Notre Dame vs Duke Series History
Notre Dame aims to rebound from a gut-wrenching loss to Ohio State on Saturday night in Durham. Duke has been one of the most impressive teams in the country during the first third of the season, with Mike Elko’s squad racing out to a dominant 4-0 start behind the right arm of QB Riley Leonard and a dominating defense. The way Notre Dame plays on Saturday night will tell us a lot about the toughness of this Fighting Irish squad and the leadership of Marcus Freeman.
NOTRE DAME vs. DUKE SERIES HISTORY
Notre Dame has faced Duke 7 times, with the Fighting Irish holding a 5-2 series advantage. The will be the first time that these programs have faced in the Freeman era. The Fighting Irish and Blue Devils have met 3 times since Notre Dame started its ACC scheduling arrangement, with the Irish holding a 2-1 advantage in those games.
RESULTS
2020 – Notre Dame 27, Duke 13
2019 – Notre Dame 38, Duke 7
2016 – Duke 38, Notre Dame 35
2007 – Notre Dame 28, Duke 7
1966 – Notre Dame 64, Duke 0
1961 – Duke 37, Notre Dame 13
1958 – Notre Dame 9, Duke 7
NOTABLE GAMES
2020 – In the first game of the COVID-shortened 2020 season (and first conference game in school history), Notre Dame knocked off Duke 27-13. RB Kyren Williams had 112 yards rushing, 93 yards receiving, and 2 touchdowns, and QB Ian Book threw for 263 yards. The Fighting Irish defense showed the first glimpse of its strength, holding the Blue Devils to just 75 yards rushing and forced 2 turnovers. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had 9 tackles and a sack, Isaiah Foskey added a sack, and Kyle Hamilton had 7 total tackles and a pass deflection.
2019 – Notre Dame rebounded after a sloppy stretch of games with a dominant 38-7 victory on the road at Duke. Two weeks prior to the game, the Irish were demolished 45-14 at Michigan, and the following week needed a last-minute drive to beat an average Virginia Tech team 21-20. However, the win at Duke kicked off a strong end to the season where the closest game was still a 21-point Notre Dame win. Against the Blue Devils, Ian Book threw for 181 yards and 4 touchdowns and added another 139 yards rushing, spearheading an Irish rushing attack that racked up 288 yards on the ground.
2016 – The 38-35 loss to Duke in 2016 was an inflection point in the Notre Dame program. Coming off a loss to Michigan State, Notre Dame blew a 14-point first half lead but still led 35-28 with less than 7 minutes in the game. However, Duke scored the last 10 points of the game to topple the Irish, despite QB DeShone Kizer accounting for 441 total yards and 3 touchdowns. Defensive coordinator Brian Van Gorder was fired following the loss, but even that long-overdue move didn’t stop the wheels from coming off the 2016 season. Even still, Van Gorder’s departure forced Brian Kelly to overhaul the defensive staff in the offseason, and the hire of new defensive coordinator (and now-Duke head coach) Mike Elko and linebacker coach Clark Lea set the stage for the defensive excellence that fueled Notre Dame’s 43-8 run from 2017-2020 and two CFP appearances.
1966 – One week before the famous 10-10 tie against #2 Michigan State, top-ranked Notre Dame blasted an overmatched Duke team 64-0 in South Bend. RB Nick Eddy took the second play of the game 77 yards for a touchdown and the Irish led 43-0 at halftime. After the tie against Michigan State, Notre Dame dominated #10 USC 51-0 at the Coliseum to capture the 1966 national championship.
Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman played in two games against Duke during his Wake Forest career. The Deacons lost to Duke last year by a 34-31 score but beat them 45-7 in 2021. Hartman threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns last season, and threw for 402 yards and three touchdowns in 2021 while adding two more touchdowns on the ground.
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