Players Of The Game: Notre Dame 38, Duke 7

Top players from Notre Dame's 38-7 win over Duke

Notre Dame put together a strong performance on offense and defense in its 38-7 road victory over Duke. It was Notre Dame’s largest margin of victory in true road game since it beat Air Force 45-10 back on Oct. 26, 2013.

There were a number of standouts in the win, but here are the players that stood out above the rest.

OFFENSE

QB Ian Book - 181 passing yards, 139 rushing yards, 4 total touchdowns

Book had the best rushing day of his career, racking up a career-high 139 yards, and most of it came on designed runs. The senior quarterback was able to use his legs to move the chains with a couple of pass game scrambles, but he thrashed Duke with keeps on read zones and power read calls. Book had gains of 53 yards and 45 yards with his legs.

When Book got going in the run game it made the Irish offense incredibly difficult to defend. When Duke tried to key on the Irish backs or the pulling offensive linemen, Book would keep the ball and gash the defense. Duke was forced to slow down its front seven and get its safeties more involved in the run game, which opened up opportunities for the backs and the pass game. It also served to neutralize Duke’s talented front four.

It wasn’t his most accurate throwing performance, and there remain some issues in regards to timing and reading things out, and his first half interception was as much on him as it was the guard who gave up the pressure. But Book did other things in the pass game that helped overcome those issues that we haven’t seen in past performances.

Book was aggressive early in the game, which we have come to expect, but when the Irish got off the early script he remained aggressive, and that was new for 2019. The result was even though he wasn’t on top of his game as a passer, Book was still highly impactful because his aggressiveness helped create big plays. He connected with receiver Chase Claypool for gains of 35, 30 and 23 yards and Claypool drew a pair of pass interference penalties.

If this aggressiveness remains, and Book remains a part of the run game, the offense could finally take off over the final month of the season.

Book also made petter pre-snap decisions in key moments, including reading and beating the blitz on Notre Dame’s first touchdown pass that resulted in Book throwing off-balance to Claypool for a 7-yard touchdown.

Runners Up: WR Chase Claypool, WR Chris Finke, LT Liam Eichenberg

DEFENSE

LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah - 6 tackles, 1.5 TFL’s, 2 break ups

It was almost impossible to key in on one player for the top player on defense. There were standouts on every level. All three of the linebackers drew consideration, as did defensive linemen Khalid Kareem, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Jayson Ademilola, and defensive backs Alohi Gilman and Troy Pride Jr.

In the end I went with Owusu-Koramoah because he made the most impact plays. After an early leverage mistake, Owusu-Koramoah settled in and played clean football. When he plays clean he has a major impact on the game. The junior rover was dominant in space, and his athleticism was something Duke had no answer for.

Owusu-Koramoah was effective against the perimeter run, he closed inside with force and he was a difference maker in the pass game. He blew up multiple perimeter pass plays, including drilling a running back behind the line of scrimmage for a 4-yard loss as soon as the runner caught the swing pass. Owusu-Koramoah also had an impressive pass break up on a third-down slant route in which he executed perfect coverage technique against a slant.

Not since Drue Tranquill was playing the rover position back in 2017 have we seen such a strong all-around performance at the position that included not just athletic plays, but high-IQ plays.

Runners Up: DE Khalid Kareem, DT Jayson Ademilola, DT Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Troy Pride Jr., S Alohi Gilman, LB Drew White, LB Asmar Bilal

SPECIAL TEAMS

PR Chris Finke - 2 returns, 51 yards

It was an overall rough night for the special teams, but Finke had a big play that set up the final Irish touchdown. That 46-yard return helped ice the game and was part of an excellent overall night from Finke. 

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