ESPN's College GameDay is coming to Durham, NC, for the first time this Saturday for a top-20 matchup. The 4-1 No. 11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the undefeated 4-0 No. 17 Duke Blue Devils. Ever since Duke blew out Clemson on the first week of the 2023 college football season, they've had more national attention on their football program than ever before. While Clemson coach Dabo Swiney called it “incredibly disappointing,” Duke has been flying ever since. This will be their first real test, though, matching up with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Notre Dame is coming off a game where they were two seconds and one correctly aligned defense away from beating No. 4 Ohio State last week. And against their four games versus (now) non-ranked opponents, Notre Dame has been equally dominant. Duke is one of six 4-0 ACC teams, and with a win this weekend, will keep pace in the most impressive way possible. For Notre Dame, this is an opportunity to get back on track and stay in the hunt for a potential playoff spot or at least a New Year's bowl.
How to watch Notre Dame vs. Duke
Notre Dame vs. Duke is one of the marquee matchups of the entire college football weekend. And it's being broadcast as such, in prime time on Saturday night on ABC. Notre Dame vs. Duke will be receiving the full ESPN treatment. With GameDay rolling live from Duke all morning and then the primetime ABC broadcast slot Saturday night, for the first time maybe ever, the center of the college football universe will be in Durham this weekend. If you don't have access to your local ABC station, you can watch on ESPN.com or through ESPN+. You can additionally watch without ESPN login credentials via fuboTV.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 30 | 7:30 p.m. EDT
Location: Wallace Wade Stadium— Durham, NC
T.V. channel: ABC | Live stream: ESPN+, fuboTV
FanDuel Odds: Notre Dame -5.5 | O/U 52.5
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Notre Dame storylines
The biggest storyline going into this week and possibly for the rest of the season for Notre Dame will be that heartbreaking loss to Ohio State last week. Beating Duke this week will only fuel that “what if” scenarios in the minds of Notre Dame fans about what this year could have been if the team was 6-0. On the other hand, a loss will only compound the misery, meaning that Notre Dame will have fallen short in their only two real tests of the season so far. Now, what a win would truly mean in reality is more of a happy medium for Fighting Irish fans. Notre Dame is well within the college football playoff picture as things stand right now. They have a huge matchup with USC later in the season on the horizon and still play currently undefeated Louisville as well. They have opportunities to build their resume starting this weekend. A road win against an undefeated top-20 opponent would be a great way to get back on track. Can they clean up the mental errors to play to their potential? That'll be priority number one for the coaching staff and the players.
So uh, Notre Dame only had 10 players on the field on this play. Tennessee State nearly scored a touchdown.
That can't happen against better teams. pic.twitter.com/AXqlL76PTz
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) September 4, 2023
Duke storylines
Duke has an opportunity to turn this season from a joyful and surprising overachievement of expectations into a 2022 TCU-level Cinderella run with a win this weekend. They've been lighting teams up on offense and shutting them down on defense through four weeks of college football. Quarterback Riley Leonard has been electric in the air and on the ground, accounting for over 1000 throwing and rushing yards and six total touchdowns in four games. The Blue Devils' run game has been doing a ton of damage as well. Running backs Jordan Waters and Jaquez Moore have accounted for over 400 yards on the ground and 550 total scrimmage yards between the two of them. As a team, the Blue Devils are averaging over 200 yards per game on the ground across the 2023 season so far. Their big test will be coming up against one of the best defenses in the country. Notre Dame only allows about 260 yards per game total, so yards and points will likely be at a premium. Can Duke win a close game against a good team? That question alone will determine the trajectory of their entire season.