MURFREESBORO, Tenn.— From Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton to Chris Stapleton and Taylor Swift, Nashville’s history with music is as rich as its fried chicken. Record producers own almost every building on Music Row, bachelorette parties pack the honky tonks on Lower Broadway and the Grand Ole Opry rotates from country star to country star, drawing tourists from all over the world.
But in sapping Southern heat and humidity at Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium in Murfreesboro, about an hour southeast of “Music City,” a different crowd was made to face the music Saturday afternoon: the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. Undefeated Duke walked all over its hosts from whistle to whistle in its 45-17 win, putting together its most complete game yet in its final outing before ACC play begins next weekend. Graduate running back Star Thomas rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns, and the Blue Devil defense racked up 12 total tackles for loss.
"Proud of how we handled a week where it'd be easy to lose your concentration, focus and attention," head coach Manny Diaz said postgame. "You're coming on the road to play a team who had been struggling, and everybody knows what we have coming up next in conference play. I thought we managed that very well, proud of the complimentary football that we played, forcing four turnovers on defense that turned into 28 points by our offense."
The first punt of the day came just under 10 minutes into a dizzying opening quarter that featured four scoring drives, 24 points and almost no defense. The first four minutes alone had 170 yards of total offense on just 10 plays with three combined touchdowns, two of which ran for 66 yards or more.
Slowly but surely, it seemed like the Blue Raiders had found a way to calm the game down, taking five minutes to drive 56 yards, culminating in a 26-yard field goal to cut Duke’s lead to 14-10. Redshirt senior safety Jaylen Stinson was ejected for targeting on that drive as well. The visitors were forced into an immediate third-and-out and Middle Tennessee once again had the ball.
Until it lost it, and lost it again.
Duke’s defensive front swarmed quarterback Nicholas Vattiato and forced him into a fumble on his own 1-yard line, which Thomas dutifully converted into a touchdown on the next play. Terry Wilkins was the next victim of his team’s butterfinger curse, handing the Blue Devils (4-0) the ball inside the 25-yard line. Within a few plays, Maalik Murphy found tight end Nicky Dalmolin on an open out-route in the end zone, sending the visitors up 28-10.
That sequence — which put Duke’s points total higher than each of its last three games, in just one quarter — effectively spelled curtains for the Blue Raiders (1-3). Even with some bright spots, the hosts just couldn’t get out of their own way.
"It just felt like we came ready. If you watch the way that we finished runs on offense with Star Thomas and the way that we drove our feet through tackles on defense in the first half of the game it just felt like our guys were bringing it, which was encouraging to see," Diaz said. "And sometimes when you do that, that ball has a tendency to come out."
Cameron Bergeron’s six-yard sack on Vattiato forced Middle Tennessee to punt from inside its own end zone after a three-and-out on its first drive of the second quarter. An interception of Murphy, boosted by some impressive scrambling by Vattiato, ended with a failed fourth-and-1 conversion on Duke’s 20-yard line.
All the while, the Blue Devils whittled the clock down. Their defense choked away any whispers of a comeback with increased pressure at the line of scrimmage that forced Vattiato out of the pocket and into hasty throws, as well as a late-game interception that set up Thomas for his second rushing touchdown of the game.
The second half held a stickier pace than the frenetic first, but Duke still controlled it well. On the first possession out of the locker room, the visitors took eight plays to go 70 yards in under three minutes, settling for a Todd Pelino field goal after a successful goal-line stand by the Blue Raiders. Vattiato managed to snag his first and only passing touchdown of the game — a toe-drag reception by tight end Holden Willis in the back of the end zone — on soggy turf late in the third after a two-hour lightning delay, but it did little to disturb the Blue Devils’ assurances of a comfortable win.
Diaz noted postgame that during the delay team nutritionists helped refuel players who hadn't eaten since 11:30 a.m. and that the coaching staff could go through almost the entire game's worth of film with the team before the restart. Redshirt sophomore defensive end Wesley Williams said his unit got through the whole game on tape in the locker room — like a "position meeting mid-game."
Despite the lopsided final scoreline, Middle Tennessee started about as brightly as it could have and for early stretches of the game went punch-for-punch with its visitors.
The Blue Raiders struck first. Looking to turn a third-and-4 into a fourth-and-punt on the maiden drive of the game, Duke’s defensive line instead splintered and allowed running back Jaiden Credle to race 66 yards into the end zone for the opening touchdown.
Unfortunately for the home fans, the Duke run started almost immediately. Not 40 seconds after falling behind, Murphy rifled a ball over the Middle Tennessee secondary into the gloves of Dalmolin on second-and-6, who waltzed past the goal line to tie the game at seven. Dalmolin recorded a career-high 100 yards in the contest, a hefty portion of Murphy’s 216 passing yards and three touchdowns.
"It was a great answer, right? I mean, obviously that's kind of a gut punch to give up a run like that," Diaz said. "It was just a cheap one. That's going to bug everybody, because you want to get off to a great start, but for the offense to come back and answer right away was huge. We had a feeling that Dalmolin would have a huge day today."
"I think one thing this team does a great job of is bouncing back from adversity," Dalmolin said. "It's hard to go down 7-0 on the road, but we know what we got to do, and we know what we're capable of, so we just stick to it and we execute."
On the first play of the following drive, Blue Raider running back Terry Wilkins fumbled inside his own red zone and cornerback Joshua Pickett pounced, setting Duke up at the Middle Tennessee 20-yard line. Four plays and a defensive pass interference later, Peyton Jones knifed his way through the Middle Tennessee front and into the end zone to snag a Blue Devil lead that ballooned to 25 points by halftime.
Up next for Duke is a homecoming date with archrival North Carolina at Wallace Wade Stadium next Saturday afternoon to open ACC play.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Andrew Long is a Trinity senior and recruitment/social chair of The Chronicle's 120th volume. He was previously sports editor for Volume 119.