Irish avoid upset bid by Louisville

SOUTH BEND — Kyren Williams ran for 127 yards and Ian Book had a 13-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter that gave No. 4 Notre Dame the lead for good as the Fighting Irish held off Louisville with a 12-7 Saturday.

Williams ran 25 times and had his third 100-yard game of the season as the Irish (4-0, 3-0 ACC) won their 22nd straight at Notre Dame Stadium.

It came against an inspired 3-4 Louisville defense that spent most of the afternoon on the field. Notre Dame controlled the clock for 36:15 including a game-ending 14-play drive that burned the final 7:55.

Book completed 11 of 19 for 106 yards and ran 12 times for 47 yards.

The loss was the fourth straight for the Cardinals (1-4, 0-4), who got 118 yards passing and 49 rushing from Malik Cunningham. Javian Hawkins, the nation's No. 3 rusher coming into the game, was limited to 51 yards on 15 carries.

The Irish, who outgained the Cardinals 338-219, controlled the clock for 21:57 of the first half, running 45 plays and gaining 212 yards to Louisville's 23 plays for 90. But all that got Notre Dame was a 6-0 halftime lead on Jonathan Doerer's field goals of 32 and 30 yards.

The Cardinals opened the second half with an 83-yard touchdown drive as Cunningham rushed three times for 26 yards and completed all five of his passes for 52 yards, including a 29-yarder to a wideopen Hawkins at the Irish one. Cunningham followed with a 1-yard TD pass to Marshon Ford to make it 7-6.

The Cardinals tried an onside kick but were penalized for an illegal block. After the re-kick, Book drove the Irish 56 yards in eight plays, going the final 13 yards on a cross-field scramble on a third-and-8, escaping the tackle of Chandler Jones and getting into the end zone to put the Irish up 12-7. A 2-point conversion pass failed but Notre Dame led 12-7 going into the final quarter.