![]() 94 in the country.īoth those thoughts should further these Under intentions. Their weaknesses are few the Irish special teams have been lacking, while the Blue Devils defense allows opponents to succeed on 41.3% of their rushing plays, No. Statistically, these are two of the best teams in the country. But early? With Notre Dame effectively hungover? Expect little in the first half, only to create drama in the second half. The quarterbacks are too good not to eventually make plays. Risk averse play calls, particularly from a former defensive coordinator who has never been in this position, will help further an early Under thought. Pressure makes for conservative play, especially early. As soon as that Labor Day game was competitive, Duke had exceeded preseason expectations. ![]() While they upset Clemson to open the season, there were few expectations afoot at that point. Well, Leonard and Duke head coach Mike Elko. Duke quarterback Riley Leonard may be better than Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord, but the rest of the Blue Devils offense is less threatening than the Buckeyes.Īnd Leonard may be hesitant early. Notre Dame just shut down Ohio State, holding the Buckeyes to 240 yards on 49 plays before their game-winning drive and excluding their singular big play, a 61-yard touchdown rush, the only big-play score the Irish have allowed this season. Blink and it could be halftime this Saturday night. The first half took an hour and 16 minutes. The Irish first quarter last week against Ohio State took 29 real-time minutes. More precisely, he will want to shorten the game, and shortening this game will play to the two best units on the field, the two defenses. That is the kind of behavior one can expect from a defensive-coordinator-turned-head-coach learning from his rookie-year mistakes.īut on the road, with a team that was undoubtedly mentally cloudy to start the week, Freeman may revert to his inner wants as a former defensive coordinator and slow the game down. ![]() Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has emphasized an aggressive in-game approach this season, going for it on multiple fourth downs in opponent territory rather than attempting a field goal. With two former defensive coordinators in their second seasons as head coaches, a pair forever linked even if they never coached together, easing into this Top-20 tilt may be only natural. Will the Irish focus in time to avoid a college football odds upset to the Blue Devils? Here are our free college football picks and predictions for Notre Dame vs. And now Notre Dame has to take that hangover to face the Duke Blue Devils in what may be the biggest football game in Duke history. Losing to the Ohio State Buckeyes because only 10 defenders took the field on Ohio State’s game-winning touchdown can have the same mental effect as a pile of whiskey shots on St. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish may feel like this tonight is March 18. ![]()
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