Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 OCT. 7, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT On a night that provided what seemed like countless turning points, the biggest play and moment for No. 11 Notre Dame in its 21-14 road win over No. 17 Duke came late in the fourth quarter when the Irish trailed 14-13 and were facing a fourth-and-16 from the Duke 47-yard line with 51 seconds remaining in the game. On a do-or-die play, graduate student quarter- back Sam Hartman dropped back to pass, saw nothing, then took off to his right and scrambled 17 yards for an Irish first down that preserved hopes for a Notre Dame comeback win. After a ball spike to stop the clock on the ensu- ing first-down play, Hartman handed off to Audric Estimé on second down, and the junior tailback went 30 yards for the game-winning touchdown that very much kept Notre Dame's College Foot- ball Playoff hopes alive. Hartman never panicked on the 10-play, 95- yard drive that took 2:04 off the clock, and left Duke only 31 seconds in the game for its final offensive possession. STATS OF THE GAME There was some good but plenty of bad for Notre Dame in this category. With only 159 rushing yards in the game — the Irish averaged 198.8 yards per game heading into Duke — the Irish had their worst ground game this season, but still managed 5.0 yards per carry. The Irish also won the aerial yardage battle 222 to 134, a testament to the pressure Notre Dame put on talented Duke junior quarterback Riley Leonard and some quality work the Irish showed in pass coverage. On the downside, Notre Dame was again plagued by penalties, finishing with 12 for 70 yards, most coming of the pre-snap variety. Duke had only 2 penalties for 28 yards. Many of those Fighting Irish miscues came in the first half when Notre Dame struggled to take advantage of ter- rific field position and scored only 10 points on five offensive drives that reached Duke territory. The Irish went only 3 of 15 on its third-down conversion attempts compared to 6 of 15 for Duke. CLUTCH TIME Much was theorized and speculated about head- ing into the Duke game as to how Notre Dame would respond after its heartbreaking 17-14 last- second loss to Ohio State the previous week. One loss turning into two appeared on its way to be- coming a reality when Notre Dame fell behind the Blue Devils 14-13 with 9:17 left in the game. Instead of panicking and thinking "here we go again," after the Irish had led the entire game to that point, Notre Dame put together a 10-play, 95-yard, game-winning touchdown drive that left no doubt they weren't interested in a second straight late-game loss. Notre Dame's winning touchdown drive included first-down pickups on a third-and-10 from its own 16-yard line and a fourth-and-16 conversion from the Duke 47-yard line that set up the 30-yard touch- down run from Audric Estimé that capped the win. After failing the "clutch test" against Ohio State when Notre Dame blew a late 14-10 lead, the Irish rebounded with what may become the most important fourth-quarter drive of the season. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TODD D. BURLAGE DEFENSIVE TACKLE HOWARD CROSS III The graduate student was all over the field against Duke, finish- ing with a career-high 13 tackles, as well as 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles and 1 quarterback hurry. In a game that was billed as a matchup between two elite quarterbacks, this one became more of a defensive battle and Cross led the way for the Irish. The performance by Cross was a dominating continuation of what the first-year, full-time starter has done all season. After his performance against Duke, Cross took over the Notre Dame team lead with 35 tackles for the season, an impressive feat for a defensive tackle. TIGHT END MITCHELL EVANS One week after earning a game ball against Ohio State when he recorded career highs with both 7 receptions and 75 yards, the Irish junior pulled a fabulous encore against Duke when he outdid himself with 6 receptions for 134 yards. Evans — who earned more targets and attention against Duke with multiple Irish wide receivers out of the game with injuries — did most of his work in the first half when he recorded 4 recep- tions for 99 yards. Each of his 6 catches went for Irish first downs, his biggest coming on a third-and-10 in the fourth quarter that went for 19 yards and kept Notre Dame's game-winning touch- down drive alive. QUARTERBACK SAM HARTMAN Statistically — 15-of-30 passing for 222 yards with no touch- downs and no interceptions — suggests that Notre Dame's gradu- ate student signal-caller didn't have his best game. However, the game-winning drive he put together late in the fourth quarter certainly earned him another game ball. On the 10-play, 95-yard drive, Hartman made the biggest play of the night when on a fourth-and-16, do-or-die play, he scrambled 17 yards for a first down to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, the Irish were in the end zone and left Durham with a hard-fought win that kept Notre Dame's College Football Playoff hopes alive. GAME BALLS BY TODD D. BURLAGE Graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III made a career-high 13 tackles, none big- ger than his game-clinching strip sack on Duke's final possession. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP