Notre Dame football: 3 reasons the Fighting Irish will beat No. 17 Duke

1. Sam Hartman will outplay Riley Leonard

Sam Hartman is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the land, and he has proven it week after week. He is completing 70.4 percent of his passes for 1,236 yards with 14 passing touchdowns and has generally been lights out for most of the year.

The offensive strength of this team is the running game, but with Hartman in the backfield, he has taken apart defensive secondaries this year and will continue to do so until there is a team out there that can stop him.

Junior quarterback Riley Leonard has been playing well in his own right under center, as he has a 67.7 completion percentage for 778 yards with two passing touchdowns. Duke’s dual-threat quarterback, Riley Leonard, had a big passing game in last week’s destruction at Connecticut, but he is creating his greatest plays with his legs. Leonard is the team’s second-leading rusher, who has a 59.5-yard average per game and has already found the end zone four times.

Notre Dame and Duke rank second and fourth nationally in team pass efficiency defense, respectively. There will be a knock-out drag-out in Durham, NC, on Saturday night, but this will be a fight for both teams, and there will only be one winner — no moral victories in this battle.

These teams play a similar brand of offense, but the differences will be in the defenses. The Fighting Irish are more battle-tested as they are coming off of a defeat from Ohio State where they could’ve easily won that game.

Does Notre Dame football have enough in the tank after a letdown performance last week? Are Duke and quarterback Riley Leonard battle-tested enough to prevail against Notre Dame? One of these teams will answer the bell on Saturday evening.