Is Notre Dame football destined to face Clemson in ACC title game?

Notre Dame took care of Duke, South Florida

Notre Dame’s defense played well in the first half in its contest against Duke, holding the Blue Devils to only six points as they forced them to settle for two field goals. After not scoring any points in the first quarter, the Fighting Irish offense was able to move the ball more efficiently down the field and produced 10 points giving Notre Dame a 10-6 lead heading into halftime.

To open the third quarter, Kyren Williams ran for his second touchdown of the game as he bolted into the end zone on a 26-yard scamper to give the Fighting Irish a 17-6 lead.

The Blue Devils responded to score prior to the end of the quarter shrinking Notre Dame’s lead to only four. However, the Fighting Irish offense, defense and special teams closed out the game in the final quarter of play.

In the fourth, star quarterback Ian Book connected with Avery Davis on a 17-yard touchdown pass to extend Notre Dame’s lead back to double digits. The defense, led by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Kyle Hamilton, held Duke and its high-powered defense to zero points in the fourth quarter.

Senior placekicker Jonathan Doerer was perfect for the day making his second field goal of the game to give Notre Dame a 27-13 victory to open up ACC play with a 1-0 record.

South Florida from the AAC was supposed to compete against Notre Dame but the Fighting Irish were dominant against the Bulls from start to finish.

Notre Dame’s offense and defense were able to be highly efficient and productive in the first half of the game. The Fighting Irish allowed zero points in the first and second quarters and forced four South Florida punts and stopped the Bulls as they went for it on fourth down.

The offense, led by Book’s four touchdown runs, scored five touchdowns and led South Florida 35-0 at the half.

The Fighting Irish special teams stepped up and the defense remained relentless as Jordan Botelho returned a blocked punt for a touchdown and Doerer made his third field goal of the season to make it a 45-0 game to end the third quarter. Notre Dame added another touchdown in the fourth quarter and their defense held firm and got their first shut out of the season to make it a final score of 52-0.

The Irish have nine scheduled games coming up and let’s take a look at their road to the ACC title game.