Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2020 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 129 BY PATRICK ENGEL W hen trying to reboot an offense that plod- ded along for an entire season, bringing in a new quarterback from a national title- winning team is a pretty ideal start. Duke, then, has completed the critical step from what it hopes is a leap up from a below-average offense with an eventual top-10 NFL Draft pick Daniel Jones and a bottom-rung one in 2019 without him. In comes Chase Brice, a graduate transfer from Clemson with two years of eligibility left. The former four-star recruit threw for 1,023 yards and nine touchdowns as a backup from 2018-19. He is at Duke to provide a boost for an offense that averaged fewer yards per play than all but five Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams and passed for 179.3 yards per game in 2019. Adding Brice, though, is part of a greater theme around the Blue Devils' offseason and offensive issues. Urgency. Head coach David Cutcliffe knows it's needed. Duke is 10-22 in the ACC since 2016. It hasn't scored consistently. It missed a bowl for the second time in four years, which by Cutcliffe's heightened standards, is not an acceptable mark. The coach brought in Brice for an immediate fix. Duke can't af- ford to wait around for someone to emerge. And he has taken over as the play caller. "It's something he hasn't done since he was at Tennessee [in the 1990s]," DevilsIl- lustrated.com publisher Brian McLawhorn said. "It has really been a stagnant offense. They haven't capitalized on some pretty good talent. I think Cutcliffe got fed up with it." Brice will have two-year starting running back Deon Jackson next to him. Perhaps no one exemplifies the offensive struggles more than the senior, a second-team All- ACC pick in 2018 when he ran for more than 800 yards. His yards per carry dropped from 5.3 to 3.7 last fall as the offensive effective- ness waned. "The offensive line as a whole has to be better with the run," McLawhorn said. "They were in a bad spot with a quarterback who wasn't effective. They had running backs who could be effective, but they just couldn't block for them." Duke's defense is expected to be its stron- ger unit, anchored by edge players Victor Dimukeje, a senior, and redshirt junior Chris Rumph. The latter led the FBS with a 31.6 pass rush win rate in 2019, per Pro Football Focus. Its biggest hole to fill on defense is third-team All-ACC linebacker Koby Quansah. Nearly all of Duke's important secondary pieces are back, including fifth-year senior cornerback Mark Gilbert. He is healthy for the first time since 2017, when he was a first-team All-ACC selection. The Blue Devils have some exciting in- gredients to use when trying to stop op- posing offenses often enough to stay in the game. Their task is scoring enough to make it matter. "I think they'll get more out of their of- fense than in years past," McLawhorn said, "even if they aren't great just yet." ✦ X-FACTOR: Redshirt junior edge rusher Chris Rumph II is one half of the Blue Devils' strong pass-rushing duo. He and senior teammate Victor Dimukeje will team up with a veteran secondary. PHOTO COURTESY DUKE ATHLETICS 2020 SCHEDULE Date Opponent 2019 Result Sept. 5 Middle Tennessee W, 41-18 Sept. 12 Elon — Sept. 19 Charlotte — Sept. 26 at Pittsburgh L, 33-30 Oct. 3 Wake Forest L, 39-27 Oct. 10 at NC State — Oct. 17 North Carolina L, 17-20 Oct. 31 at Notre Dame L, 38-7 Nov. 7 at Georgia Tech W, 41-23 Nov. 13 Virginia L, 48-14 Nov. 21 Virginia Tech W, 45-10 Nov. 28 at Miami (Fla.) W, 27-17 QUICK FACTS All-Time Series: Notre Dame leads 4-2 Last Meeting: Notre Dame 38, Duke 7 (Nov. 9, 2019 in Durham, N.C.) Head Coach: David Cutcliffe, 72-79 at Duke (13th year) and 116-108 overall (19th year) 2019 Record: 5-7 overall, 3-5 ACC Coastal (6th) Returning Starters: 14 (seven offense, seven defense) Prediction: Notre Dame 40, Duke 16 RETURNING LEADERS Rushing: RB Deon Jackson (641 yards, 6 TD) Passing: QB Chris Katrenick (49 yards, 1 TD) Receiving: WR Jalon Calhoun (420 yards, 4 TD) Tackles: S Marquis Waters (73, 2.0 TFL) Sacks: DE Victor Dimukeje (8.5) Passes Broken Up: S Michael Carter II (8, 1 INT) Reasons For Optimism • New offensive structure • Defensive stars • Proven running back Duke needed an overhaul. That part is done. It has playmakers on defense and a proven running back. It also helps that Clemson is not on the schedule and a Football Championship Subdivi- sion team is. The Blue Devils have one of the more underrated pass-rush tandems nationally. Reasons For Concern • Lack of production at receiver • Offensive line problems • Loss of spring practice for new quarterback. Transfer quarterback Chase Brice will be throwing to a young receiving corps that lost two players to grad transfers and has one re- turner, sophomore Jalon Calhoun, who had more than 10 catches in 2019. They practiced together three times before everything shut down. DUKE BLUE DEVILS GAME 8 • OCT. 31 • NOTRE DAME STADIUM