A week after the goalposts came tumbling down in Wallace Wade Stadium, Sims Lenhardt celebrated their return by blasting four field goals, including a career-long 50-yarder, and Duke beat Navy 26-17 for the Blue Devils' first Homecoming win in seven years.
Sophomore quarterback Spencer Romine, in his second collegiate start, tossed a pair of first-half touchdown passes to help lead Duke (2-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) to back-to-back wins for the first time since 1995.
"It took that first victory for people to understand what winning [feels like], and now everyone knows the little things it takes to win," senior cornerback Tawambi Settles said. "I think when you have an entire team-instead of just a couple players-who've experienced wins, then it's easy to make adjustments."
Lenhardt kicked three of his four field goals in the second half, and his 38-yarder with 1:17 to play sealed the victory.
The Midshipmen (2-2) drew within 23-17 on Tom Vanderhorst's field goal midway through the fourth quarter. But Letavious Wilks had gains of 13 and 16 as Duke drove 47 yards on seven plays to set up a fourth-and-inches at the Navy 21, and a difficult decision for Duke coach Fred Goldsmith.
"It's a hard call," Goldsmith said. "I told our team I never thought I would see the day from fourth and that short that I would kick the ball."
But Goldsmith did elect to kick, and Lenhardt split the uprights for the final margin of 26-17.
"They were the hungrier team," Navy coach Charlie Weatherbie said. "There's no doubt we weren't on edge and as intense and hungry as we needed to be. I take the blame for that-that's our job as a coaching staff."
The Midshipmen controlled the line of scrimmage in the first quarter, running up 132 yards while holding Duke to just two. But Romine was sharp through the air, completing eight of 14 passes for 133 yards in the first half.
On third downs, Romine was deadly: first lofting a 20-yard pass to Richmond Flowers on third-and-11 for the first score of the day. Then, on a third-and-eight from the Navy 41, Romine connected with Corey Thomas on a deep corner route to make it 14-7.
On the day, Duke converted nine of 17 third-down opportunities, while holding Navy to a dismal 1-for-9.
"It's something new to us," Goldsmith said. "That's what didn't happen last year. We couldn't make the plays on third down. We had a hard time stopping people."
Weatherbie wasn't willing to pin the outcome on third-down conversions alone.
"I didn't notice a problem on third downs," he said. "I noticed a problem on every down."
Navy quarterback Chris McCoy, who has been touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate, did little to keep those hopes alive. After a couple of long first quarter runs, McCoy did not have a carry longer than six yards.
And the Middies' passing game was non-existent; Navy did not complete a pass until early in the fourth quarter. McCoy finished three-of-10 for 67 yards through the air.
After Flowers' first-quarter touchdown, McCoy drove Navy 82 yards on 11 plays, and tied the game himself on a one-yard plunge. But Romine answered with his strike to Thomas, and Lenhardt's 50-yarder with two seconds remaining in the first half made it 17-7 at intermission.
"[Offensive coordinator Larry] Beckish called the routes," Romine said. "He saw something in practice all week and in film that showed we could throw the corner on them. We had them picked out-we could throw the corner route on one cornerback and we could throw the post on another cornerback."
The Blue Devils changed their attack at halftime, going to the ground game. With Wilks and freshman Duane Epperson carrying the load, Duke churned out 180 yards in the second half. The Blue Devils held a nearly 2:1 edge in time of possession.
The 17,370 fans at Wallace Wade celebrated Duke's win a bit more calmly than last week's 20-17 triumph over Army. No goalposts were removed on Saturday.
"Maybe it's a sign of progress," Epperson said. "Hopefully, it'll be a lot more common for us to win, so they won't have to tear down goalposts."
Epperson carried nine times for 38 yards on Saturday, in his first full action of the year. Injuries had kept the freshman on the sidelines for much of Duke's first three games.
Meanwhile, Flowers was making his 1997 debut after battling a severely sprained ankle suffered during the preseason. On his first series of the year, Flowers beat Navy cornerback Rashad Smith to the back left corner of the end zone and hauled in the second touchdown catch of his career.
"To have three first-team players and always have someone fresh to go to, their speed makes a big, big difference," Goldsmith said of Flowers, Thomas and Scottie Montgomery.
Flowers pointed to the win as a sign of better things to come.
"There's no question we're a better team than we've played," he said. "We don't get any respect, and we're really beginning to change that."
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