Duke football player of the week: Week 7

Daniel Jones

Statline: 14-for-21 passing, 129 passing yards, two passing touchdowns.

The good: As a redshirt freshman going head to head with Heisman frontrunner quarterback Lamar Jackson, Jones delivered an impressive, poised performance. Although Jones’ stat line does not jump off the page, that was a product of head coach David Cutcliffe’s game plan, which called for long drives to keep No. 7 Louisville’s vaunted offense off the field. The 6-foot-5 quarterback was impressive on third down on the road, leading the Blue Devils to convert 8 of 16 third-down opportunities to keep drives alive and control time of possession, and he did not throw an interception for the second straight week.

But perhaps the most impressive part of Jones’ performance was his ability to find an answer to strong Cardinal drives. After a game-opening touchdown drive by Louisville, the Charlotte native engineered a touchdown drive of his own, finding tight end Erich Schneider to tie the game up early. Then, with his team down 17-7 in the fourth quarter, Jones commanded nearly a nine-minute drive that culminated in a 20-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jonathan Lloyd to bring the game to one score, keeping Duke in the game for a potential upset victory.

The bad: With just more than 1:30 left on the clock, Jones was handed the ball one last time down 10 points. But instead of cutting the game to one score, Jones misfired on three of four passes as the Blue Devils turned the ball over on downs to seal the outcome of the game. Duke also did not ask Jones to make many big plays downfield, as the quarterback's only completion for more than 20 yards was a screen pass to T.J. Rahming that the sophomore receiver took for 51 yards.

The bottom line: Jones rose to the occasion Friday night playing against one of the best teams in the nation on the road. The starting quarterback put Duke in a potential position to steal a conference victory and was steady throughout the game. A few more mistake-free performances down the stretch could result in a couple more wins and a potential bowl berth for the Blue Devils.

Honorable mention: Redshirt freshman linebacker Joe Giles-Harris was all over the field against Louisville, registering nine tackles along with a key sack after Jackson was trying to scramble outside the pocket. Giles-Harris was faced with the unenviable task of limiting the dual-threat of Jackson along with the rest of the Cardinal rushing attack and performed admirably, making seven solo tackles to help hold Louisville to its lowest scoring output of the season.