Since 1987 college football has hosted an episode of College Gameday previewing the slate of Saturday games. The episodes are filmed live from where the game of the day is being played. For week 5 of the CFB (College Football) season, the show will make an appearance in Durham, North Carolina for Duke vs. Notre Dame.
#17 Duke:
The Blue Devils capped off their 2022 season with a commanding 30-13 win over UCF in the Military Bowl to finish 9-4. Their tremendous season led to high expectations in 2023 as they hosted #9 Clemson in their season opener. Junior quarterback Riley Leonard came off firing on all cylinders accounting for 273 all-purpose yards and one rushing touchdown to start the season with a big upset win. In the following three games, Duke has outscored their opponents 121-28. Hingham sophomore Matthew Griffin says “I think Cole Finney finds the endzone tonight in a nailbiter”. Finney being a former Hingham student himself excites plenty of students just like Matthew Griffin. Although they started the year unranked, Duke has proven to be one of the ACC’s toughest competitors.
#11 Notre Dame:
The Fighting Irish have been one of college football’s premiere programs throughout their history. They have won 13 national championships and appeared in the playoffs in 2018 and 2020. After struggling last year, Notre Dame brought in a transfer quarterback from Wake Forest Sam Hartman. The passing game of Hartman combined with the lethal rushing ability of junior Audric Estime allowed Notre Dame to breeze through their first four games. Their first test being when they played Ohio State in their 5th game of the season where they only put 14 points on the board. Despite falling to the Buckeyes 17-14, Notre Dame’s defense showed they were able to slow down one of the best offenses in CFB. Sitting at 4-1 Notre Dame looks to get the offense rolling against the Blue Devils.
Game:
The game is set to kick off at 7:30 ET on ESPN. Duke has to look to replicate their week one defense where they held previously #9 Clemson to 7 points. If they can keep Sam Hartman’s arm contained then they are set to see a lot of success this Saturday night. As for Notre Dame, they hope to bounce back from the loss last week and fix their offensive struggles. Their first four games had them looking like one of the best offenses in college football, but Ohio State showed Hartman his worst game of the year. The Fighting Irish must get Estime going early and often to open up the passing game for Hartman and his favorite receiver, senior Chris Tyree. Sophomore at Hingham High School Andrew Sullivan says “Duke is a powerful CFB underdog, but Notre Dame is out for bad blood following their loss last week. I think Notre Dame has the passion to win this game”. Tune in from 8:30 ET to 12:00 ET for College Gameday on ESPN this Saturday.
