Ten Initial Thoughts: Notre Dame Handles Duke In Season-Opener

A Notre Dame season surely to be filled with swings and hurdles began with a 27-13 win over Duke Saturday afternoon.

Here are some initial observations and thoughts.

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It was a stretch to expect Duke’s offense would put many points on Notre Dame. Even though its offense was sentient compared to last year’s mess, Duke didn’t have the athletes or team speed to beat Notre Dame’s defense deep or block consistently. That’s exactly what played out. Notre Dame was disruptive and didn’t allow anything over the top. Duke’s longest gain was a result of a few busted tackles.

For the Blue Devils to stay in the game and have a chance to win late, they needed to make this a low-scoring game. By and large, it was. You can debate how much was Duke’s doing and how much was a rusty – to put it nicely – Irish offense sputtering.

Either way, Duke was within one possession until 7:57 remained in the third quarter. The Irish took a two-score lead for good with 10:58 left on an 83-yard touchdown drive.

Brian Kelly confidently anointed sophomore Kyren Williams the top running back in late August. He revealed why on Saturday. Williams had 21 offensive touches and gained 205 yards on them, displaying the feel and patience of an experience back. He was the first Irish player in 25 years to post at least 90 rushing yards and 90 receiving yards in the same game.

Williams lined up in the backfield, in the slot and stayed in on passing downs as a blocker, where he held up well. Any question marks about the lead back job are gone.

This was a weird offseason and weird camp, with COVID-19 as an entirely new cause of possible player absences. There were going to be flat performances. Trendy ACC breakout team North Carolina had 10 points through three quarters against a Syracuse defense that was a sieve in 2019.

But it’s OK to be rankled about Notre Dame’s offense. The Irish have a third-year starting quarterback in grad student Ian Book, and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was the quarterbacks coach the last three years. This wasn’t an overhaul, and Book ended last season with several strong games in a row. The throws he missed were ones he has hit before. He has made reads and operated in the pocket better than he did today.

If you were worried about the hype being too much, it wasn’t. Hamilton, now an every-down safety after his impressive freshman debut, was exciting his two-plus quarters of action. He had seven tackles, including five solos. On the first drive alone, he had a pass breakup and third-down tackle.

Just as notable was how it happened. He did everything from play single-high centerfield to blitz. He’s much more than a pure coverage safety.

Hamilton was injured on Notre Dame’s first defensive series of the second half, though, on a collision that came right as Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah forced a fumble on a third-down reception. He did not return. Kelly said he was “banged up but fine” and could have come back into the game.

Notre Dame tight ends had eight of the team’s 19 receptions. Save for a 75-yard screen completion to Williams, they were about the only source of passing offense in the first half. A wide receiver did not catch a pass until 50 seconds before halftime. Once again, that has a lot to do with a bumpy offense and shaky quarterback play.

Still, it’s clear after one game Notre Dame has at least two trusted tight end targets in junior Tommy Tremble and freshman Michael Mayer. Both have yards-after-catch ability and often saw the field together. Notre Dame’s 12 personnel plays look like a strength.

The junior wide receiver did not see the field Saturday. He was listed as the second-team field receiver on the depth chart released Monday. Notre Dame said before the game everyone in the two-deep was available and confirmed Lenzy was active.

Notre Dame listed co-starters and field corner and buck linebacker on the opening-week depth chart. Junior TaRiq Bracy trotted out at cornerback and barely left the field. The other co-starter, Clarence Lewis, played on special teams but did not see the field on defense. Marist Liufau came out for the first snaps at buck linebacker over Shayne Simon, but both played in the base defense.

The sophomore had an “or” next to his name as the backup at both defensive end spots on the depth chart. He made clear he’s the third defensive end, a dangerous pass rusher who displayed improved, advanced technique to go with his rare physical attributes. He was a third-down menace and ended the game with a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, a pass breakup and two quarterback hurries.

Lenzy mysteriously out. Bennett Skowronek catch-less before a second quarter hamstring injury (“not severe” per Kelly). Notre Dame needed something from its receivers and turned to Wilkins for a spark. In relief of Skowronek, he led all wideouts with four catches, and three of them came on a field-goal drive before the half.

Defensive coordinator Clark Lea employed the look at times last year, including most of the game against USC. He used in the opener too, with Hamilton (until injury) and Shaun Crawford as the constants. D.J. Brown and Houston Griffith both saw time as the third safety/nickelback. If Isaiah Pryor played on defense, it was merely a couple snaps. Most of his work was on special teams.

In a couple other situations, sophomore cornerback Cam Hart was the nickel defender.

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