Rece Davis picks Notre Dame to win, cover against Duke

ESPN analyst Rece Davis expects a competitive game between Duke and Notre Dame on Saturday.

Both programs have a lot to play for as the Blue Devils are looking to stay undefeated under second-year head coach Mike Elko, while the Irish can’t afford another loss after falling to Ohio State last weekend.

Davis believes this is a tough spot for Notre Dame, but he expects Marcus Freeman’s club to play well.

“This is a hangover spot for the Irish. I’ve watched extensive tape of both of these, read stuff, talked to coaches, all of that kind of stuff. Duke is a really, really good team,” Davis said on the College GameDay podcast. “I think that Duke is still a threat to make it to the ACC Championship game. And I really hate giving away points like this to a home dog with a good team.”

With that said, Davis is going to give the points and take Notre Dame to not only win the game but also cover the 5.5-point spread.

The Blue Devils are excellent at forcing other teams into miscues, but Davis doesn’t think Notre Dame will make many, if any.

“[Duke] is sound. They thrive on creating mistakes and turnovers. You never know for sure what’s real, but I like what I was hearing from Notre Dame,” Davis said. “It seems as if they haven’t necessarily flushed the Ohio State game but rather found a way to use it – not to be mad but to find out why these things happen and fix them.”

Notre Dame made plenty of mistakes against Ohio State, mostly notably playing the last two defensive plays with only 10 players on the field.

Davis believes the Irish have learned from their miscues and will play better and smarter Saturday night.

“Whether it’s fourth-down conversions, whether it’s giving up long third-downs on clutch drives. And certainly being able to count to 11 and getting the proper number of players on the field,” Davis said. “I think Duke’s good and I just think Notre Dame’s better. So in a desperate spot I’m going to take the Irish and lay the 5.5.”

Fellow College GameDay member Kirk Herbstreit also offered his thoughts on the matchup. He said on ESPN Saturday morning that he believes the Blue Devils have a shot.

“I think the story, as much as Riley Leonard deserves to get attention, the quarterback for Duke, I think it’s the Duke defense in this case,” Herbstreit said. “Notre Dame is big and athletic upfront. Their offensive line does a great job of winning the line-of-scrimmage. That’s been a strength of Duke’s. Duke doesn’t have the size that some of these bigger programs have, but they make up for it with quickness and movement and different ways of attacking the line-of-scrimmage. They’re going to have to do that, I think, in order to stay in this game. Keep this crowd in this game. Beat them. Continue to play with the energy that they’ve played with all year.”