No. 9 Notre Dame pulls away from Louisville 35-17

Freshman Charbonnet helps No. 7 Michigan clean up mistakes

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, Sept 3, (AP): Briefly caught off guard by Louisville’s intensity, Notre Dame turned up its energy as well to take control with big plays.

Ian Book ran for one touchdown and threw for another, Jahmir Smith rushed for two scores and the No. 9 Fighting Irish beat Louisville 35-17.

Tony Jones Jr rushed 15 times for 110 yards, including an 11-yard TD, as the Fighting Irish worked harder than expected to put away the rebuilding Cardinals in Scott Satterfield’s debut as coach.

Figuring it out in time pleased Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly. 26-yard TD pass midway through the third for a 28-14 lead. He finished 14 of 23 passing for 193 yards. Smith rushed for touchdowns of 3 and 1 yards and totaled 24 on eight carries.

Louisville junior quarterback Jawon Pass rushed for touchdowns of 8 and 17 yards in the first quarter, but the Cardinals struggled after that and managed only Blanton Creque’s 46-yard field goal midway in the fourth quarter.

Louisville freshman Javian Hawkins rushed for 122 yards on 19 carries.

Playing before a record home crowd of 58,187, the Cardinals were outgained 425-383.

Satterfield nonetheless found bright spots in the Cardinals’ performance against Notre Dame, a storied program coming off a quest for a national championship.

Meanwhile, with Michigan debuting its high-tempo, no-huddle “size in space” offense, a freshman helped bail the Wolverines out of an uneven performance.

No. 7 Michigan was sloppy Saturday during a 40-21 victory over Middle Tennessee in the opener for offensive coordinator Josh Gattis.

But Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday that freshman running back Zach Charbonnet was perfect in protection, picking up nine blocks to lead a position group that was flawless in that category.

Charbonnet