Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Four quick takeaways from Notre Dame's loss against Duke

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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In the wake of Notre Dame’s 38-35 loss to Duke, here are the four biggest things to know and questions to ask about the Irish moving forward.

For the first time since 2010, Notre Dame has started the season 1-3. Entering the game as three-touchdown favorites over Duke, the Irish simply never put the Blue Devils away and paid the price in a humiliating loss to a program that entered the game off losses to Northwestern and Wake Forest.

This loss will undoubtedly prompt a lot of soul-searching on the part of the Notre Dame fanbase and coaching staff. Here’s where they should start.

Brian VanGorder should be fired

There’s just no way around it. VanGorder faced a Duke defense that entered the game ranked 94th in the nation in points per game and 58th in yards per game, and the Blue Devils put up 28 points in the first half. Duke outdid its season averages in practically every single offensive category with a rookie quarterback.

At the end of the game, when the Irish needed a stop most, Duke went 75 yards to score. Missed tackles, blown coverages and confusing play-calling all points to one person, and that’s the guy Notre Dame fans were chanting for to be fired before halftime even hit: Brian VanGorder.

Students chanting "Fire VanGorder" by halftime. Duke leads 28-21. This is #NotreDame's nightmare.

— SlapTheSign (@SlapTheSign) September 24, 2016

Brian Kelly would do well to obey the chants, the pundits, the Change.org petitions and literally any Irish fan and dismiss his defensive coordinator.

DeShone Kizer is good, but he is far from perfect

Now that we’re done ripping apart the defense, let’s move to the offense. DeShone Kizer had another solid stat line Saturday, with 382 passing yards, 60 rushing yards and three total TDs. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story, and the fact is that Kizer had a shaky game. One pick and a fumble were especially costly, and his decision-making wasn’t sterling.

Kizer has some good playmakers around him, and he is unquestionably talented. But he is simply not at the point where he can put the team on his back single-handedly and make up for the defense’s poor play. People forget that he’s only in his second full season, and his development is still very much ongoing.

Special teams needs some work

Annnd just to round things off, let’s pick apart the special teams too.

First of all, a 96-yard kick return is inexcusable. See comments above about missed tackles. Seriously, how often did the Irish defenders go for arm tackles instead of wrapping up? It was criminally bad coverage.

Then, Justin Yoon’s missed field goal. In hindsight, that miss especially hurts. 42 yards would have been Yoon’s season long, but well short of his career high, 52 yards. From some angles it looked as though Montgomery VanGorder flubbed the hold and couldn’t get the laces turned around, which would make sense given how weak the kick looked.

C.J. Sanders and Chris Finke were merely adequate on kick returns. I’ll have to go back and look at the tape, but it seems to me the biggest issue was not a lack of speed or agility on the returners’, especially Sanders’s, part, but poor blocking. But all told, if you’re averaging fewer than 20 yards per return, just let the ball roll into the end zone for a touchback.

Is any game left on the schedule safe?

I’m not kidding. If Notre Dame can lose to Duke at home, than Irish fans need to be prepared for the possibility that they could lose at any time to anyone. Navy and Army? Those are run games that could absolutely savage the Irish defense. Syracuse? The Orange will be in friendly territory and sporting a 2-2 record. Virginia Tech? Heck, the Hokies are leading the ACC Coastal Division.

The mind reels when looking forward to Stanford, North Carolina State (a true road game) or even USC. Brian Kelly needs to make sure his team doesn’t lose its head, or the Irish won’t make it to a bowl game.