The situation was bleak. Notre Dame’s offense could not get out of its own way after the opening possession of the night. Duke rallied behind Riley Leonard and Justin Waters to take a 14-13 lead with nine minutes remaining. The Fighting Irish were one play away from a second consecutive loss and faced a fourth down, with 16 yards to go with 41 seconds on the clock. Piece of cake, right?

Well, not exactly. Things did not look good for the visitors as quarterback Sam Hartman took the shotgun snap. He could not find an open receiver but he escaped the pocket to his right and saw daylight. Seconds later, a crash occurred at the line to gain as Hartman launched himself into a trio of Duke tacklers and made the first down by a yard. After stopping the clock with a spike, Audric Estime took an inside handoff and fought his was into the clear for a 30-yard touchdown. Hartman then secured a two-point conversion with a pass to Rico Flores for a 21-14 victory.

Duke’s subsequent last ditch effort to score ended with a sack, a fumble, and a nasty looking ankle injury to Leonard. If it is possible for a fan base to feel worse than Notre Dame’s after last week’s soul-crushing loss to Ohio State, the Blue Devil faithful can make a pretty good argument for that dubious honor.

Notre Dame began the game by playing aggressively. Hartman threw the ball downfield to challenge Mike Elko’s defense. When the opening series stalled near midfield, Jeremiah Love took a short snap in punt formation and raced 34 yards for a first down deep in Duke territory. Estime cashed in Coach Marcus Freeman’s gamble two plays later with a six yard score.

The Irish defense also dominated early. Duke tried to respond but had to settle for a 37-yard field goal attempt. Kicker Todd Pelino missed, and he would later fail from just 25 yards. When the Blue Devils regained possession, safety Xavier Watts intercepted Leonard’s errant pass and returned it to the Duke 12 yard line. Notre Dame fans relaxed and prepared to celebrate a blowout victory.

It didn’t quite work out that way, though. Duke stuffed Notre Dame and forced a Spencer Shrader field goal to trail by 10-0 as the game entered the second period. The remainder of the half was a futile exercise by both offenses until the Blue Devils threatened in the final moments. Pelino’s point blank miss sent the teams to the locker room with the Irish clinging to its 10-0 lead.

Notre Dame drew first blood early in the third quarter. Hartman’s pass to Mitchell Evans set up another Shrader field goal from 45 yards. Now trailing by 13-0, Leonard began to poke holes in the Irish defense with designed runs and run-pass option plays. After a 34-yard burst by Jaquez Moore, Waters capped a 75-yard march with a one yard plunge to narrow the margin to 13-7.

Warning signs began to flash as the Duke crowd awakened. Notre Dame could not convert on third down. The Iirish defense fell back into its old habit of missing tackles. Twelve penalties had both units moving backward all night. And frankly, the Irish were being outcoached.

Duke took possession early in the fourth period and moved into scoring territory on a 33-yard quarterback draw by Leonard. Moore pitched in with tough yards on the ground. On third and goal, Moore drifted into the flat and caught a short touchdown pass with no Irish defender anywhere in sight. It was an inspired play design by the Blue Devils that worked to perfection.

As the final minutes ticked down with Duke leading 14-13, Leonard had his team on the move. The Blue Devils reached the Irish 29 yard line with three minutes left in the game before the drive stalled. Elko had a decision to make, and chose not to bring in the 0-2 Pelino for a long field goal attempt. Instead, he ordered a pooch punt that the Blue Devils downed on the Notre Dame five yard line. The way his defense had been playing, it seemed like a brilliant move.

Notre Dame’s task looked daunting even for its most optimistic fans, especially after another penalty backed them up by half the distance to their own goal. Fortunately, an obvious pass interference penalty moved Notre Dame out of the shadows of its own goal. Hartman then went to work. He hit Evans for 19 yards and Flores for 24 more to cross midfield. Disaster struck, however, on the very next play. Wideout Tobias Merriweather was called for offensive pass interference when he pushed off his defender in an attempt to make a catch down the sideline.

Hartman was now looking at first and 25 with 1:11 left. A short pass to Estime gained nine but two consecutive incompletions under extreme pressure brought Notre Dame to the brink of defeat. With everything on the line, Hartman demonstrated the willingness to sacrifice his body to keep his team alive. Thankfully, he and the Irish came out unscathed.

Let’s review the answers to our pregame questions.

• Which defense will be able to stop the run? Both teams did well in the early going. The Irish front seven broke down in the second half while Duke continued to stuff the Irish until Estime crashed through for the game winning score.
• Will the young Irish receivers succeed against a small but experienced Duke secondary? No. They could not get open most of the night. Merriweather in particular had an awful performance. Thank goodness Evans was awesome once again from the tight end spot. He caught six passes for 134 yards.
• Which special teams and kicker will influence the outcome? Shrader was 2 of 3 for Notre Dame while Pelino’s misses cost the Blue Devils dearly. Both punters had a shank and Chris Tyree dropped a punt that the Irish were fortunate to recover.
• Can Notre Dame get off to a strong start and maintain a high emotional level? They started with vigor but could not sustain under the weight of silly penalties and Duke’s stellar defensive game plan. The offense was inept for long stretches and the defense sprung second half leaks at inopportune moments.
• Which coaching staff manage to keep the other team off balance? Elko and his defensive staff utterly embarrassed Notre Dame’s Offensive Coordinator Gerad Parker. The battle between Al Golden and Duke Offensive Coordinator Kevin Johns was about even. Both had some good moments.
• Will Leonard be free to scramble around and make plays with his arm and legs? Not in the first half but he looked as good as advertised after intermission. It’s a shame he was injured on Duke’s final play.
• Which team will win the turnover battle? Notre Dame had an interception and game-clinching fumble recovery. They committed no turnovers themselves but penalties hounded them all night.

Notre Dame can temporarily breath a sigh of relief as they avoided disaster. The Blue Devils were better than expected but the talent disparity was narrowed by Duke’s inspired effort. The Irish need to regroup as the next two weeks feature another pair of night games against ranked teams. Freeman must address the poor showing by his few healthy wide receivers and the persistent poor tackling from his secondary. On a positive note, linebacker Marist Liufau had a few good plays to offset the times he was caught out of position. That said, Howard Cross was the best Irish defender on the field tonight. The biggest negative was the targeting foul on Jordan Botelho, who will have to sit out the first half against Louisville. For Irish fans, the rollercoaster ride continues.