Notre Dame football: 3 takeaways from season-opening win over Duke
By Riley Platt
3. Duke’s offense has potential, but it needs work
One thing that stuck out to me early on was that Duke’s offense certainly looked better than it did in the latter stages of 2019. However, it still needs work — lots of it.
Towards the beginning of the game, while there were no touchdowns, Duke seemed to have made substantial progress offensively. Running back Deon Jackson was finding holes and bouncing off Notre Dame defenders consistently to gain first downs. The young receiving corps was looking great, with Eli Pancol nearly breaking free for two touchdowns. That was the problem: Duke nearly scored touchdowns.
On two occasions, the Blue Devils got within Notre Dame’s 10-yard line, yet they would settle for field goals. In a game like this, you cannot be settling for field goals. Once Duke got down, they just didn’t have what it takes to outperform the Irish.
One issue that stood out to me was the duke offensive line. To be fair, starting center Jack Wohlabaugh was recently ruled out for the season due to a torn ACL. Along with this, tackle Casey Holman went down with an injury during the game. Notre Dame’s stronger defensive line powered their way through, forcing Duke quarterback Chase Brice out of the pocket. While the newcomer made some solid throws rolling out, that’s just not his game. If the Blue Devils want to see their QB succeed, he’s gonna need better protection up front.
Lastly, Duke’s play-calling still seemed to be inhibit their offensive potential. While this duty was transferred from offensive coordinator Zac Roper to David Cutcliffe, it still seems to be an issue. Some of the decisions just left me scratching my head. Towards the end of the fourth quarter, Cutcliffe seemed to have accepted defeat. He had timeouts and was down 14 with six minutes left, but he didn’t use them.
The Blue Devils certainly have a high ceiling on the offensive side of the ball, but some things are going to have to change if they want to reach that ceiling.