Extra Point: Duke football vs. Kansas

Duke jumped out of the gate determined to make a statement and refused to let up en route to a 41-3 victory against Kansas Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium. Behind Shaun Wilson’s record-breaking performance on the ground, the Blue Devils improved to 3-0 for the first time since 1994.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Force Turnovers: Duke’s defense was the key to the game early on and notched the first turnovers of the season for the Blue Devils. Pressure on Kansas’s offensive line meant Jayhawk quarterback Montell Cozart spent most of the time racing out of an ever-collapsing pocket and throwing errant passes to avoid lost yards. Safeties DeVon Edwards and Evrett Edwards duo picked off Cozart once each in the first quarter, setting up short field opportunities for Duke and ruining Kansas’ chances at establishing an offensive mojo early in the game. The next step would be to turn these turnovers into touchdowns, something the Blue Devils were unable to do today.
• Run First, Pass Later: Offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery decided to switch things up by using the passing game to set up a lethal ground game spearheaded by Wilson, a true freshman. Duke’s first offensive series saw Anthony Boone air it out, capping off a 60-yard drive with a 34-yard strike to Max McCaffrey, one of his career-high two touchdown receptions of the game. Later in the quarter, with the Jayhawk defense clearly showing respect to Boone’s arm, Wilson took advantage and exploded for a 69-yard touchdown run. An almost-identical sequence opened up the second half, as Boone first tossed a TD]] to McCaffrey, then handed it off to Wilson for a long touchdown run highlighted by broken tackles and bullet-like speed.
• Don’t Fall Behind Early: The Blue Devils quickly put last week's slow start in the rearview mirror. Not even ten minutes into the game, Duke owned a 17-0 lead and never looked back. The quick start ignited the crowd and deflated any hope the Jayhawks had of pulling off an upset on the road.

Three key plays:

• The Blue Devils welcomed the Jayhawks to Wallace Wade Stadium with a 13-yard sack after a fumbled snap on the first play of the game, initiating a ridiculously quick three-and-out and setting the tone for the pounding inflicted on Kansas by both the Duke defense and offense.
• Just four minutes later, Boone turned a play-action fake into a long touchdown pass to a wide-open McCaffrey, who broke a tackle and dragged a second defender into the endzone to initiate the Blue Devil scoring barrage. The instant show of effective defense followed by high-octane offense was refreshing to see after Duke’s slow start at Troy last week.
• With the game slowing to a lull late in the third quarter, Wilson put the game away for good with a second touchdown run of more than 60 yards, finding the tiniest of holes and rocketing out of it while shaking off Kansas linebackers and leaving the other 21 players on the field in the dust. It was déjà vu and foreshadowing at the same time for a battered Jayhawk defense that let Wilson loose for a similar run in the first quarter and another scamper in the fourth that put the exclamation point on the rout.

Three Key Stats

• Completions to nine different receivers: With All-ACC wideout Jamison Crowder bottled up for most of the game, Boone looked around and distributed the football to a host of Duke receivers, keeping the Jayhawk secondary guessing, something that could prove to be extremely beneficial against tougher ACC opponents.
• Zero turnovers: The key to avoiding upsets is preventing mental mistakes such as forced passes or muffed handoffs that result in turnovers. The Blue Devils have successfully protected their possessions through the first three games of the season and have yet to turn the ball over. This is an encouraging sign that indicates that Duke has refused to play down to the subpar level of competition it has faced so far.
• 202 Rushing yards allowed: Criticizing the defense of a team that allowed three points is definitely nitpicking, but it’s worth pointing out that Kansas managed to churn out more than 200 yards on the ground, although many of those yards came late in the game against backups with the outcome of the game already decided. Nonetheless, the Blue Devil run defense is still the unit's biggest question mark as conference play draws nearer.

The Kansas game ball goes to…Corey Avery

It’s rough to grind out four quarters of production when playing from far behind for the majority of that time. Hats off to Corey Avery for a solid 87 yards on 16 carries; he made Duke’s defense work for their tackles and dragged multiple Blue Devils forward to move the chains throughout the game. Kansas' abysmal passing game held the team back more than Avery and his fellow running backs.