Notre Dame operating again Audric Estime ran 30 yards for a go-ahead landing with 31 seconds left to raise the No. 11 Fighting Irish to a 21-14 highway win over no. 17 Duke on Saturday within the first sport between ranked groups at Wallace Wade Stadium since 1994. The Blue Devils sought their first 5-0 get started since that 1994 season and erased a 13-0 second-half deficit in the second one 1/2 ahead of Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman led the game-winning, 95-yard drive capped via Estime’s scoring run.
Faced with a fourth-and-16 at Duke’s 47-yard line with simply over a minute to play, Hartman may just now not to find an open receiver downfield. Instead, he took off and dove for the primary down. Hartman then spiked the soccer to forestall the clock, and Estime’s go-ahead run got here at the resulting play as Duke’s house crowd of 40,768 fell silent.
The win prolonged Notre Dame’s regular-season profitable streak towards ACC foes to 30 video games and denied Duke some other program-boosting victory. The Blue Devils already grew to become heads with a 28-7 victory over Clemson on Labor Day and had been playing their perfect AP Top 25 rating since 1994. A victory most probably would have surged second-year trainer Mike Elko’s staff into the highest 15 for the primary time since 1971.
Every week after struggling a devastating 17-14 loss to Ohio State, the Fighting Irish confirmed resilience in a adversarial surroundings. Estime totaled 80 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries whilst tight finish Mitchell Evans stuck six passes for 134 yards. Hartman finished simply 15 of 30 passes for 222 yards, however he took care of the soccer and got here via with seize performs whilst the sport used to be at stake.
Hartman and Estime ended up as the heroes, however Duke quarterback Riley Leonard did his phase in the second one 1/2 towards a stout Notre Dame protection. The junior authored landing drives of 75 and 80 yards, respectively, and put the Blue Devils forward 14-13 with 9:17 last when he hit Jordan Moore for a 3-yard landing move.
The sport led to nightmare style for Leonard when he suffered an obvious lower-body harm with below 30 seconds left after Notre Dame’s go-ahead ranking. Leonard remained within the staff’s harm tent after the sport and left the sector on crutches. The Blue Devils have a bye subsequent week ahead of webhosting NC State on Oct. 14, whilst Notre Dame performs at Louisville subsequent week.