There was a time, not so long ago, where Notre Dame beating a Power 5 team – any Power 5 team – by 18 points on the road would’ve been cause for celebration, if not a parade.

The two most talented Notre Dame teams of the Brian Kelly era prior to the 2016 debacle and the much-ballyhooed “Kelly 2.0” were probably 2012 and 2015 (they were certainly the most successful in any case). Those two teams combined to beat zero Power 5 teams by 18 on the road. (The 2012 team beat OU and MSU by 17, so while that looks awfully convenient, I didn’t set out to do it that way, I promise!)

I suppose one of the best things you could say about Kelly’s work at ND is that he seems to have lifted the program to a point where such a showing, like tonight’s 35-17 victory over a probably improved Louisville team (the Petrino to Satterfield upgrade seems to be clear, even if they’re still undermanned), isn’t, in and of itself, great.

There’s plenty to talk about with the Irish opener, so let’s jump right in.

Clark Lea made his money even if it took a minute

It was clear from the jump that Notre Dame was ill-prepared for what Louisville was doing offensively. The Cards came out with an imaginative set of play calls (Jawon Pass running the option!) that shredded the Irish D for the first two possessions. The losses of Te’Von Coney and Drue Tranquill were very much felt.

After that, DC Clark Lea made the moves necessary to adjust and showed off why many internally are so high on the young assistant. Louisville had 3 points the rest of the way (to ND’s 28). They also had 3 turnovers the rest of the way. It still wasn’t always perfect, but it was plenty effective.

My only major defensive question would be where game-wreckers Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem were. Okwara made a couple of nice plays later in the game, but up until then their biggest moments in the game were foolish offsides penalties that helped Louisville extend drives. I’m sure the X’s and O’s guys among us will tell me that the Cardinals sold out to stop them, but it was still a bit disappointing given how weak their O-line seemed to be on paper.

(Here is my spot to remind you Alohi Gilman is a freaking beast. This will probably be a weekly occurrence.)

The running game was huge early

Not to be all #RTDBK, but man, when you run for approximately a gazillion yards per carry on the opening drive, throwing 3 straight passes on your second series seems suboptimal. Luckily, the Irish went back to the ground game after that to great effect in the first half – Tony Jones ran for 87 in the first quarter alone – and that helped overcome a rusty performance by Ian Book to keep them afloat early on. Jones, perhaps being used more than usual, didn’t do much later in the game, and Jahmir Smith’s numbers were unimpressive.

Jafar Armstrong, unfortunately, was hurt very early in the game – a groin injury – and never returned. Reports were he didn’t even have his helmet with him for the second half. That does not bode well. Hopefully the 12 days before New Mexico, and more importantly the 19 until Georgia, are enough for him to heal up.

(BTW, I apologize if you don’t closely follow Twitter and I just broke the Jafar news to you. ESPN, as far as I could tell, didn’t mention it one time, even to wonder why he wasn’t playing. This coming off their bang-up job not noticing last December that All-American Julian Love was missing from the Cotton Bowl until Clemson was already halfway through taking advantage of it. Why is Pete Sampson getting this info but not the Worldwide Leader?)

ND showed off some depth

At one point in the game, as they’re contractually obligated to do, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit mentioned ND’s big-game woes, specifically talking about their ‘depth’ as opposed to the guys Alabama, Clemson and the like roll in. While they’re still not rolling in blue-chips like those teams are, there was a fair bit to like in that department. Tommy Tremble, who I’d never seen on the field before and looks more like a running back than a tight end, had some impressive moments, including a TD on Book’s best pass of the day, and looks like he’s forcing his way on the field more, perhaps at Brock Wright’s expense. Lawrence Keys had a great grab on a bad Book third-down pass and hopefully will receive more chances to show off his speed. Ade Ogundeji, so often overlooked on the defensive line amidst the Okwara/Kareem discussions, made one of the bigger plays of the game when he forced Pass to fumble while the Cards were driving in the third quarter.

It still isn’t national-title depth, but it was heartening to see those kinds of contributions so early in the season. One would think we can expect a few more as the year progresses. If Jafar is out a while, they will probably be necessary.

Irish haven’t yet taken the next step

Taking the next step was, in so many words, the theme of the ND off-season. We’ve seen the Irish earn their way into big games – but not much good has happened after that. The time had come to become a team that could compete in those games and preferably win them.

Obviously, Louisville is not that sort of game, but part of being a team that can win big games is bludgeoning teams you assume are as poor as Louisville was projected to be, not just beating them semi-handily. The Cardinals may well end up being much improved, and the early struggles in this game won’t look like more than a blip if that’s the case. However, you’d like to see an ND team come out and truly lay the smackdown on a low to mid-level Power 5 team. Perhaps those days are yet coming.

I know it’s an unfair standard. But this is college football; it’s an unfair world. There’s no eking your way to a title anymore in the playoff era. You have to be elite. Today, ND looked, for all but the first 8 minutes or so, very good. By the end of the year (probably by Sept. 21), they need to be elite if they want the season to end differently than 2018 did.

(Photo cred: South Bend Tribune)