Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 OCT. 3, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED touchdown run. The Notre Dame defense then forced a three-and-out, and on the ensuing possession, Kizer found freshman wide receiver Kevin Stepherson for a 44-yard touchdown with 8:57 left in the first quarter. Duke immediately cut into that lead with a momentum-shifting 96- yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Wilson to make it 14-7. Wilson was filling in for an injured DeVon Edwards — who is out for the season after tearing ligaments in his knee on an early kick return against the Irish. The Blue Devils rallied around the misfortune, which impressed Cut- cliffe, whose team was able to rebound from back-to-back losses. "We practiced in the mornings, re- ally early," Cutcliffe said. "And when we hit the field Tuesday morning, you felt like you were coaching a different team. So you can't turn those things on out there on Saturday. Tuesday and Wednesday show up on Saturday." After a Notre Dame three-and-out, Duke came right back with an eight- play, 78-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 14-14. Duncan went right up the middle for an 18-yard touchdown. Duke then added two touchdowns in the second quarter — a 25-yard catch by Quay Chambers and a 32- yard reception by Anthony Nash — while Notre Dame scored once on a 13-yard run by sophomore running back Dexter Williams. Duke held a 28-21 halftime advantage. In the second half, Notre Dame scored once in the third quarter — a nine-yard run by sophomore running back Josh Adams to knot the game at 28-28 with 4:54 left in the quarter — and once in the fourth, a 12-yard touchdown catch by St. Brown to give Notre Dame a 35-28 lead with 7:46 left in the game. The Blue Devils responded, need- ing just three plays to go 78 yards to tie the game. Jones found Nash on a fake-run pop pass down the left side- line for a 64-yard touchdown. "We were, as a team, executing at such a high level," Jones said. "We weren't perfect by any stretch, but overall we were executing more con- sistently than we had been." Kelly said after the game that ev- ery position — including Kizer 's — would be evaluated. There will be personnel changes, Kelly said, though he noted he feels better about his defensive coaching after the loss. As for the players, who had an overall lack of energy against the Blue Devils, this season has not started like any of them hoped. "The idea is to keep improving on what the message is," senior offen- sive tackle Mike McGlinchey said. "The message cannot change. We're 1-3. There's a sense of urgency to get better, change our attitudes and fix what's going on. We've got to play consistent throughout [each game]. "There's no other way around it. We just have to do it." ✦ Freshman wide receiver Kevin Stepherson's 44-yard touchdown catch helped give Notre Dame a 14-0 cushion with 8:57 still remaining in the first quarter. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA FIRST QUARTER DU ND ND Kizer 8-yard run (Yoon kick) 12:07 0 7 Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 2:53 ND Stepherson 44-yard pass from Kizer (Yoon kick) 8:57 0 14 Drive: 4 plays, 64 yards, 1:48 DU Wilson 96-yard kickoff return (Reed kick) 8:44 7 14 DU Duncan 18-yard run (Reed kick) 3:32 14 14 Drive: 8 plays, 78 yards, 3:08 SECOND QUARTER DU Chambers 25-yard pass from Jones (Reed kick) 6:35 21 14 Drive: 1 play, 25 yards, 0:07 ND Williams 13-yard run (Yoon kick) 3:28 21 21 Drive: 9 plays, 72 yards, 3:07 DU Nash 32-yard pass from Jones (Reed kick) 1:22 28 21 Drive: 6 plays, 70 yards, 2:06 THIRD QUARTER ND Adams 9-yard run (Yoon kick) 4:54 28 28 Drive: 6 plays, 83 yards, 2:32 FOURTH QUARTER ND St. Brown 12-yard pass from Kizer (Yoon kick) 7:46 28 35 Drive: 9 plays, 81 yards, 4:06 DU Nash 64-yard pass from Jones (Reed kick) 6:47 35 35 Drive: 3 plays, 75 yards, 0:59 DU Reed 19-yard field goal 1:24 38 35 Drive: 10 plays, 44 yards, 3:47 DU ND Total First Downs 24 24 Rushing 11 9 Passing 12 15 Penalty 1 0 Rushing Attempts 42 37 Yards Gained Rushing 218 191 Yards Lost Rushing 10 38 Net Yards Rushing 208 153 Net Yards Passing 290 381 Passes Attempted 32 37 Passes Completed 24 22 Had Intercepted 1 1 Percent Completion 75.0% 59.5% Yards Per Attempt 9.1 10.3 Yards Per Completion 12.1 17.3 Total Offensive Plays 74 74 Total Net Yards 498 534 Average Gain Per Play 6.7 7.2 Fumbles: No.-Lost 0-0 4-2 Penalties: No.-Yards 1-5 2-20 Punts: No.-Yards 4-169 4-188 Average Per Punt 42.2 47.0 Average Net Punt 39.2 36.5 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 2-22 1-12 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 5-184 6-118 Interception Returns: No.-Yards 1-0 1-0 Fumble Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 30:35 29:25 Third-Down Conversions 6-14 5-12 Percentage 42.9% 41.7% Fourth-Down Conversions 0-2 0-1 Percentage 0.0% 0.0% Sacks By: No.-Yards 3-23 1-7 DUKE 38, NOTRE DAME 35 Sept. 24, 2016 ✦ Attendance: 80,795 ✦ Notre Dame Stadium ✦ Notre Dame, Ind. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Tot. Duke 14 14 0 10 38 Notre Dame 14 7 7 7 35