Boubacar Traore on Saturday played like the rising star he’s expected to turn into, that Notre Dame needs him to turn into since starting vyper end Jordan Botelho went down with a season-ending knee injury eight days ago.
The sophomore, who made his first collegiate start in a 28-3 taming of defending MAC champ Miami (Ohio), appears also to be pragmatically defiant.
Irish head coach Marcus Freeman told his team to celebrate for 24 hours before turning the page to this coming Saturday’s showdown with Louisville.
For the amasser of five tackles, two sacks, a QB hurry and a forced fumble against the RedHawks, it felt closer to 24 seconds.
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“I can’t really talk for the whole team,” Traore said after the Miami win. “But the D-line, we’re pretty much moved on from this win. We’re focused on Louisville right now. We’re getting ready for Louisville and preparing for them right now.”
And both the Irish (3-1) and Cardinals (3-0), set to clash at 3:30 p,m., received a bump in the polls on Sunday. The game is on Peacock streaming only, not on NBC as most Irish home games are.
Notre Dame moved up one spot to No. 16th in the latest AP poll, while Louisville climbed four rungs to No. 15 following its 31-19 home win over another future Irish opponent, Georgia Tech.
In the coaches poll, the Irish were up four spots to No. 14, while Louisville jumped from 20th to 17th.
The top four spots in the AP poll remained unchanged — No. 1 Texas, followed by Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama. Tennessee jumped Ole Miss to take the No. 5 slotting this week after its 25-15 win at new SEC member Oklahoma.
USC, ND’s regular-season finale, and Texas A&M are the other two Irish opponents that found their way into the AP Top 25 this week. Northern Illinois fell out of the rankings after visting Buffalo took down the Huskies 23-20 in overtime on Saturday.
The Trojans slipped to No. 13 from 11th after falling late to Michigan on the road on a failed fourth-down goal-line stand. The Aggies, meanwhile, survived another upset-minded MAC team, Bowling Green, by a 26-20 count two weeks after the Falcons almost upended Penn State in Happy Valley.
Louisville’s win over Georgia Tech was more of a survival than the final score might indicate. The Yellow Jackets attempted a 50-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to try to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 24-22, but Louisville’s Tayon Holloway blocked it and returned it 45 yards with 7:05 left to effectively put the game away. Georgia Tech outgained the Cardinals, 410-332, and outrushed them, 98-63.
So how good is Louisville? How good are any of Notre Dame’s opponents?
Florida State, 10th-ranked in preseason, was the top-ranked Irish foe before any games were played. New ACC member Cal almost took out the Seminoles in Tallahassee on Saturday night, which would have made FSU 0-4. Florida State held on for the 14-9 win.
On the flip side, the three October Irish opponents, which looked like a soft stretch in the schedule, are a combined 8-3.
Stanford (2-1) won its first-ever ACC game, edging Syracuse on the road, 26-24, on Friday night. Georgia Tech was the first team to hand FSU a loss and is 3-2, while Navy is 3-0 after knocking off Memphis, 56-44.
Meanwhile, two unsung November Irish opponents have gotten off to strong starts. Virginia (3-1) has already matched its win total from last season, while Army (3-0) has won its three games by an average of 22 points.
Louisville, though, has recent history on its side against the Irish. The Cardinals ambushed Notre Dame 33-20, last season on Oct, 7, effectively ending any realistic pathway for the Irish to make the final four-team version of the College Football Playoff.
“It’s a big one,” Irish wide receiver Beaux Collins said of the Cardinals, who he was unbeaten against (2-0) while playing for Clemson (2021-23). “Louisville, they’re always going to bring their best. They’re a team I have a lot of respect for just growing up watching Lamar [Jackson] and all that. They bring in players just like we do here.
“They have good guys that are there, who will come hard, play to the standard that they have there and things like that. But I feel like as long as we handle our business and execute, we’ll be just fine.”
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