Notre Dame Football: The play that changed everything vs. Duke

Notre Dame football ran away with a 38 – 7 victory over Duke Saturday night as Ian Book stepped back into the spotlight.

It was no surprise that Notre Dame football had what it took to put away a team like Duke, but with the last two games not going as planned, a season-ending collapse could have been on the horizon.

With the exception of an initial three and out on the opening drive, everything went about as well as it could have for the Irish during the majority of the first half — until it didn’t.

With only a few minutes left, a few mishaps in a row almost set up Duke to make things interesting.

The Blue Devils would score their first and only touchdown of the night with 2:55 left in the second quarter. Three plays later an interception would set Duke up with an opportunity to score again before the half. While their field goal attempt went just to the right, Duke would start the second half with the ball and momentum.

Out of the gate, Duke ran away with a quick 19-yard pass. Notre Dame’s defense would step up, but the drive continued thanks to a favorable holding call on 4th and five.

With the opportunity for Duke to continue marching down the field and change the tone of the game, Troy Pride Jr. took it right away.

A miscommunication led to a fully underthrown pass that fell right into the arms of Pride, essentially closing the door on any potential comeback for the Blue Devils.

While an illegal blocking penalty off of the interception backed up the Irish an extra 30 yards, it didn’t stop what would eventually turn into a seven-point drive.

Instead of what could have been a 21-14 game, Pride flipped the script and set up the 28-7 lead. From that point forward, Notre Dame controlled the game just as they did in the first half, thanks to the effort not only on the offensive side of the ball, but a dominant defensive performance with Pride leading the way.