No. 11 Notre Dame football (4-1) is in search of its 30th consecutive regular season win against ACC opponents this Saturday on the road at No. 11 Duke (4-0).
ESPN's award-winning pregame show "College Gameday" will be on campus, and the Irish will see a familiar face in Duke head coach Mike Elko, who served as Notre Dame's defensive coordinator under then-head coach Brian Kelly in 2017.
Inside ND Sports identifies two players to watch from each team. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. EDT on ABC.
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Notre Dame running back Audric Estimé
After scoring a season-low 14 points against Ohio State's defense last week, the Irish face another impressive opponent defensively in the Blue Devils.
In four games, Duke has given up 35 points and held three different opponents — including Clemson — to seven points.
However, Clemson running back Will Shipley gained 114 rushing yards and backup running back Phil Mafah picked up 65 yards on 11 carries.
Quarterback Sam Hartman, who will likely be missing a couple of wide receivers, is the face of Notre Dame's offense, but the key ingredient to its overall success has been big plays.
In comparison to Notre Dame's earlier games, Estimé was bottled up and only broke his longest run for 22 yards against the Buckeyes. Offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Gerad Parker should look to build a rhythm early and set the tone physically by pounding inside and outsize run concepts for Estimé against Duke.
After having 14 carries against Ohio State, Estimé could return closer to 20 touches based on game flow and Notre Dame's shortage of wide receivers.
Notre Dame linebacker Marist Liufau
Liufau played 61 of 69 defensive snaps against Ohio State but didn't record a tackle or statistic of any kind.
"Marist didn’t really get a chance to practice at full speed last week," head coach Marcus Freeman said earlier this week. "He was nursing a little bit of a stinger/neck strain. Did that have an impact on how he played? I don’t know. You look for everything. But Marist played fine. Marist wasn’t the reason why we had success or didn’t have success. I thought he did a good job when he was in there.”
Similar to NC State quarterback Brennan Armstrong, Duke quarterback Riley Leonard poses a dual-threat challenge to defensive coordinator Al Golden. Of Notre Dame's three starters at linebacker, Liufau is probably faster and best-suited to drop back in coverage and pursue Leonard when he attempts to run.
It's important for Liufau to take correct angles and not overpursue against Leonard and Duke running back Jordan Waters, or the Irish could allow substantial yardage on the ground.
Duke quarterback Riley Leonard
Leonard won't complete every pass or pick apart Notre Dame's defense with pinpoint accuracy, but his play style is effective and has led Duke to six consecutive wins dating back to the end of the 2022 season.
He's thrown two touchdowns and added four rushing scores while not committing any turnovers. Under offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns, Leonard does most of his damage in intermediate passing concepts.
Notre Dame's defensive ends should have responsibilities to contain Leonard that are reminiscent of what the Irish showed at NC State. If defensive line coach Al Washington's group can exploit Duke's offensive line and get pressure, cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Cam Hart should stay in the hip pocket of Duke's wide receivers.
Duke defensive end R.J. Oben
Duke cornerbacks Chandler Rivers and Myles Jones were contenders here, but Hartman hasn't thrown an interception yet.
In four games, Oben has six tackles and 1.5 sacks and has played 130 defensive snaps, the highest of any Duke defensive lineman besides DeWayne Carter.
According to Pro Football Focus, Oben has a 72.9 pass-rush grade, the third-highest on the Blue Devils behind Carter and linebacker Kendall Johnson.
Duke's defense will likely rely on Oben and its front seven if they want to force any turnovers. Notre Dame's offensive line didn't allow a sack last weekend. Oben faces a challenge against Joe Alt and Blake Fisher but only needs to win a couple of reps to possibly alter the game.
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