Homecomings can be hard.
Duke head coach Manny Diaz returned to Miami Saturday afternoon looking to rain on the parade of the fifth-ranked Hurricanes, but after three close quarters, the Blue Devils ultimately broke down late. The home team came out with a 53-31 victory as Duke fell to 6-3 on the season.
After being absent for most of the second quarter, the Hurricane secondary once again awoke. Leading 28-25, quarterback Maalik Murphy tried to air a ball out for Jordan Moore, but overthrew him. Defensive back Romanas Frederique Jr. instead found himself with the football, and returned it 30 yards. Miami seized the short-field opportunity, running a quick and confident 38-yard drive that ended with another touchdown and saw the Hurricanes retake the lead. The home team had scored 15 points in just over four minutes, totally changing the game.
But Diaz’s offense wasn’t done attacking yet. Murphy threw a ball up high for an open Jordan Moore, who stretched his right arm back and over his head to make an acrobatic one-handed grab that kept the Duke offense on the field. Despite a timeout and another creative play call, the drive sputtered in the red zone. Kicker Todd Pelino knocked the ball through the uprights, and the visitors were down by just one point with a little under 14 minutes left in the game.
While Duke continued to fight, Miami was doing its absolute best to slam the door on the upstart away team. The Hurricanes needed just two plays to pick up another touchdown on a well-thrown ball from Cam Ward to receiver Jacolby George. The margin widened back to eight, and the Blue Devils were forced to punt on their next possession.
After a performance so far devoid of takeaways, Duke finally forced a turnover. With Ward scrambling and struggling to find a target, he threw up a 50-50 ball across his body. Cornerback Chandler Rivers went up and got it, giving the Blue Devil offense another chance to fight back. But another three-and-out ensued, and Duke was forced to punt again.
The game was sealed when Ward hit Xavier Restrepo over the middle again on the next drive. Restrepo had nothing but green grass in front of him, taking the ball 66 yards for a touchdown. Now up by 15 points with less than eight minutes on the clock, the outlook was bleak. Another throw by Murphy was tipped and intercepted, and that signaled the end of it.
Duke came out of the gate swinging in the second half, picking up the pace and continuing to find Hagans. Murphy hit his receiver on the sideline to put the ball on the opposing 15-yard line. On a crucial fourth-and-1 at the Hurricane 6-yard line, Diaz decided to roll the dice. With four offensive players in motion, the Miami secondary left more than one option open for Moore to score.
The Hurricanes quickly responded in kind to the Duke touchdown, as Ward hit George and later Restrepo, who slipped between two defensive backs to grab the ball in the end zone. Following a successful 2-point conversion, the Miami deficit had closed to just three points, 28-25.
On its fourth drive of the game, the Duke offense finally got rolling, Stringing three consecutive plays together for a total of 75 yards and punctuating it with an easy 8-yard rushing touchdown by running back Peyton Jones, the visitors closed the gap to 14-7 with two minutes still left in the quarter.
The Duke offense once again responded, and it certainly didn’t help that Miami picked up 45 total yards of penalties on the drive. The Blue Devils quickly moved down the field, and Murphy found Jones yet again for a touchdown. With less than two minutes left in the half, the Blue Devils took their first lead of the contest, 21-17, and rode that momentum into the locker room.
It was a forgettable first 10 minutes for the Blue Devils. The Hurricane secondary stuck to Duke receivers like glue, and Murphy failed to find his targets with any regularity.
Ward, on the other hand, established himself as a threat early, as the Hurricanes opened with six consecutive pass attempts. From there, they continued to roll. Despite a strong Blue Devil pass rush, Ward escaped a collapsing pocket, rolling out to find Restrepo open in the end zone. Despite the pass being tipped, Restrepo layed out to haul the ball in, giving the Hurricanes an early lead and a sign of things to come.
On the other side of the ball, the Blue Devil attack struggled out the gate. Duke ended up kicking the ball away before getting a first down on the initial drive. However, the defense held strong next time it was brought onto the field and forced a punt.
Not to say that Murphy and his group did much with the chance. The signal-caller threw an interception on the first play of the drive, giving the Hurricanes a short-field opportunity. Miami took advantage, as Ward connected with tight end Cam McCormick to put the home team up 14-0 with five minutes still remaining in the first quarter.
The Blue Devils will stay on the road next week, traveling to Raleigh Saturday to take on local foe N.C. State.
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Martin Heintzelman is a Trinity junior and Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.