How did the sloppy Irish grade out after pulling out 21-14 road win?
DURHAM, N.C. — Coming off a lastsecond home loss in a top-10 showdown against Ohio State, Notre Dame football vowed during the week to move on quickly and put forth its best effort on the road against No. 17 Duke.
That didn’t exactly happen, but the 11th-ranked Irish still put aside a sloppy performance and pulled out a 21-14 win in the final minute on Saturday night at raucous Wallace Wade Stadium.
OFFENSE: B minus
Playing without its two leading wideouts in terms of receptions — Jayden Thomas and Jaden Greathouse, both out with hamstring injuries — the offense sputtered against a top-five scoring defense. Tight end Mitchell Evans (six catches for 134 yards) again proved to be the most reliable target for Sam Hartman’s passes, but the offensive line struggled to give Hartman time and the running game was non-existent most of the way.
Notre Dame went 3-for-15 on thirddown conversions, but Hartman’s 17yard scramble on fourth-and-16 in the final minute provided instant amnesia.
DEFENSE: B plus
Howard Cross III, playing through a sinus infection, made 13 tackles (3.5 for loss) and forced two fumbles, including the game-clinching strip sack of Duke’s Riley Leonard.
Xavier Watts grabbed his second career interception, and both have come this month in the Tar Heel State.
Javontae Jean-Baptiste, the Ohio State grad transfer, recorded his first sack for Notre Dame, but Jordan Botelho wiped out a half-sack for himself by jumping offside and later earned a targeting ejection that will keep him out for the first half next week at Louisville.
Duke wiped out a 13-point deficit with second-half scoring drives of 80 and 75 yards, but Notre Dame got the ball back for Hartman with enough time left to make a difference.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Freshman running back Jeremiyah Love gained 34 yards on the first fake punt of the Marty Biagi Era as Irish special teams coordinator. That gutsy call came on a fourth-and-4 from the Duke 47 and set up the only first-half touchdown for the visitors.
Kicker Spencer Shrader missed another relative chip shot (a 37-yard attempt in the second quarter) that briefly left him 2-for-5 from inside the 50 since transferring from South Florida. Shrader came back to hit from 45 yards in the third.
Chris Tyree muffed a punt but was fortunate when the Irish retained possession.
COACHING: B
Notre Dame came in 58th in the country in average penalty yards per game (50.0). The Irish nearly had that many in the first half alone (seven penalties for 40 yards) and finished with 12 penalties for 70 yards.
OVERALL: B
The late comeback wiped out a lot of second-guessing, especially on offense. The main thing is Marcus Freeman and Co. kept an injury-depleted group from losing hope on the road against a Top 20 opponent coached by former Irish assistant Mike Elko.