Duke won its fifth game of the season on Saturday, coming from behind to beat Virginia 35-22 in Charlottesville, VA after trailing 22-0 in the first half. Redshirt junior tight end Braxton Deaver was a key component of the comeback attempt, catching three passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns. The Blue Devil defense gave up 363 total yards, but only allowed the Cavaliers to gain 83 yards the in the second half.
Offense: B+
Pass: Quarterback Anthony Boone got off to a slow start in the first quarter, only completing 3-of-10 passes for 24 yards. But Boone steadily improved throughout the second quarter and eventually engineered a drive that resulted in a six-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Jamison Crowder. Boone faced a setback on his first second half drive, when his deep pass to Crowder was intercepted by Cavalier safety Anthony Harris. Brushing off the interception, Boone came back and found Crowder for a 24-yard pass that led to a Ross Martin field goal. It was Duke’s other quarterback, Brandon Connette who threw a 47-yard pass to Deaver on a fourth-and-one play early in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead score.
Rush: The Blue Devils evenly distributed carries to running backs Josh Snead, Juwan Thompson, Shaquille Powell and Jela Duncan. Snead led all backs with 53 yards on seven carries, including a 30-yard run in the second quarter. Powell continues to earn his way into the rotation after having carried the ball only 11 times this season before last week’s game against Navy. In the past two weeks, Powell has nine carries for 65 yards and is averaging 7.2 yards per attempt. Boone and Connette also saw a number carries out of the zone-read formation. Connette continues to embrace his role as Duke’s wildcat quarterback, and he bulldozed his way forward in three fourth-and-short situations, keeping vital drives alive on Saturday.
X’s and O’s: Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper was less conservative this week with Boone, but still seemed hesitant to let Boone keep the ball on designed run plays. Boone did carry the ball nine times for 25 yards and continues to prove a threat when out of the pocket. Connette was returned to his pre-Boone injury role as Duke’s do-it-all player on offense and played a huge part in the victory on Saturday, as he helped the Blue Devils go 4-for-4 on fourth down.
Defense: A-
Pass: Virginia quarterback David Watford opened the game with a 25-yard completion to wide receiver Keeon Johnson. That was just the beginning of the Cavalier’s flurry of offensive activity in the first half. Watford completed 14-of-25 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown in a first half in which Virginia scored 22 points. But the Blue Devil secondary found a way to contain Watford in the second half, holding him to just six completions and 76 yards passing. Freshman defensive back Breon Borders halted a late Cavalier drive when he picked off Watford’s deep pass with just minutes to play in the game. The front seven found themselves in the Virginia backfield throughout the day, sacking Watford four times for a total loss of 39 yards.
Rush: Duke only gave up 100 rushing yards, the fewest yards it has allowed an ACC opponent to gain in a game this season. Virginia wanted to get its best running back, junior Kevin Parks, the ball as much as possible with its physical offensive line led by senior Morgan Moses. Parks rushed 15 times for 50 yards and his two touchdowns put Virginia up 14-0 in the first quarter. The Blue Devils also had trouble stopping the speedy true freshman running back, Taquan Mizzell, who picked up 52 yards on just six carries.
X’s and O’s: Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles brought more pressure on the quarterback than he had in other games this season, and the pressure caused Watford to struggle, especially in the second half. The coaching staff was forced to make adjustments when starting safety Dwayne Norman went down, and a number of young players were rotated in to fill in the secondary. Borders and Redshirt freshman DeVon Edwards held their own against the Virginia receiving unit, but were undoubtedly helped by the consistent pressure up front that forced errant throws from Watford.
Special Teams: A+
The Blue Devil special teams unit has been the most consistent of the three phases of the team, and it filled that role today. Duke’s special teams unit made an early mark when Edwards took the opening kickoff 40 yards, setting up Boone and the offense with excellent field position. Redshirt sophomore punter Will Monday was called on to punt six times in the game and averaged 40 yards per punt. Sophomore kicker Ross Martin continues to look better after a shaky start to the season, knocking in kicks from 25 and 32 yards out.
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