NOTRE DAME WINS UGLY
Irish far from sharp, but Book, Williams lead them to victory
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — When it came time to deliver, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book stopped beating himself up and kept the No. 4 Irish unbeaten.
‘‘I’m definitely hard on myself, but my job at the end of the day is to get the ‘W,’ ’’ said Book, whose 13-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter — combined with Kyren Williams’ 127 rushing yards — helped Notre Dame fend off Louisville 12-7 on Saturday.
Williams ran 25 times and had his third 100-yard game of the season as the Irish (4-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won their 22nd consecutive game at Notre Dame Stadium.
It came against an inspired 3-4 defense by the Cardinals that spent most of the afternoon on the field. Notre Dame controlled the clock for 36:15, including a 14-play drive that burned the final 7:55.
‘‘When the game is on the line, you can count on Ian Book to come up and make big plays for us,’’ Irish coach Brian Kelly said. ‘‘The preparation was outstanding. Their mindset was great. But when you’re a top-five team, you’re going to get the opposition’s best game, period.’’
Book completed 11 of 19 passes for 106 yards and ran 12 times for 47 yards.
‘‘I felt like I was able to pick myself up and get the energy going,’’ he said.
The loss was the fourth in a row for Louisville (1-4, 0-4), which got 133 yards passing and 49 rushing from Malik Cunningham. Javian Hawkins, the No. 3 rusher in the country entering the game, was limited to 51 yards on 15 carries.
‘‘I told our guys in our locker room that I was proud of them,’’ Cardinals coach Scott Satterfield said. ‘‘We were in this game and had an opportunity at the end to get a victory. The guys went out there and competed.’’
Notre Dame outgained Louisville 338-219 and controlled the clock for 21:57 of the first half, running 45 plays and gaining 212 yards to the Cardinals’ 23 plays and 90 yards. But all that got the Irish was a 6-0 halftime lead on 32- and 30-yard field goals by Jonathan Doerer.
Louisville opened the second half with an 83-yard touchdown drive, including a 29-yard pass from Cunningham to a wide-open Hawkins to Notre Dame’s 1. Cunningham followed with a one-yard touchdown pass to Marshon Ford to give the Cardinals a 7-6 lead.
Cunningham completed 16 of 19 passes. He left for a brief time with cramps but returned.
‘‘They didn’t let us get over the top today, so we had to take what we had underneath,’’ Cunningham said. ‘‘Not turning the ball over was something we harped on all week. But the chances we got, we have to execute them a little better.’’
Louisville tried an onside kick after its touchdown but was penalized for an illegal block. After the rekick, Book drove the Irish 56 yards in eight plays — going the final 13 yards on a cross-field scramble on third-and-eight — for a 12-7 lead. A two-point conversion pass failed, but Notre Dame held on.