Notre Dame Football: 3 quick takeaways from blowout win over Duke

Notre Dame football went on the road to Durham and rolled over the Duke Blue Devils. What did we learn from the Fighting Irish win?

On a cold evening in Durham, North Carolina, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish rolled all over the Duke Blue Devils 38-7 at Wallace-Wade Stadium.

Notre Dame senior quarterback Ian Book became the first Notre Dame quarterback to throw three touchdowns, throw for 150 yards and rush for over 100 yards. The Duke Blue Devils, on the other hand got nothing going against a stout Notre Dame defense at all tonight.

Here are three quick takeaways from tonight’s game.

3. Duke’s offense is bad

The Duke Blue Devils are looking for an identity on offense. Although the Blue Devils haven’t been completely decimated by injuries, the players they have out are critical. They have offensive linemen, running backs and wide receivers out. Duke is not talented enough to recover from the injuries they’ve sustained this season.

They’ve also had to learn how to live life without Daniel Jones. It’s one thing to lose a talented football player; it’s quite another for a school like Duke to lose first round NFL Talent. His talent masked a lot of imperfections that this year’s starting quarterback, Quentin Harris cannot.

This game is a perfect example of Duke not having the horses to compete with a team the caliber of the Notre Dame fighting Irish. They thought they could change their offense to more of a run-centered attack behind dual threat quarterback Harris, but without key linemen and running backs, it’s been difficult to consistently get the running game going.

Not only that their issues pushing the ball down the field was exposed as well.

2. Notre Dame’s power run game

If there’s one place the Fighting Irish have an advantage, it’s along their offensive line. The Irish had the size and strength advantage upfront.  The Irish controlled the line of scrimmage and didn’t allow Duke’s defensive line to breathe. It was running back by committee with the Irish racking up 41 rushes for 272 yards.

Since they don’t have a dynamic playmaker on the perimeter, the Irish best bet to win games the rest of the season and the postseason is grind out wins and take advantage of their offensive line and stable of running backs.

1. Ian Book was impressive

Ian Book has received too much flack for the losses the Irish had this season. He isn’t one of the elite quarterbacks in college football. Book is no different than any quarterback at his talent level; he is great when he has elite talent around him. Saturday’s performance is his high water mark.

When you have the line playing as well and defenses keying in on the Irish running backs, Book can tuck it and run. He’s accurate enough with the pass to keep defenses honest.