Game Notes: Notre Dame

DURHAM – No. 17 Duke hosts No. 11 Notre Dame at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ABC.

The last time a nationally-ranked Duke team hosted a ranked opponent was November 5, 1994, when the No. 23 Blue Devils defeated No. 13 Virginia, 28-25, behind Spence Fischer's three touchdowns (2 rush & 1 pass) and a game-sealing interception by Ray Farmer as time expired. The Duke-Virginia game also marks the last regular season game between a ranked Duke team and a ranked opponent, regardless of location. Duke's last game as a ranked squad facing another ranked team came on December 31, 2013, in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Ga., with No. 20 Texas A&M earning a 52-48 win over the No. 22 Blue Devils.

This year's game will mark the eighth on the gridiron between the two schools with Notre Dame leading the series, 5-2. Duke's first win over the Fighting Irish came on Dec. 2, 1961, when the Blue Devils secured a 37-13 victory in Durham. Notre Dame comes into the game having won two consecutive, including a 27-13 victory during the teams' last meeting on Sept. 12, 2020.

Duke's win over Connecticut last weekend marked its fourth in a row, matching the fifth-longest in-season winning streak for the Blue Devils since 1970. Additionally, Duke had never previously started a season with four consecutive 20-plus point wins.

Saturday's ABC broadcast will feature Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, and Holly Rowe on the call. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.

HOW TO FOLLOW
[17] Duke (4-0) vs. [11] Notre Dame (4-1)
Saturday, September 30, 2023 • 7:30 PM
Durham, N.C. • Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium

TELEVISION • ABC
RADIO • Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD
GAME NOTES • Duke Notes • Notre Dame Notes
LIVE STATS • GoDuke.com
TWITTER • @DukeFOOTBALL

GAME NOTES
The Blue Devils climbed to No. 17 in the Associated Press poll and No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches' polls heading into Saturday's contest, marking their highest national ranking since Oct. 25, 1994 (No. 16).

Duke won the turnover battle, 2-0, against Connecticut during its last game, including a fumble recovery scoop-and-score by defensive tackle DeWayne Carter in the third quarter. Under head coach Mike Elko, Duke has won the turnover battle in 12 of its 17 games and has scored 115 points off those turnovers (15 touchdowns, three field goals and one two-point conversion).

Elko is 13-4 (.765) through the first 17 games of his tenure with the Blue Devils, marking the best 17-game start to a head coaching stint in school history. Additionally, Elko's record through 17 games is the best among current ACC coaches to open their respective tenures at their current institutions.

Elko worked at Notre Dame for the 2017 season as the defensive coordinator with then head coach Brian Kelly. He helped the defense rank in the top half nationally in four major defensive categories and was named a semifinalist for the Frank Broyles Award, after helping guide the Irish to a 10-3 record, including a 21-17 win over LSU in the 2017 Citrus Bowl.

RANKED OPPONENTS
The Blue Devils are 29-146-6 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents (Associated Press poll) including ledgers of 11-61-4 versus top-10 foes after defeating No. 9 Clemson on Sept. 4.

NON-CONFERENCE WINS
Since 2014, Duke holds a 28-7 (.800) regular season and 32-8 (.800) overall record against non-conference opponents. In its last 25 non-conference games, Duke is 20-5 (.800). The only time during that stretch that Duke lost two non-conference games in the same season was 2019 (No. 2 Alabama and No. 15 Notre Dame).

HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
For the first time under head coach Mike Elko, Duke came back to win a game after trailing at halftime. The Blue Devils were 0-3 heading into their game against No. 9 Clemson and were trailing at the break 7-6 but went on to outscore the Tigers 22-0 in the second half to secure the win. Additionally, the Blue Devils are 4-0 this season and 12-0 overall under Elko when leading after the third quarter.

SCORING FIRST
Under head coach Mike Elko, Duke is 4-0 this season and 11-0 overall when scoring first. In nine of those 11 games, the Blue Devils registered a touchdown to begin the scoring and seven were on the opening drive.

MARGIN OF DEFEAT
There are currently three teams in the Associated Press Top-25 that have won each of their first four games by 21-plus points in No. 2 Michigan, No. 7 Washington, and No. 17 Duke. The Blue Devils are the only one of the three that have a win over a ranked opponent.

READING THE DEFENSE
Heading into the 2023 season, QB Riley Leonard ranked first in program lore for his career touchdown-to-interception ratio, which stood at 3.0-1. After Duke's opening four games this year, Leonard is one of eight QB nationally with zero INTs on 95-plus pass attempts and the only representative from the ACC.

AVERAGING 200
Duke is one of four ACC schools averaging 200.00-plus rushing and passing yards, joining Louisville, Miami, and Syracuse.

COMPLETION PERCENTAGE
The Blue Devils rank third in the ACC with a completion percentage of .688 (75-of-109). Individually, QB Riley Leonard also ranks third in the ACC with a .677 (67-of-99) pass completion percentage. He sits behind Miami's Tyler Van Dyke (.748) and North Carolina's Drake Maye (.727).

LOST YARDAGE
The Blue Devils have only relinquished 34 rushing yards on the year, marking the second fewest in the ACC behind Miami's 33.

SACKS AND TACKLES FOR LOSS ALLOWED
Duke's offensive line finished 2022 ranked first in the ACC in tackles for loss allowed (3.92) and sacks allowed (1.31), while ranking eighth and 27th nationally in those categories, respectively. Through four games of 2023, the Blue Devils rank tied for fourth in sacks allowed and tied for 16th in tackles for loss allowed nationally. Duke has relinquished just two sacks on the year, while it's allowing 3.75 tackles for loss per outing.

PASS DEFENSE EFFICIENCY & PASSING YARDS ALLOWED
Duke holds a 93.82 pass defense efficiency rating to rank first in the ACC and fourth nationally. They trail Penn State (88.26), Notre Dame (91.37), and Marshall (92.95). The Blue Devils are also only allowing 143.25 passing yards per outing, which place them second in the ACC and fourth in the country behind Penn State (138.00), Virginia Tech (138.50) and Northern Illinois (143.00).

SCORING DEFENSE & TOTAL DEFENSE
Duke ranks first in the ACC and tied for fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 8.75 points per contest. The Blue Devils have relinquished just 35 points on the year and only two rushing scores. Additionally, the Blue Devils rank fifth in the ACC and 16th nationally in total defense, allowing just 276.25 yards per game.

LIMITING LONG PLAYS
The longest pass play Duke has allowed this year is 24 yards, occurring in the Blue Devils' last outing against Connecticut.

FOURTH DOWN & RED ZONE DEFENSE
The Blue Devils have held their opening four opponents to just 2-of-9 (.222) on fourth down conversions, and 5-of-10 (.500) in the red zone, marks that rank them ninth and tied for second nationally, respectively.

STAND YOUR GROUND
Duke has four players with 21-plus tackles on the year in Chandler Rivers (25), Jaylen Stinson (24), Tre Freeman (21) and Dorian Mausi (21). The Blue Devils are the only school in the ACC with at least four players with 21-plus tackles on the year.

LIMITING PUNT RETURNS
The Blue Devils held opponents to just 74 punt return yards last season. An average of just 5.69 yards per return. The longest return Duke allowed was a 16-yarder against Kansas. Duke's opponent yards per return ranked 37th nationally, and ranked fifth in the ACC behind Virginia Tech (2.91), Miami (3.80), Pittsburgh (4.83) and Louisville (5.52).

In Duke's opening four games, the Blue Devils have only relinquished 25 yards on six returns. That mark ranks them fifth in the ACC.

NET PUNTING
Duke ranks first nationally with a 48.40 net punting average per game.

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Players Mentioned

DeWayne Carter

Tre Freeman

Riley Leonard

Dorian Mausi

Chandler Rivers

Jaylen Stinson

Duke information