Making the Grade: Duke football vs. Texas A&M

In the Chick-fil-A Bowl against No. 20 Texas A&M, the No. 22 Blue Devils came out on the wrong end of a wild 52-48 shootout. Duke put up a whopping 38 points in the first half, but were unable to stop the Aggies' high-powered offense led by quarterback Johnny Manziel. The Blue Devils finish the season 10-4, losing their bowl game for the second straight year, and failing to notch their first bowl win since 1961.

Offense: A

Pass: The Blue Devil passing attack was clicking on all cylinders in the fist half, as Duke scored touchdowns on their first five drives of the game. Redshirt junior quarterback Anthony Boone threw the ball 45 times for 427 yards and three touchdowns. His longest touchdown was a 59-yard bomb to receiver Jamison Crowder, who caught 12 passes for 163 yards. Most impressively, Boone completed 11-of-12 passes on third-down, which was crucial to extending scoring drives. Despite the gaudy numbers that the passing attack posted, Boone’s two late interceptions—one that was returned by Toney Hurd, Jr. for the game-winning touchdown—sealed the team’s loss.

Rush: Duke ran the ball at will against Texas A&M for most of the game, averaging 6.3 yards per rush and tallying 234 yards on the ground. Josh Snead carried the ball 17 times for 104 yards, and Juwan Thompson rushed 11 times for 92 yards. The Blue Devils also scored three touchdowns on the ground, providing a nice complement to their prolific passing attack.

X’s and O’s: Head coach David Cutcliffe employed a balanced attack in the game, as Duke passed 45 times and ran the ball 37 times, having success with both against the Aggies porous defense. On the Blue Devils’ first drive of the game they attempted a flea flicker pass from Boone to Crowder. The play just missed for a long gain, but it set the tone for a gutsy offensive performance.

Pass: The pass defense had the tough task of containing Johnny Manziel, which it did for stretches during the game, but was ultimately unable to keep the Aggies aerial attack in check. Manziel threw for 382 yards and four touchdowns, the last of which was a 44-yard pass to Derel Walker with less than six minutes remaining in the game to pull Texas A&M within one score. The Aggies scored touchdowns on their final six offensive drives as Duke's defense spoiled the offense’s productive game.

Rush: Texas A&M was successful running the ball, racking up 159 yards in the contest. However, the Duke defense played the run better than the pass, as most of the yardage was collected by Manziel, who also scored a touchdown on a 3-yard scramble. Ben Malena led the Aggie running backs with 45 yards on the ground.

X’s and O’s: Duke's defense had trouble against mobile quarterbacks this year. Manziel is as shifty as they come: in a defining moment in the third quarter, he hurdled into one of his linemen before eluding several Duke defenders and finding Travis Labhart for a 19-yard touchdown. In the end, Manziel and the Aggie offense were just too much for the Duke defense.

Special Teams: A-

There weren't many special teams plays in this game, but the few that did happen were relatively impactful. The teams combined for just one punt, which Duke's Josh Snead was able to block and set up a Blue Devil touchdown. Late in the first half, with Duke already up 35-17, Cutcliffe called for a surprise onside kick, which the Blue Devils recovered and marched down for a field goal to close the half. Ross Martin converted on 2-of-3 field goals in the loss, and DeVon Edwards only returned one kickoff on the night.