he has one of the nation's best wideouts in DeVante Parker. The senior has 25 catches for 490 yards and a score in just three games this season and will have few problems torching the Fighting Irish—his three games have read yardage totals of 132, 214 and 144.

Said Notre Dame defense certainly makes Bonnafon's job much easier. The unit allows an average of 27.1 points and has allowed 31 or more in each of its last five games. Add in potential mistakes by Golson and the offense, which will give the Cardinals even more time with the ball, and there is an obvious path to upset in South Bend.

When: Saturday, November 22, 3:30 p.m. ET

Where: Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, Indiana

Television: NBC

Betting Lines (via Odds Shark):

• Over/Under: 52.5

• Spread: Notre Dame (-3.5)

Team Injury Reports

Player	Pos.	Date	Details	Status	Injury
Will Gardner	QB	11/11/2014	will miss the remainder of the season	Out	knee
Corvin Lamb	RB	10/16/2014	will miss the remainder of the season	Out	knee
Lorenzo Mauldin	LB	11/16/2014	is questionable for Saturday's game against Notre Dame	Questionable	hamstring
James Quick	WR	11/16/2014	is probable for Saturday's game against Notre Dame	Probable	one-game suspension served
Pio Vatuvei	DL	11/16/2014	is questionable for Saturday's game against Notre Dame	Questionable	elbow

Player	Pos.	Date	Details	Status	Injury
Nicky Baratti	S	09/15/2014	will miss the remainder of the season	Out	shoulder
Daniel Cage	DT	11/17/2014	is questionable for Saturday's game against Louisville	Questionable	leg
DaVaris Daniels	WR	08/15/2014	will miss the entire season	Suspended	disciplinary
Sheldon Day	DT	11/17/2014	is questionable for Saturday's game against Louisville	Questionable	leg
Everett Golson	QB	11/17/2014	is probable for Saturday's game against Louisville	Probable	shoulder
Jarrett Grace	LB	09/03/2014	is out indefinitely	Out	knee
Mike Heuerman	TE	08/28/2014	is out indefinitely	Out	hernia
Will Mahone	WR	08/02/2014	was dismissed from the team	Out	disciplinary
Kendall Moore	LB	08/15/2014	is suspended indefinitely	Suspended	disciplinary
KeiVarae Russell	CB	08/15/2014	is suspended indefinitely	Suspended	disciplinary
Joe Schmidt	LB	11/03/2014	will miss the remainder of the season	Out	ankle
Ishaq Williams	LB	08/18/2014	is suspended indefinitely	Suspended	disciplinary

Injury reports per The Sports Network, via USA Today.

Prediction

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

At some point the Fighting Irish will snap out of it.

Senior Day after an embarrassing month and change of football with nothing else to lose seems like the ideal time. The defense is a mess, but it helps that Louisville is starting a freshman in a hostile environment.

If Golson can take care of the football, there is an outside shot he exploits a defense that has padded its numbers with games against Murray State, FIU, Wake Forest and others.

Look for the Fighting Irish to grow up Saturday and steal a late win.

Prediction: Fighting Irish 34, Cardinals 31

Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.