Making the Grade: Duke football vs Boston College

The Blue Devils were able to survive a tough challenge from Boston College with a 9-7 victory Saturday afternoon at Wallace Wade Stadium. This was the last game of a four-game stretch at home during which Duke finished 3-1 with only a loss to No. 16 Northwestern. Although both teams struggled on offense and the game was far from pretty, the Blue Devils (4-1, 2-0 in the ACC) built an early 9-0 lead and hung on late to stay atop the ACC Coastal Division.

Offense: C

Pass: It was a tale of two halves for the Blue Devils’ passing attack. Through the first half, quarterback Thomas Sirk looked solid and completed 10 of his 18 passes for 138 yards. Sirk was stepping up in the pocket and using his agility to evade defenders and throw downfield as needed. But after halftime, the Glen St. Mary, Fla., native struggled against the Eagle secondary. The redshirt junior had difficulty stretching the field and hitting open receivers, with passes either ending up too low or behind his intended man. Sirk finished the game 18 of 26 for 195 yards and did not record a turnover for the first time since week two. With wide receiver Johnell Barnes sitting out the first half due to a penalty from a week ago, freshman T.J Rahming was Sirk’s go-to receiver and finished with five receptions for 75 yards.

Rush: Throughout the game, Duke struggled to get going on the ground. The Blue Devils were held to 33 rushing yards on 35 attempts and had trouble finding room to run on a Boston College defense ranked number two in the nation. Center Matt Skura and the rest of the offensive line struggled to create running lanes against the Boston College defensive line and the combination of Shaquille Powell, Jela Duncan and Shaun Wilson struggled to break free from the Eagle defenders all evening. There was perhaps no clearer example of Duke's struggles on the ground than when the Blue Devils could not get into the end zone with four consecutive rushes from first and goal on the one-yard line. Duke's struggles running the ball allowed Boston College to control time of possession in the contest by a 31:50–28:10 margin and did not make life easier for Sirk. 

X’s and O’s: Offensive Coordinator Scottie Montgomery tried to keep a balanced offense through out the game with 36 pass attempts to 35 rush attempts. But as the game went on, a rushing attempt felt like a wasted down because far too often it was stopped for just a short gain of a yard or two. Duke still struggled to finish drives, as all three of their scores came on field goals after moving the ball down the field with ease, and another was stopped on the goal line on fourth and goal.

Defense: A

Pass: Duke was able to keep the Eagles' passing game in check for much of the contest. The Blue Devil secondary held Boston College to only 141 passing yards and starting quarterback Jeff Smith failed to complete a pass before being replaced by Troy Flutie. Flutie finished 5 for 8 with 129 yards passing. However, 66 of those yards came on a deep bomb to Thadd Smith for a touchdown in the third quarter. Outside of that play, the Eagles struggled to move the ball through the air and were one-dimensional all afternoon. 

Rush: Duke's success against the run continued Saturday with a strong performance by the defensive front. Despite missing their starting running back Jon Hillman, Boston College still attempted 41 rushes, but averaged only four yards per rush. The Eagles struggled all day to make a momentum-shifting play on the ground game that could set up their inexperienced quarterbacks and a large amount of Boston College's yards came in the second half as they moved the ball on a tiring Duke defense. Starting linebacker Dwayne Norman led the way with 11 tackles and Jeremy Cash finished with eight to fuel another impressive effort.