The Blue Devils won their second straight game on Saturday, routing Navy 35-7 at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke welcomed back redshirt junior quarterback Anthony Boone, who returned this week for the first time since injuring his collarbone on Sept. 7. Boone threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns, while the Blue Devil defense held the Midshipmen to just 319 yards of total offense.
Offense: A+
Pass: Many did not think that Boone would throw 38 passes in his first start since being injured, but he shocked everyone and completed 31 of his passes and tossed for a career high 295 and three touchdowns. Going up against a top-30 pass defense, Boone knew that he was facing an uphill battle. It took some time to get acclimated to game speed, as he had some minor troubles with accuracy early, especially on shorter throws. Nevertheless, he completed six out of seven passes on his first drive, but on a fourth-and-one play Boone missed a wide open Braxton Deaver for the first down. With each following drive, Boone only seemed to get better. He led a 12 play, 80-yard drive that culminated in a 27-yard touchdown pass to redshirt junior wide receiver Issac Blakeney. Boone later threw a three-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Max McCaffrey and another to Blakeney from 18 yards out. The usual explosive wide receiver Jamison Crowder was relatively quiet on Saturday, but still had a team high 10 catches for 88 yards.
Rush: Although overshadowed by Duke’s superb pass game, the run game helped set up Boone’s big day, as the four-headed rushing attack combined to rack up 134 yards and two touchdowns. The numbers were down a bit because of mobile quarterback Brandon Connette’s absence and the reluctance of the Blue Devil coaching staff to let Boone run in the open field. Sophomore Jela Duncan led Duke with 45 yards rushing on nine carries and a touchdown. Redshirt junior Josh Snead added 35 yards on seven carries. Even sophomore Shaquille Powell saw significant game action and scored his first collegiate touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Blue Devil run game continues to keep defenses honest, setting up big plays through the air.
X’s and O’s: With Boone returning to the field for the first time in more than a month, fans expected to see Duke’s runningbacks get a lot of carries, but offensive coordinator Kurt Roper showed his confidence in Anthony Boone, who began the game with five straight throws. After seeing Boone’s success against the Navy defense, Roper began to open up his playbook and which gave the Blue Devils opportunities to score and make big plays. Duke turned to its steady run game in the second half, which helped close out the game with touchdowns scored by Powell and Duncan
Defense: A
Pass: Georgia Tech’s Vad Lee torched the Blue Devils with four touchdown passes the last time the Duke defense played a triple-option team, but this week the secondary had greater success against Navy sophomore quarterback Keenan Reynolds. He only completed six passes for 89 yards, with only eight of those yards coming in the second half. Safety Jeremy Cash recorded his second interception of the season when he intercepted a Reynolds pass late in the third quarter. One of the reasons why the Blue Devils had so much success against the pass was because they were able to get pressure on Reynolds. The defense recorded multiple sacks and forced a key fumble just before halftime when redshirt senior Kenny Anunike knocked the ball out of Reynolds hands and linebacker Kelby Brown swooped in for the recovery.
Rush: The Midshipmen offense came into game with the eighth best rush offense in the country, while the Duke defense was giving up 178 yards per game. After halftime, the defensive unit figured out the triple-option conundrum and suffocated the Navy attack on the ground. The Duke defense locked down in the last 30 minutes, only giving up 65 rushing yards after halftime.
X’s and O’s: Clearly, the Blue Devils’ prior exposure to the option against Georgia Tech earlier in the season helped them figure out how to stop Navy’s similar attack. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles used redshirt sophomore safety Jeremy Cash to spy on Reynolds, which prevented the quarterback from making big plays. Duke also dialed up the pressure when Reynolds dropped back to pass, helping to rattle the true freshman quarterback, who completed less than 50 percent of his passes. All in all, the Blue Devil defensive unit found itself in the Midshipmen backfield numerous times throughout the game and this helped neutralize the Navy offense.
Special Teams: A
Overall, Duke’s special teams performed well throughout the game. The only reason they do not get an A+ is because of the holding penalty on the opening kickoff that negated a big return by redshirt freshman DeVon Edwards. The special teams executed all other plays in a near-flawless manner and even extended a drive on a fake field goal when punter Will Monday made a shovel pass to Blakeney who pushed ahead for a first down. The fake field goal led to a Powell rushing touchdown. Sophomore Ross Martin continues to see limited action in the kicking game, as he has only attempted four field goals all season.
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