Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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56 PRESEASON 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED returns for his junior year. He has the potential to be an NFL first-round pick. Beyond him, there's some con- cern about talent and depth, but this position group possesses one of the most respected coaches in the county. "I think this is probably the unit that will determine how much bet- ter they are this year and will benefit the most from the coaching change," Ennis said. "Cole Cubelic, the SEC Network analyst, came on [my ra- dio show]. He says there aren't a lot of great offensive line coaches in the country, but Dwayne Ledford is one of them." On the defensive side of the ball, Louisville will need to drastically im- prove its ability to pressure the quar- terback. Last season, as a team, they sacked the opponent's quarterback only 11 times and had a pass rush ranked 128th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams according to Pro Football Focus. The defensive line should be im- proved by the enrollment of graduate transfer Ty Tyler over the summer. He had nine sacks last year at Marshall. Fifth-year senior defensive tackle G.G. Robinson should also be a main con- tributor. He had two sacks last season. Louisville's strength is its second- ary, which Ennis said is the one defen- sive position that Petrino consistently recruited well. A number of the defen- sive backs have starting experience, including graduate Cornelius Stur- ghill at corner and fifth-year senior Khane Pass at free safety. Sturghill had 32 tackles last season, an inter- ception and three passes broken up, while Pass was fifth on the team in tackles (54). "They will rely on [the secondary]," Ennis said. "The strategy likely will be that they press teams a little bit and take some chances with the second- ary, and maybe use that as a way to generate more of a pass rush and sort of overcompensate for not being enor- mous up front." The team is expected to have an athletic linebacking corps, and junior inside linebacker C.J. Avery returns after finishing second on the team in tackles (56) and pacing it in intercep- tions (two). Going into the game with Notre Dame, the Irish are more than 20-point favorites, but Ennis expects a revital- ized fan base in Louisville to show up for their Sept. 2 matchup. "The idea of finally having Notre Dame play here, it's something a lot of people never thought they'd even see," he said. "So I expect that place to be full, I expect it to be loud, I expect it to be intense, and I honestly wouldn't be shocked if the game is even com- petitive for a stretch." A close game may shock Irish fans. Over Louisville's last seven contests in 2018, they gave up an average of 57 points per game, but Ennis does not predict Notre Dame to put up those kind of offensive numbers. He expects the new coaching staff to bleed the clock when they have possession and prevent Notre Dame from running up the score. "I wouldn't be shocked if it's a game that's like 31-14 or something like that," Ennis said. "None of that would shock me at all, to where Lou- isville's never really one possession away from tying or taking the lead, but they're never four touchdowns out of it, either. That just wouldn't shock me." ✦ GAME PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE Redshirt junior Jawon Pass (above) is competing with redshirt sophomore Malik Cunningham for the Cardinals' starting quarterback job. Last year, Pass completed just 54.0 percent of his passes for 1,960 yards with eight scores and 12 picks. PHOTO COURTESY LOUISVILLE 2019 LOUISVILLE SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Sept. 2 Notre Dame (ESPN) 8 p.m. Sept. 7 Eastern Kentucky (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Sept. 14 vs. Western Kentucky* 4 p.m. Sept. 21 at Florida State TBA Oct. 5 Boston College TBA Oct. 12 at Wake Forest TBA Oct. 19 Clemson TBA Oct. 26 Virginia TBA Nov. 9 at Miami (Fla.) TBA Nov. 16 at NC State TBA Nov. 23 Syracuse TBA Nov. 30 at Kentucky TBA * at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. 2019 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Sept. 2 at Louisville (ESPN) 8 p.m. Sept. 14 New Mexico (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at Georgia (CBS) 8 p.m. Sept. 28 Virginia (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 5 Bowling Green (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 12 USC* (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at Michigan (ABC/ESPN) TBA Nov. 2 Virginia Tech (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at Duke (ACCN) TBA Nov. 16 Navy (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 23 Boston College (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at Stanford TBA * This will be the Irish Wear Green contest, with fans encouraged to dress in green ACCN — ACC Network