College football Week 5: Notre Dame vs .Duke

A ton was on the line for the Blue Devils Saturday night: a first 5-0 start in 29 seasons, a pair of top-15 wins and a stamp on the college football world marking “We. Are. Here.” Both Duke and visiting Notre Dame played a physical game and dug deep in their respective bags of tricks to find ways to punch holes in the staunch opposing defenses, which combined to concede just 12 touchdowns in nine games entering Saturday. 

But it was No. 11 Notre Dame who came out on top, 21-14, at a raucous Wallace Wade Stadium.

For the Fighting Irish, the first punch was a fake punt-turned dash into the red zone while No. 17 Duke took all of 27 minutes before unleashing the legs of quarterback Riley Leonard, who went 12-for-27 with 134 passing yards. A trio of missed field goals between the two teams, punts back and forth and no scores in two first-half red zone trips by the home offense defined the game’s early going. But the Blue Devils found their flow in the second half, clawing back while relying on a potent rushing attack and chunk yardage. The Irish then assembled a magnificent final drive to take down the Blue Devils in the final minute.

Two plays later, Notre Dame running back Audric Estime busted through the line to rip off a 30-yard touchdown run. The Irish had taken the lead. Duke got the ball back with 27 seconds left starting at their own 25-yard-line. On the second play of the drive, star QB Riley Leonard was crushed by ND defenders, and fumbled. Even worse, Leonard appears to have suffered a serious ankle injury. We won’t embed the play, but you can click here to watch it.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Kentucky's Ray Davis had himself a career day in the Wildcats' upset win over No. 22 Florida, running for 280 yards and three touchdowns. No. 3 Texas had no problem handling Kansas despite a lucky Jayhawks bounce, No. 1 Georgia survived a road scare at Auburn and Ole Miss battled back to topple LSU in the waning seconds.

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Sarah H

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