Saturday, September 30th, 2023, was one of the biggest days in Duke football history. The Duke Blue Devils were ranked at #17 in the country going into the game. This was Duke’s highest ranking since 1995. To add even more hype to the game, this was the first time in the history of College Gameday that the bus stopped in Durham, North Carolina. Everything was pushing in Duke’s direction; unfortunately for them, they lined up against a far superior Notre Dame team that was hungry following a heartbreaking loss to Ohio State the week prior.
This game was a tale of two halves for both teams as Notre Dame dominated the first half, while Duke played like the better team for the majority of the 2nd half. The very first drive of the game saw the Irish put 7 points on the board. The catalyst for this drive was a gutsy call by coach Freeman to go for a fake punt, resulting in an Irish first down. Audric Estime capped off the drive with a go-ahead score to push the Irish to an early lead.
Notre Dame TE Mitchell Evans (88) – Ben McKeown/ AP Photo
The Irish struck again at the very beginning of the 2nd quarter with a 35-yard field goal by Spencer Shrader. This would be the lone score of the quarter, as both teams would go on to miss field goals before the half. The Irish defense, led by emerging linebacker Marist Liufau and a ferocious pass rush, held Duke scoreless on their first seven possessions of the game. After the halftime intermission, The Notre Dame special teams added three more to the Irish’s lead; now up by 13, the Golden Domers looked to be in cruise control of the game.
However, shortly after, the Duke offense started to open up, and Riley Leonard led an 11-play, 75-yard drive for a Duke touchdown. Momentum would swing in the Blue Devils’ favor as their defense would force the Irish to punt on the next three possessions. After the 3rd Irish’s 3rd straight punt, Duke’s offense was again able to find the endzone, propelling them to a 1-point lead of 14-13 midway through the 4th quarter. But, as fate would have it, “the luck of the Irish” was about to unfold in Wallace Wade stadium for all to see.
Down by 1, needing any score to win, The Irish started at their own 5, 95 yards to go with less than 3 minutes on the clock. This drive got off to a roaring start as wide receiver Tobias Merriweather was flagged for a false start, and the Irish were pushed back to the 2.5-yard marker. The Irish relied on signal caller Sam Hartman to push the Irish down the field.
With three chunk plays of 15+ yards, the Irish offense started to hum. The Fighting Irish were set up on the scoring side of midfield, but they were once again backed up by an offensive penalty. On the new 1st down, Hartman hit Estime out of the backfield for a 9-yard gain. The next two plays, 2nd and 3rd down, both ended in incompletions.
It was now 4th and 16, with the game on the line. Sam Hartman dropped back and couldn’t find an open receiver, so he rolled to the right, saw a lane, and took off for a gain of 17 and an Irish 1st down. The importance of this single play cannot be understated, not just because the game and Notre Dame’s chances at the college football playoffs were on the line but also because of the circumstances of the previous week.
The week prior, Sam Hartman had two rushing attempts on 4th down and came up short. Sam knew that if he was going to take off, he had to convert, or he may lose the trust of the coaching staff.
Sam pulled off a miracle run for the first down and set the Irish up in scoring range. Just seconds later, running back Audric Estime shook off a defender and bolted 30 yards into the endzone. Audric’s touchdown celebration mimicked a person asleep, as to wish the Duke fans goodnight. The Irish offense converted on the 2-point conversion and now were reliant on the defense to keep Duke’s offense out of the endzone with under 30 seconds left.
Notre Dame QB Sam Hartman (10) – Jaylynn Nash/USA TODAY Sports
Duke had the ball at the 25, and after a quick 5-yard gain, Blue Devil’s QB Riley Leonard looked to set up another big pass play down the field; however, on a sack by Howard Cross, Riley ended up fumbling the ball and injuring his leg on the play. The game was all but over as the Notre Dame offense took the field one final time to chew up the last few seconds of the game clock. It was a narrow victory but a victory, nonetheless. Notre Dame left Durham, North Carolina, with their heads held high as they were able to overcome the doubters and bounce back after such a gut-wrenching loss the week prior.
