Clash of the 1-2 teams! Duke and Notre Dame are each looking to overcome slow (and unexpected) 1-2 starts. Notre Dame is aiming to rebound after a disheartening loss to Michigan State, essentially sealing their fate as a College Football Playoff outsider. Duke, meanwhile is coming off of a 24-13 loss to Northwestern, Northwestern’s first and only win of the early football season.
Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer (6-foot 4, 230 pounds) is looking increasingly like an NFL- ready quarterback (and possible 1st round pick), with his size/speed combination and very fast start to the year (715 passing yards, 9 touchdowns to only 2 INTs). Kizer will need to be on his A game as the Notre Dame ground attack has left something to be desired so far this season. Losing ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jeremy Cash to graduation certainly has left a glaring hole in the Blue Devils secondary, and one that Kizer will aim to exploit early and often. Duke’s secondary was torched last week by Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson (320 yards passing and three touchdowns). Duke’s secondary vs. Kizer will be the main key to who will win this game.
The Irish defense will look to limit the damage on the ground, as Michigan State pounded the Irish D for 260 yards rushing.
Blue Devils quarterback Daniel Jones threw for 279 yards against Northwestern, and has done a respectable job since taking over the starting job after Thomas Sirk was re-injured. He also only completed 56.3 percent of his throws against the Wildcats, so he will need to be much more efficient against an Irish secondary that has been plagued by injuries, but nonetheless still talented.
Before Saturday’s clash, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly met with the media, Kelly is hoping to keep team morale up in order to get his team back on track:
“Obviously, (it's) back to work for us. Obviously, a bad start to our season, poor start, whatever way you want to characterize it. Three games into the season, nobody wants to be where we are, but we are 1-2. I'm a 1-2 coach. We've got to work to get better."
Kelly continued:
“Now, three weeks into it, it's pretty clear that we've got a group that will compete. There's no quit in them, but they can't turn it on and turn it off. So the realization of knowing who we are and what our weaknesses are -- a lot of us could go to work on that. You do that by, first of all, getting that out on the table. Hey, here's who we are.”
Final Prediction:
Notre Dame- 35 Duke 20
