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Notre Dame Football vs. Duke Blue Devils Gameday Primer

By Mason Plummer

ATHENS, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 21: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up prior to playing the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 21: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish warms up prior to playing the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – SEPTEMBER 02: Brian Kelly the head coach of Notre Dame football against the Louisville Cardinals on September 02, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Following a nail-biter against Virginia Tech last week, will Notre Dame football perform better this week against a tough Duke team? Let’s break it down and find out.

Last weeks performance against VA Tech may not have been the prettiest by any means, but the fight and resilience that the team showed Saturday spells good things for the future. In past years, you may have seen a Notre Dame football team just shut down when it felt like it was out of the game and collapse.

However, this team fought back and fought hard for the win and got it.

Now, let’s look forward to today’s matchup as Notre Dame takes on the Blue Devils of Duke.

Kickoff: 7:30 pm EST

Channel: ACC Network

Location: Wallace Wade Stadium, Durham, North Carolina

Line: Notre Dame -7.5

Weather: At kickoff it will be 32 degrees with 78 percent humidity. The forecast shows the chance of rain at 0 percent with winds coming out of the SSW at 2 mph.

Series history: Notre Dame leads 3-2.

Top storylines: 

  • How will Notre Dame handle the bright lights of yet another primetime game away from home? The last couple times Notre Dame played away under the lights, it did not go well. See Michigan, Georgia and Clemson (its last 3 losses). Now, Duke is not on the level of any of those three teams, but the premise is still there. Notre Dame does not play well away from home and Duke has the talent — but mainly the coaches — to cause an upset.
  • The injury bug is back for Notre Dame and it has bitten the past two weeks. Notre Dame is now without its starting right side of the offensive line as Tommy Kraemer and Robert Hainsey have picked up injuries in back to back weeks that will likely keep them both out for the remainder of the season. Notre Dame is deep on the offensive line, but now there is plenty of pressure on new starters Trevor Ruhland and Josh Lugg to perform, and perform well.
  • Lastly, will Ian Book improve? His performance against VA Tech was salvaged by a game-winning drive and a celebration that caused quite a bit of controversy among Irish fans. Was Book shushing the ND crowd? The VA Tech crowd? The media? His haters? Who knows. The players seemed to rally around him after that though and if Book continues to lead this team to victories through the rest of the season, so be it. He does, however, need to improve his game if he wants to move onto the NFL or come back next season to be the starter, as highly-touted Phil Jurkovec is waiting in the wings.

Injury report:

  • Notre Dame junior RB Tony Jones Jr. has a rib cartilage injury that caused him to miss the game last week, but he is expected back tonight against Duke.
  • Notre Dame junior OL Robert Hainsey suffered a fractured ankle against VA Tech and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
  • Notre Dame sophomore LB Jack Lamb suffered a hip injury against VA Tech and will miss the game today against Duke.
  • Duke freshman DE R.J. Oben had surgery on his shoulder this past week and will be out for the remainder of the season.
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