The Blue Devils were far from perfect Saturday, but they were happy to take advantage of the numerous opportunities Tulane provided them to make big plays.
Duke wrapped up nonconference play with a 47-13 win Saturday against the Green Wave at Wallace Wade Stadium, the Blue Devils' first 4-0 start since 1994. Wide receiver Jamison Crowder recorded his first 100-yard game of the season and the Duke defense recorded four interceptions—including two that were returned for touchdowns—to spur the rout.
"[We did] a lot of positive things defensively," Blue Devil head coach David Cutcliffe said. "When we had bent, and bent, and bent, and maybe been pushed around a little bit, we would come back out with a great series."
Duke (4-0) moved the ball convincingly on its opening drive, going 75 yards on seven plays—six of them quarterback rushes—and grabbing an early 7-0 lead on a one-yard rush by backup quarterback Thomas Sirk. The redshirt sophomore picked up 43 yards on a third-and-one conversion earlier in the drive, and starter Anthony Boone added 27 yards on four keepers, reaping the rewards of the read-option.
"[They have a] really aggressive overflow defense," Boone said. "I decided to pull a couple and make some of those ends try to choose between [me and the running back]. I wanted to see if I could pull a couple early and then open my backs up later in the second half.... It's a bang-bang read. I try to keep it in there as long as possible and make the end guess wrong."
After Tulane quickly tied the score, another quick Blue Devil drive keyed by three completions to Crowder for 52 yards put Duke on the two yard line in less than two minutes, where senior Josh Snead punched it in to reclaim the lead. It was a sign of bigger things to come for Crowder, who moved into fifth place on the ACC all-time receptions list during the drive and finished with six grabs for 119 yards.
"A guy like that, you want him to touch the ball as much as possible, but he just happened to get hot today," Boone said. "He made them hurt when the ball was in his hands."
Crowder, who was held to just 14 yards last week against Kansas, said he tried to block out his most recent performance and focus on the game at hand.
"Last week I didn't perform and make the plays that I usually make, but you have to just realize that you have to take it one week at a time," Crowder said. "This week I wanted to come out and make plays. I got the opportunities and I was able to capitalize on them."
From there, the game turned sloppy. Tulane (1-3) handed the Blue Devils a free two points by snapping the ball out of the end zone on a punt for a safety, and the Duke secondary victimized Lee twice in the red zone in the second quarter, foiling a couple of promising Green Wave drives with interceptions by safety Jeremy Cash and linebacker Zavier Carmichael. But Boone and the Blue Devils were unable to capitalize on the Tulane mistakes, going three and out and then handing the ball right back to the Green Wave on an interception. The turnover was Duke's first of the season.
"As an offense we want to go out there and be perfect," Boone said. "You've got to go out and execute, because the next games are ACC, and every play is critical from first down to fourth down.... We have to take care of the football at all times."
Duke's offense hit a lull in the second quarter, managing just 56 yards and three points in those 15 minutes. The hot-and-cold stretches had Cutcliffe searching for consistency postgame.
"We don't turn off, we don't change—it's just being able to maintain execution," Cutcliffe said. "You get off to fast starts, you've still got to understand focus, timing, execution, play every down. I don't think it's any particular thing. We've just got to go play."
After forcing a Tulane punt to begin the third quarter, Duke dialed up the long ball on its first play of the half, as Boone connected with Crowder on a 48-yard pass to set the Blue Devils in the red zone. Six rushes later, Boone sneaked in from one yard out to extend the lead to 26-7.
"Our offense has so many answers that it's kind of hard, even if you scheme us, to be right" Boone said. "They were afraid of our backs because of last game, so today I had a chance to open it up [in the running game]."
Operating out of the hurry-up, Tulane continued to call draw plays that carved out large chunks of yardage. The Green Wave racked up 215 yards on the ground—the most Duke has allowed this season and something Cutcliffe attributed in part to poor tackling—but had trouble reflecting that success on the scoreboard, often because it could not get out of its own way. Head coach Curtis Johnson repeatedly left his offense on the field on fourth down, reflecting an apparent lack of confidence in placekicker Andrew DiRocco, who entered the game 1-for-4 on field goals from inside 40 yards. DiRocco missed the extra point after Tulane running back Lazedrick Thompson found the endzone with 6:57 left in the third quarter.
Another Green Wave mistake paved the way for Duke's next touchdown. Trailing 26-13 and having just forced a Blue Devil punt, Tulane muffed the punt return at the 24 yard line, where it was recovered by David Reeves. Freshman Shaun Wilson was the beneficiary of the error, scoring on a seven-yard scamper to push the lead to 33-13.
After breaking the school record for rushing yards in a single game last weekend against Kansas, Wilson was mostly contained Saturday but showed explosiveness at times, including a 26-yard burst. But a drive after registering the fourth touchdown of his young career, the freshman coughed up the ball for the first time, deep in the red zone.
The Blue Devil defense quickly erased that mistake, as Bryon Fields baited Lee into another poor throw, which he returned for a touchdown to seal Duke's fourth consecutive win.
"It creates confidence. [Fields has] been challenged, and every corner's going to be challenged," Cutcliffe said. "Every time you have a little bit more success, you get a little bit comfortable. It makes you more resilient, and corners have to be resilient people. If you get gun-shy out there, you can't play."
Tulane's next drive ended in a punt formation, but another high snap led to a fumble, recovered by the Green Wave and then shoveled forward by a Tulane player in a moment of panic. The ball came to rest in the arms of Blue Devil running back Joseph Ajeigbe—in on special teams—who took the ball across the line for his first career touchdown and Duke's second return touchdown in as many series.
"I've never seen anything like that," Crowder said. "That was crazy. I'm sure Joe's happy because he got his first touchdown, I'm sure he didn't expect he would score it like that."
ACC play gets under way next weekend for the Blue Devils, who must travel to take on a dangerous Miami team at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2. The Hurricanes will will have a healthy Duke Johnson in the backfield after missing the matchup between the teams last season.
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