Duke football cannot hang with Notre Dame for four quarters in opener

825. 27. 819. Final. 13

The Duke football team could not hang with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the season opener.

Excitement levels were high in South Bend, Indiana as college football kicked off with the Duke Blue Devils and the No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and it was a hot start for the Blue Devils.

Under new starting quarterback Chase Brice, a transfer from Clemson, Duke went right down the field on the opening possession, but the drive stalled in Irish territory after the Blue Devils failed to convert a fourth-down attempt.

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Following a three-and-out by the Notre Dame offense, Duke capitalized on a 55-yard completion from Brice to Eli Pancol, but the drive faltered inside the 10-yard line as the Blue Devils had to settle for a field goal, taking a 3-0 lead.

The Duke defense then forced two more punts, and just as the Irish were trotting out the special teams unit for a fourth straight punt, Brian Kelly dug into his bag of tricks early with a fake punt on 4th and 8 from his own 21-yard line that flipped the momentum and sprung life into a limited-capacity Notre Dame Stadium.

Punter Jay Bramblett ran for 14 yards and then quarterback Ian Book led the Irish on a touchdown drive, and Notre Dame never looked back.

However, Duke looked like it could have another answer at the end of the first half, but it was another goal-line struggle for the Blue Devil offense that resulted in a field goal, which cut the Irish lead down to one.

Notre Dame was poised to score a touchdown following a 75-yard completion after the kickoff, but Lummie Young IV was able to intercept Book in the end zone to give Duke a shot to take the lead into halftime. However, a three-and-out left time for the Irish, and the No. 10 team in the country capitalized with a field goal to take a 10-6 lead into the locker room.

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Duke’s defense stood tall once again coming out of halftime, but Jalon Calhoun was stripped after a first down reception, and Notre Dame recovered, taking advantage of the Blue Devil miscue and making Duke pay by scoring a touchdown.

Chase Brice and the Blue Devils wouldn’t go down without a fight as the quarterback led his first touchdown drive with Duke in the fourth quarter, running it in himself from two yards out as the Blue Devils were back to within one score at 17-13, but Notre Dame put together a masterful drive to put the game away.

Book and the Irish converted four third downs on their touchdown drive, with a 17-yard strike from Book to Avery Davis coming on a 3rd and 10.

Notre Dame capped off the day with a field goal to push its lead to 27-13 as Brice lost the football on Duke’s final drive to push the Blue Devils to 0-1 on the season.

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Despite the loss, Duke can take away many positives from this game, including playing the No. 10 team in the country tight to the fourth quarter, the offense moving the ball with some sort of efficiency in between the 20-yard lines, and the defense coming up with stop after stop through three quarters.

Brice finished the day 20-of-37 with 259 yards, 16 rushing yards, and the one rushing touchdown as his favorite target, Noah Gray, caught five of those passes for 68 yards.

The Blue Devils will head back to Durham and prepare for their home opener next Saturday against Boston College at 12:00pm EST.

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