Notre Dame fires defensive coordinator after 1-3 start

The two teams met for the next to last game of the season in South Bend. Folston has rushed for 129 yards on 32 carries and quarterback DeShone Kizer has run for 126 yards on 32 carries. Jon Hilliman ran for two touchdowns for Boston College, which won its 25th straight game against a Division I-AA opponent.

Duke fell to 1-2 on the season and 1-2 against the spread last week with a 24-13 loss at Northwestern.

Meanwhile, Duke coach David Cutcliffe praised Kizer.

Can the Defense Hold Up?

It is uncertain how much better the Notre Dame defense will be for the rest of the season, but it was VERY certain that Brian VanGorder was not going to improve as a coach, which meant that the teams performance was not going to get any better as well. Kizer’s 441 yards of total offense were the eighth-most by a Notre Dame quarterback in program history.

Duke, it should be noted, came back from a 14-0 deficit and the loss of star rover/kick return man DeVon Edwards to a knee injury. Duke’s 10 giveaways rank 123rd in the country.

The fourth quarter was better on both sides of the ball for the Irish. This can be attributed to a few things.

The Blue Devils marched downfield for a 10-play, 44-yard drive on their next possession to set up Reed’s go-ahead field goal. The game is also airing as a live stream online. He never got to experience a game-day atmosphere, let alone a victory. A combination of turnovers, playing calling, and poor execution has caused the offense to stall on several occasions. Duke scored 21 consecutive points and developed the confidence that it was going to compete for 60 minutes against what has become an extremely fragile Notre Dame team.

Duke forced a punt then drove to the red zone in 11 plays before Notre Dame stopped Duke on 4th and one at the 19. He is a Notre Dame graduate in 1990 and former Irish graduate assistant in 1993. Not holding any punches, Kelly said the players on this team are not performing to the standards he expects of them. For being hailed as a “pressure” guy, Notre Dame has only recorded one sack this season and that was just this past game versus Duke.

Most importantly, he created the explosive plays Duke lacked in its losses this season and all of previous year.

“If we can accomplish those two things, we have a chance of having a really good offensive football team”, he said. “Now they don’t come easy here; a great football, al lot of talent”.

Back in 2005, the Fighting Irish football complex was still a work in progress. “I believe in my heart that we have the right kind of people, and that’s what you do when you’re the right kind of people”.

Duke had entered Saturday with its four-season bowl streak looking as though it might be in jeopardy, and the thought of that historic-enough stretch coming to a close made the mood all the gloomier following a 1-2 start.

Duke turned Kizer’s weird second-quarter fumble, when the ball inexplicably fell from his clutches, into a 21-14 lead, and later intercepted him to setup the game-winning field goal attempt from kicker A.J. Reed, his first make of the season. Alex Smith and Ryan Tannehill took a long time to develop and they’re not special.

Duke’s kickers are struggling. One can only imagine the emotion in that locker room after the game. Wow. Duke was eighth in the ACC past year at 57.8. Shaun Wilson has fielded three kicks.