Duke Blue Devils quarterback Quentin Harris spectacular magazine lawrence davis iii
Sports

Cutcliffe, Blue Devils Looking For Consistency After Saturday’s Win

Brian Hayes

DURHAM, NC – The Blue Devils made all the necessary adjustments from last week’s blowout loss against second-ranked Alabama, to get a 45-13 victory against North Carolina A&T here at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday

Leading the way was fifth-year senior quarterback Quentin Harris, who threw 30-for-42, passing for 42 yards and had five touchdowns, rushed 13 times for 83 yards and a touchdown, which set career highs in touchdowns and yards. Coach David Cutcliffe praised Quentin Harris’ play, especially as it was his first home victory as a starter.

Don’t let the score fool you, the Aggies had an early 10-7 lead against the Blue Devils after a big 66-yard run by Aggies running back Jah-Maine Martin which had Duke’s defense on its heels, that would be the last time the Aggies put on a productive drive until a late field goal. However, Duke’s fast-paced defense held the Aggies to only 111 passing yards and 138 rushing yards.

Duke defensive end Tre Hornbuckle football Lawrence Davis III spectacular magazine
Duke DE Tre Hornbuckle (59) forces a strip-sack against NC A&T.

Duke scored three touchdowns over a span of two minutes and 26 seconds just before halftime to build an 18-point halftime lead before running away to a 45-13 win over the Aggies. The Blue Devils had three freshmen players (running back Mataeo Durant and receivers Jalon Calhoun and Eli Pancol) score a touchdown for the first time on Saturday. After the game, coach Cutcliffe praised how his quarterback has really helped out his young receivers, stating that “he’s their guy, he’s their mentor.” 

The Blue Devils picked up nine penalties for 97 yards against A&T, Coach Cutcliffe took responsibility for the lack of discipline his team has been showing “right now, we are having an issue with discipline. He continued, “We shot ourselves in the foot and our field position was poor because of it.” Coach Cut also raved about how poised and discipline NC A&T was the entire night.  

Duke’s only issue that they haven’t truly fixed yet is their ability to keep drives going on a consistent basis. With the string of three touchdowns in a short span, it shows glimpses of how high-powered the Blue Devils offense could potentially be. Harris spoke on the positive preview siding with his head coach, stating that “it felt great to have the offense operate more smoothly…It shows what we are capable of when we are at our best and don’t shoot ourselves in the foot.”

One of the only struggles that will need improvement going forward would be Duke’s ability to keep drives going to put their selves in a position to come away with points at the end of drives. 

Duke QB Quentin Harris (18) hypes up RB Mateao Durant (21) after he scored his first touchdown of the season.

 Coach Cutcliffe later stated that “3rd and 4th downs we were 9 for 20 for the game, we’ve got to do better than that, especially when we play against any opponent.”

The real question will be going forward, will we see the Blue Devils that suffered a big loss to Alabama or today’s version that played NC A&T? Was it the level of competition? This is a young Duke team with most of the leaders coming on the defensive side of the ball. 

With their record now being at 1-1 overall, Duke will travel to Middle Tennessee State next weekend on September 14th, before their first ACC inter-conference match-up against Virginia Tech on September 27.