Extra Point: Duke football vs. Troy

The Blue Devils showed a strong performance in their first road test, coming from behind to defeat Troy 34–17. This was Duke’s eighth straight nonconference win and its first time starting 2-0 in two consecutive seasons since 1987 and 1988.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Third down success rate: Last week against Elon, Duke struggled to convert on third down opportunities, going just 3-of-12 when needing to move the chains. This week against Troy, the Blue Devils were much better when they needed to convert first downs, going 8-of-17 on third down and 2-of-3 on fourth down. The momentum of the game changed because of Duke's ability to convert late down opportunities into first downs and the ability of the Blue Devil defense to come up with big stops when it had to.
• Better play from the linebackers: The section of Duke’s defense with the most to prove after last Saturday’s game against Elon was the linebackers, and led by David Helton, the unit responded against the Trojans. Now playing mike linebacker in place of the injured Kelby Brown, Helton recorded 15 tackles, and youngsters Chris Holmes and Zavier Carmichael combined for nine more.After struggling against Troy's tempo early in the contest like the rest of the unit, the Blue Devil linebackers came up with some big stops later in the game to allow Duke to pad its lead.
• Handle the heat on the road: With the temperature on the field feeling like approximately 90 degrees for much of the day in Troy, Ala. Saturday, Duke responded well to its environment. After falling behind 14-3 early in the second quarter, the Blue Devils showed the resilience of a team coming off a 10-win season and showed they were in better shape than the Duke teams of old by outscoring the Trojans 31-3 the rest of the way.

Three key plays:

• Redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Boone fakes a handoff and runs for a 30-yard touchdown to cut the Blue Devil deficit to 14-10 and put Duke within striking distance after a slow start. This score signals the beginning of the second quarter momentum shift after a rocky first quarter for the Blue Devils.
• The Duke defense led by safety Deondre Singleton and Helton tackles Jordan Chunn for a loss of one yard on fourth and one. This critical stop allowed the Blue Devils to take a 17-14 lead on a 40-yard touchdown drive. They wouldn’t look back, tacking on another touchdown in the second quarter and 10 more points in the second half.
• Boone completes a 49-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Isaac Blakeney to give Duke a 10 point lead. This 50-second touchdown drive stung Troy, as the Trojans were unable to contain Boone and the Duke offense in an explosive second quarter.

Three key stats:

• Duke goes 2-of-3 on 4th down: The Blue Devils’ risk-taking only generated three extra points on the two drives with 4th down conversions, but this confident play calling and strong execution on the field should help Duke in high pressure situations in the weeks to come.
• Duke completes 28 passes for 270 yards: Although it’s hard to ignore Boone’s production on the ground, scoring multiple touchdown runs in one game for the second time in his career, most of Duke’s offensive production came in the air. Jamison Crowder registered another solid receiving performance with seven receptions for 70 yards, and Isaac Blakeney hauled in five receptions for a touchdown and a career-high 90 yards.
• Neither team commits a turnover: This is the second straight week with no turnovers for Duke. The Blue Devils have demonstrated early in the season a strong ability to control the ball, enabling them to confidently string together possessions and put up 86 points in their first two outings.