Well it came down to the last minutes but ND pulled it out. Our OL got beat up especially the Center, but managed to do enough to help Hartman and Estime in our 2 last offensive plays.
Special shout out to DT Howard Cross who had 13 tackles as well as our newest great TE Mitchell Evans who had 6 catches. He was clutch for 134 yards.
The offense was having a really hard time and were only 3/15 on 3rd downs. I attribute this in great part to Duke HC Mike Elko who is the next great HC.
Another away game at nite to a very good team. I’ll take it. Now another night game against an undefeated Louisville.
It was a rather lackluster effort by the Irish in the first half. Duke had ND’s OL completely confused in the first half.
ND started the game 3 and out the first 3 times they had the ball. Ian Book did not look good early. He had happy feet and erratic throws.
In the mean time, Duke was moving the ball during the first half and then Clark Lea changed it up in the second half.
Well, we found our running back Kyren Williams running all over the place. We have another great TE in freshman Michael Mayer – 4 catches. Receiver Joe Wilkens looks really good and Avery Davis fought for the ball for a TD.
Toss in a fake punt and Fosky’s sack and we got the win.
Check out the game highlights:
Here is the Brian Kelly post game press conference:
It looks like we are finally going to see College Football. ND hosts Duke in the first home game this Saturday.
Duke is respectable in football thanks to HC David Cutcliffe. He is a QB guru who incidentally was set to join Charlie Weis before heart problems stalled that from happening.
I don’t expect that ND will have any problems in this game, but it is the first game and anything can happen.
Duke has a Clemson transfer at QB named Chase Brice. He is a dual threat QB, but I don’t think he’ll be effective against this ND defense. Duke does have its own pretty good defense with 3 good pass rushers – so we’ll see how Ian Book handles that.
I would have felt a lot better about the ND win if I did not see the LSU vs Alabama and Penn State vs Minnesota games earlier in the day. All 4 of these teams have a palpable vitality to them.
They are all very big – they look double the size of ND’s OL. I think the announcers said the Minnesota OL averages 6’5″ 359 while LSU and Alabama are huge on both sides. I would not like ND to play any of them. I also like PJ Fleck a lot.
Now while ND rolled all over Duke and Ian Book was outstanding in both the run and pass department – he threw for 4 TD’s and ran for over 100 yards, first ever for a ND QB somehow to me ND looks like a stale offense compared to other top 10 teams.
Most ND HC’s max out at 10 years – if they last that long and new blood would rejuvenate the football team – think Fleck.
While Book was our leading rusher, it should not be that way. We need a lot more out of our RB’s.
Drew White LB had a great game with 7 tackles and game ball winner Chris Finke was outstanding catching the ball and returning punts.
In injury news, DE Julian Okwara is out with a broken fibula and LB Lamb is also out for the season.
Should we win out I do not want to play a top 10 team in a bowl game.
ND is 7-2, let’s keep it up.
Here are the game highlights:
Here is the Brian Kelly post game press conference:
This is really the last chance for ND to get their act together especially on offense. It really is hard to figure out what they are trying to do.
I expect Duke to follow Bud Carson’s defense of dropping eight. Duke has a fairly effective defense and if they can stop ND’s running game and force QB Ian Book to throw deep by closing the short lanes – ND will be in trouble.
They also beat Virginia Tech 45-10. They are currently 4-4 and actually played Alabama.
I really hope Ian Book can get his mojo back for he has been going backward since he was injured last year. Also the OC Chip Long needs to start calling plays to win and not playing not to lose.
He is almost certainly out the door along with the receivers coach & QB coach if they do not win out.
This is really ND’s last chance to explode their offense.
Notre Dame 28 Duke 17
Here is the Brian Kelly Pre Game Press Conference:
