Featured Sports

Duke Puts Georgia Tech Away in First Half

Landon Bost

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke Blue Devils rebounded off a tough home loss last week to Pittsburgh with a 41-23 win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. 

Duke put the game away early by scoring on every drive in the first half to give themselves a 38-14 lead. 

Their offense sputtered in the second half, but their defense played solid the entire game.

Impact Players

Blue Devils junior defensive end Victor Dimukeje: He finished with six tackles and three sacks. His performance made him the first Blue Devil to have three sacks in an ACC game since 2003.

Yellow Jackets redshirt sophomore running back Jordan Mason: He had 18 rushing attempts for 106 yards rushing for his first career game over 100 yards.

Blue Devils junior running back Deon Jackson: He had 20 rushing attempts for 69 yards and two touchdowns rushing.

Game Commentary

  • The Yellow Jackets and Blue Devils scored on their opening drives of the game. A 19-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback James Graham to junior running back Jerry Howard. For Duke, A 33-yard field goal by junior kicker AJ Reed made the score 7-3 with 7:10 left.
  • Blue Devils freshman wide receiver Eli Pancol capped off a 13-play, 55-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown rush on his first career carry to give Duke a 10-7 lead with 1:18 left in the first quarter.
  • The Blue Devils made fourth-down conversions on both of their opening drives.
  • Make that 3-3 on fourth down. A 1-yard touchdown rush by Jackson increased their lead to 17-7 with 10:29 left in the second quarter.
  • Yellow Jackets starting David Curry got ejected from the game with 8:04 left in the second due to targeting.
  • Four plays later, a career-long, 39-yard carry by Duke sophomore running back Mateo Durant brought the ball to the Yellow Jackets 1-yard line. Duke redshirt senior quarterback Quentin Harris kept it on the next play for a 1-yard touchdown rush up the middle to make the score 24-7 with 6:34 left in the second.

    Duke sophomore running Back Mateo Durant bursts a 39-yard gain that set up a touchdown on the next play. Image courtesy of Lawrence Davis.
  • Graham had Mason on a wheel route that would’ve been a huge gain, but he kept it himself for a short run. On the ensuing fourth down, Duke senior linebacker Koby Quansah hit Mason in the backfield for a three-yard loss for a turnover-on-downs with 5:06 left in the half.
  • Jackson scored for the second time in the first half from a 7-yard touchdown rush to make the score 31-7 with 3:35 left in the second quarter.
  • Blue Devils redshirt linebacker Xander Gagnon blocked a Yellow Jacket’s punt and redshirt junior running back Javon Jackson scooped the loose ball for a 14-yard touchdown with a 3:10 left to increase their lead to 38-7.
  • The Yellow Jackets offense found life on their last drive. Graham capped off a 6-play, 75-yard touchdown drive with an 8-yard touchdown rush.
  • Duke led 38-14 at halftime and they scored on all of their offensive drives.
  • A field goal for each team marked the only points in the third quarter. Yellow Jackets redshirt sophomore kicker drilled a 42-yard field goal and Reed made a 36-yard field goal for Duke.
  • A blocked punt by the Yellow Jackets led to a 4-yard touchdown rush by redshirt sophomore quarterback Tobias Oliver with 10:39 left in the fourth quarter. They failed on a two-point conversion after the score.
  • Both teams had 75 plays in the game, and Georgia Tech had six more yards of total offense than Duke, 379-373.

Quick Hits

  • Graham overthrew Oliver, who lined up at wide receiver, on a second and 11 from their own 17-yard line with that would’ve been a walk-in touchdown for the Yellow Jacket. Instead, they went three-and-out and gave the ball to Duke with 5:56 left in the first quarter.
  • Georgia Tech’s defense is getting gashed by Duke, and their offense isn’t too better.
  • The blocked punt return for a touchdown was Duke’s first since 2012 in the Belk Bowl against Cincinnati on Dec., 27.
  • Georgia Tech’s defense stepped up and forced Duke to punt for the first time in the game with 13:58 left in the third quarter.

Firsthand Perspective

“I’m really proud of our team,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said, “their preparation. I’m really proud of the way they practiced Sunday, Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. … Offensively, an outstanding performance in the first half. We played with an edge.”

“We did a good job at just establishing the run,” Harris said when asked about big first half performance, “and then coupling that with some big plays on the outside with big go balls: the one to Darryl Harding, to Jalon Calhoun and later in the game to Damond Philyaw-Johnson. So, having a good balance between the deep balls and then also some of those runs really helped us.”

What’s Next

Georgia Tech (1-5, ACC 0-3) looks for their first conference win on the road next Saturday, Oct. 19, against Miami (FL) at noon.

Duke (4-2, ACC 2-1) travels to Charlottesville to play Virginia next Saturday, Oct. 19, in an ACC Coastal Division matchup at 3:30 p.m.

(Feature image courtesy of Lawrence Davis)