Notre Dame-Duke: By The Numbers
1 Quarterback in Notre Dame history who completed four touchdown passes in a game while also rushing for more than 100 yards (139) in that same contest: Ian Book versus Duke. The closest prior to that was in 1999, when Jarious Jackson threw for two scores and ran for a third while rushing for 107 yards in a 34-30 comeback victory against Oklahoma.
Book also joined Brady Quinn as the only two Notre Dame signal callers to throw four or more touchdown passes in a game on four occasions. Quinn accomplished it seven times during his career from 2003-06.
2 Touchdowns allowed by Notre Dame’s defense over the past two weeks, one apiece by Virginia Tech and Duke. It marked the first time since 2016 Notre Dame’s defense did not permit more than one touchdown in back-to-back games.
Yet during that 4-8 season it came in consecutive losses at North Carolina State (10-3) and then at home versus Stanford (17-10). The Wolfpack scored on a punt block during a hurricane, and one of Stanford’s scores was an interception return.
This was the first time the Irish won such games two straight weeks since defeating USC (14-10) and Air Force (45-10) in 2013.
3.78 Points allowed by Notre Dame’s defense in the first quarter of the nine games this season. The Duke game marked the fourth time it held the opponent scoreless in the opening 15 minutes.
9 Touchdown passes caught by Notre Dame tight ends this season after sophomore George Takacs made his first career catch on a leaping grab of a two-yard pass in the fourth quarter for the game’s final tally.
That is the most in a single season at Notre Dame, eclipsing the eight in both 2013 and 1991 (when including the bowl game). Junior Cole Kmet has five and sophomore Tommy Tremble three to go with Takacs’ grab this year.
17 Ranking of Duke nationally in defensive efficiency. Meanwhile, Notre Dame entered the game having come up empty on 22 of its 27 possessions the past two games versus Virginia Tech and Michigan, with 15 of them a three-and-out series.
The offense did an about-face against the Blue Devils with 38 points and 469 yards total offense, 288 of it coming on the ground.
21 Consecutive victories by Notre Dame against unranked teams. On the surface, that might not sound like a big deal. However, since the start of the 2017 season only two teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision — Notre Dame and Alabama — have not lost to an unranked team since the start of the 2017 season.
31 Points in the margin of victory versus Duke. That is the highest margin of victory in another team's home stadium since the 45-10 route of Air Force on Oct. 26, 2013.
46 Yards on graduate student Chris Finke’s fourth quarter punt return, the second longest of his career, that set up the final touchdown. The starting punt return man since the second half of the 2016 season, his longest return was 52 yards at Wake Forest in 2018. He also had a 41-yard return at Stanford in 2017.
139 Yards rushing by Book on 12 carries. The rushing output is the fifth highest in a game by a Notre Dame quarterback,
The top four are 217 by Brandon Wimbush (at Boston College in 2017, 21 attempts), 146 by Bill Etter (Navy, 1969, 11 attempts), 143 by DeShone Kizer (at Temple, 2015, 17 attempts) and 141 by Tony Rice (at Penn State, 1989, 28 attempts).
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