Does Duke have any advantage over Notre Dame? Yes. We break down the matchups.
With so much attention on No. 10 Notre Dame with the Irish playing a conference football game, Duke will try to spoil the occasion. The Irish will compete as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference, marking its first football league membership in 133 years of football.
Notre Dame was dubbed second in the ACC in the preseason media poll, while Duke was selected 12th out of 15 teams.
If not for Notre Dame’s unprecedented status, the Duke debut of quarterback Chase Brice might be gaining more attention. He’s a graduate transfer from Clemson, topping the field of candidates to start during the Blue Devils preseason.
Coach David Cutcliffe has won 72 games in 12 seasons with Duke. Brian Kelly, who’s in his 11th season at Notre Dame, has been a head coach for 359 Division I games overall, second on the NCAA active list behind North Carolina’s Mack Brown.
Notre Dame has posted double-digit win totals in three consecutive seasons. Duke has failed to qualify for a bowl in two of the last four seasons.
Duke was supposed to open the 2020 schedule with three non-league home games before the summer revisions. A trip to Notre Dame was planned for this year, but it was set for Halloween on the original slate.
Last season
Records: Duke 5-7 (3-5 ACC); Notre Dame 11-2
Duke offense: 25.2 ppg | 329.7 ypg | 179.3 passing ypg | 150.3 rushing ypg
Notre Dame defense (allowed): 17.9 ppg | 321 ypg | 168.5 passing ypg | 152.5 rushing ypg
Notre Dame offense: 36.8 ppg | 431.2 ypg | 252.2 passing ypg | 179 rushing ypg
Duke defense (allowed): 29.2 ppg | 379.6 ypg | 199 passing ypg |180.6 rushing ypg
Duke run game vs. Notre Dame run defense
Running back Deon Jackson led Duke with 641 rushing yards last season, though that was a decline of more than 200 yards from the year before. Mataeo Durant (451 rushing yards) gives the Blue Devils another option. Cranking up the ground game could also be hindered after center Jack Wohlabaugh was lost to a torn knee ligament in a practice injury earlier this month.
Notre Dame’s defensive front includes two graduate students and two seniors. The Irish surrendered 12 rushing touchdowns last season.
Duke pass game vs. Notre Dame pass defense
The Blue Devils brought in Chase Brice to ignite the passing attack. Returning Duke players account for only four completed passes from a season ago. But on the flip side, the team’s top two pass catchers (TE Noah Gray, WR Jalon Calhoun) will be in the lineup. Of the total 18 touchdown receptions last year, 13 of those went to players who should be on the field against Notre Dame.
The Irish rated third nationally in 2019 pass defense, giving up 168.5 yards per game through the air. That stingy number was aided by the Duke game because the Blue Devils managed only 102 passing yards. Notre Dame has a speedy secondary — including starting cornerback Nick McCloud, who’ll play his first game for the Irish after transferring from N.C. State in June.
Notre Dame run game vs. Duke run defense
The Irish don’t have much experience at running back, even with Jafar Armstrong’s four career starts. Sophomore Kyren Williams has been dubbed the starting running back. What matters most might be an offensive line stocked with experience at every spot.
Duke’s defensive front could be its team strength, largely because of ends Chris Rumph II and Victor Dimukeje. Rumph had 13.5 tackles for loss and Dimukeje made 9.5 tackles for loss last season. Cutcliffe has pointed out that freshmen could make early impacts on the defensive front. The linebackers are relatively inexperienced even though Shaka Heyward started six games last season.
Notre Dame pass game vs. Duke pass defense
The Irish can count on senior quarterback Ian Book, who racked up 34 touchdown passes with only six interceptions last season. Two of those pickoffs came in the rout at Duke. Yet Book threw four touchdowns at Duke, marking one of five 2019 games with four or more TD throws. The Irish’s receiving corps is enhanced by graduate transfer Ben Skowronek from Northwestern.
The Blue Devils have three full-time starters from last season’s secondary ready for the opener. But the x-factor could be the return of Mark Gilbert, an All-American in 2017 who because of injuries hasn’t played since the second game of the 2018 season. He led the ACC with 21 pass breakups in 2017 and made six interceptions. His last game action came Sept. 8, 2018, at Northwestern.
Duke special teams vs. Notre Dame special teams
Duke is breaking in new specialists, with redshirt freshman kicker Charlie Ham and redshirt freshman punter Porter Wilson (though senior Jackson Hubbard shares the top line on the punting depth chart).
The Blue Devils have Damond Philyaw-Johnson, who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns at Wake Forest in November when the Blue Devils last played a road game. Until those, Duke hadn’t had a kickoff returned for a touchdown since 2016 — Shaun Wilson at Notre Dame.
Notre Dame kicker Jonathan Doerer, who was 17 of 20 on field goals a season ago, set a program record for a kicker with 108 total points. Notre Dame didn’t have a kick or punt blocked last season, while the Irish blocked two punts.
Duke intangibles vs. Notre Dame intangibles
Duke has won seven of its last eight season openers, falling to then-No. 2 Alabama last year in Atlanta. This is only the second true road opener for the Blue Devils under Cutcliffe. In six of the last seven seasons (including the past three), Duke has won its first road game of the season. This shapes up as a much stiffer test than some of those seasons, when trips included visits to Memphis, Troy, Tulane and Middle Tennessee.
Notre Dame has won 18 consecutive home games for its third-longest winning streak since Notre Dame Stadium opened in 1930. The Irish are 73-15-2 in home openers in the stadium.