EVANSTON, Ill.-Duke beat Northwestern at its own offensive game Saturday night, spreading the Wildcats out by using three and four wide receiver sets and quick passes to efficiently move down the field.
With the home team constantly employing the nickel defense, Blue Devil quarterback Thaddeus Lewis consistently found mismatches in the slot for Jomar Wright and Ronnie Drummer.
Drummer's 56-yard catch-and-run touchdown came on a five-receiver set on third-and-11. Drummer exploited the Wildcats' zone defense by going over the top of the linebackers in the middle of the field and scampering untouched for the score and a 20-7 lead.
"It was an underneath route, and Drummer thought he could go over the top," Lewis said. "Seeing Drummer, he's a playmaker, and you've got to get the ball in the hands of the playmaker. That was a great play on Drummer's part."
That pass was Lewis' final of the first half-perhaps his finest 30 minutes at Duke. The sophomore finished the half 14-of-15 for 186 yards and three touchdowns. During a stretch bridging the intermission, Lewis completed 15 consecutive passes-just one shy of a school record. With Lewis in such a rhythm, backup quarterback Zack Asack did not see any action on the night
"[Lewis] played excellent," linebacker Vincent Rey said. "As he went, so did the offense. He's getting better every week. I can't wait to see what he's going to do next week."
Duke moved the ball down the field almost at will before the intermission with short slants and swing passes-mainly to Wright. The senior wide receiver had six catches for 54 yards in the first half, including Duke's first touchdown on a 4-yard play-action pass.
"The game plan was to come out and get to the edge, to utilize our speed," Lewis said. "Coach called the plays aggressively, and we came out and made plays."
The quick routes also eased the burden on the offensive line, which had its best performance of the season. Lewis was not sacked on the night and rarely seemed pressured, having time to go through his progressions when needed.
The near-flawless offensive execution in the first half was a far cry from the first two games and a welcome sight for the Duke defense. The Blue Devils scored on three of their five first-half possessions, failing to reach the end zone on only their first and last drives of the period-and those two sets were aberrations.
On the offense's first play from scrimmage, Lewis fumbled a reverse with Eron Riley and Northwestern recovered. On the final drive, the Blue Devils ran the clock out to end the half.
"They did a great job of coming out of the gate and putting up points," senior defensive end Patrick Bailey said. "That got us up-we're a team, we've got to do something for these guys."
In the second half, however, Duke abandoned the wide-open approach that it used to build a lead. After running only four plays from the I-form in the first half, Duke ran exactly half of its 24 plays from the I after the break. Lewis, meanwhile, attempted only eight passes in the second half, completing five of them for 60 yards. And even those passes came in predictable passing situations, such as third-and-long.
Lewis said the conservative play-calling was the result of a halftime adjustment by the Blue Devils' coaching staff and not a reaction to the score. Duke struggled to run the ball on the Northwestern defense, averaging less than two yards a rush on 32 carries.
But after scoring just 18 points on offense in their first two games, the Blue Devils did enough in the first half Saturday night to secure a landmark victory.
"It was good instead of giving it away, our kids found a way to win and found a way to keep making plays," head coach Ted Roof said. "I hope this will be a springboard for us and understand what it feels like and the reward that goes along with hard work."
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