Notre Dame, playing another lackluster game and with its offense once again struggling, managed to pull out a last-second victory over Virginia Tech last week in South Bend. The 21-20 victory came thanks to some late-game heroics from quarterback Ian Book.

Book had another subpar game, but when the Irish needed to move the ball down the field with time running out, he delivered.

Book directed an 18-play, 87-yard drive that concluded with him running the final seven yards for the tying score with just 29 seconds left. Kicker Jonathan Doerer added the extra point to provide the victory.

Book said of his play, “I’m just an extremely confident person. But I also just truly believe in everyone on the offense, on my whole entire team. I knew we could do it.”

The Irish struggles on offense, and more specifically, the lack of a run game, almost cost them their sixth win of the season over Virginia Tech, who were a 16 point underdogs at kickoff.

Some facts about the win:

• ND failed to score in the red zone for the first time this season when Book threw an interception right to the Hokies’ LB Dax Hollifield in the first quarter.

The Irish failed to score in the red zone two more times in the game. One of them was when running back Jafar Armstrong fumbled on a third-and-goal play from the one yard line. VT linebacker Rayshard Ashby caught the ball in midair and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown. Instead of a 21-7 ND lead at the half, the game was tied at 14.

The third failed red zone trip came in the fourth quarter and ended with a Doerer missed field goal. ND was the last remaining FBS team to be perfect in the red zone.

• The offense managed only 106 rushing yards with Book leading the way with 50.

• Book’s passing was again poor as he completed just 29 of 53 attempts for 341 yards with two TDs, and two interceptions.

• Armstrong’s fumble also ended the nation’s longest streak without a lost fumble from a running back at 1,273 carries, going back a couple of years

• The defense played a consistent game. The Irish defense held VT to just one touchdown and a field goal. VT was limited to 240 yards.

*****

If the Irish expect to run the table and win their four remaining games, they better find a rushing attack.

The Irish did have to play the game without starting running back Tony Jones Jr., who was expected to play after sustaining a rib injury in the Michigan game — which kept him out of the second half of that game. But the injury didn’t heal as expected and he was held out. He is expected to play today, barring any problems during practices this week.

More on the game later.

Tonight, the Irish face a Duke team that is hot and cold, but when hot, they are very, very good. The Blue Devils enter the game at 4-4 with wins over North Carolina A&T, 45-13; Middle Tennessee, 41-18; Virginia Tech, 45-10; and Georgia Tech, 41-23. The four losses have been to Alabama, 42-3; Pitt, 33-30; Virginia, 48-14; and North Carolina, 20-17.

Duke, according to a pregame story in the South Bend Tribune, has been hampered by turnovers at key points in games that have eventually cost them victories.

Quinten Harris is the starting QB for Duke and has completed 150 of 246 passes for 1,500 yards, 13 TDs and seven interceptions. He is also the number two rusher on the team with 408 yards on 104 carries and six scores. The top rusher is Dean Jackson with 417 yards on 124 carries and five TDs. The top receiver is Jalon Calhoun with 294 yards on 37 catches and three scores.

The series is tied at 1-1 with ND winning in 2007, 28-7; and Duke prevailing in 2016, 38-35.

The game will be televised by the new ACC Television Network, which debuted in August. the game has a 7:40 p.m. kickoff. I have checked and the best I can tell you is that neither Blue Ridge Cable nor Service Electric Cable carry the channel. Some area bars/resturants might have the game. The final option is to get the radio tuned to the ND radio network.

IRISH NOTES ... ND had 447 yards of total offense compared to 240 for VT ... Individual for ND, Armstrong finished with just 37 yards on 19 carries. As mentioned, Book led the team rushing with 50 yards. Chase Claypool had eight catches for 118 yards; Chris Finke had 56 on five catches; Armstrong had 49 yards on four catches and Cole Kmet had 28 yards on four cacthes. Defensively, Asmar Bilal had five tackles and Drew White four. Khalid Kareem had the only sack for the Irish ... Sophomore linebacker Jack Lamb, a part of ND’s effective third-down defensive package on passing downs, will miss the game because of a hip injury he sustained against Virginia Tech ... Junior captain and starting right tackle, Robert Hainsey, underwent surgery Thursday on his fractured left ankle, and will miss the rest of the season ... The Irish ran 91 offensive plays Saturday — the most of the Brian Kelly Era in a regulation game ... Five of Notre Dame’s first eight drives were three-and-outs ... Saturday’s victory was the 16th consecutive win for the Irish at home. It’s the third longest streak in school history. The Irish haven’t lost at home since early in the 2017 season to Georgia ... Last week nine different Irish receivers caught at least one pass ... Tonight’s game is the fifth night game of the season for the Irish. The next two games are home, Navy and Boston College, and have 2:30 p.m. starts on NBC. The last regular season game at Stanford on Nov. 30 will probably be a night time start ... In my preseason picks I have the Irish winning tonight. But after the performance of the Irish the last two weeks, I think the game is a toss up. The bookies must see something do, ND is just a six point favorite. Don’t be surprise if the Irish come up short, unless, they finally find a running game and some consistency on offense.