ND's fan base, which quite honestly isn't very invested in college football, is one of the few fan bases I've been around that actually down plays opponents they beat. Most other programs fans actually over play opponents they beat.
Louisville was obviously bad last year. They were poorly coached and eventually gave up.
Watching them Monday surprised me. They were fast, athletic, and played hard. Were they Clemson? Nah. But they had some players. Enough so that it made me take a look at their recruiting.
It surprised me, they are consistently in the high 20s and 30s in rankings. The transition of staffs last year being the lone hiccup but it appears they countered that by loading up on a lot of JUCOs.
Louisville redefining their culture with the new staff will likely have it's share of bumps, but this team isn't without talent and for the ND game, they decided they would play hard and fight.
Could ND play better and made this look a little uglier? Sure, but I think the idea that Louisville is a team starved of talent is false. I suspect they'll at much better this year. Good? Who knows but I suspect not for ND fans because ND beat then.