The Bull City Gridiron Classic was a game of milestones—and not only because it was the first time in school history that Duke played Durham neighbor N.C. Central.
The Blue Devils had a running back pick up 100 yards for the first time since 2006, and the last time they amassed more than the 487 total yards accumulated Saturday was two years ago in a 46-43 loss to Navy.
Duke wasted no time kicking the offense into high gear, scoring on its first possession of the game using five plays to cover 59 yards in 2:27. Redshirt freshman Patrick Kurunwune capped off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run, the first of his career and the first score on the ground by a running back this season.
“It was very important [to get off to a quick start] because we stressed that all week—that we wanted to get it going and get the offense clicking,” senior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis said. “[The offense] looked like a well-oiled machine and we did that early on.”
True freshman Desmond Scott got the start in the backfield and spearheaded the Blue Devil rushing attack, filling in admirably for the injured Re’quan Boyette and Jay Hollingsworth. Boyette was sidelined by a leg injury and did not play, and Hollingsworth, who had an injured ankle, appeared sparingly.
On Duke’s second drive, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Durham native took a handoff up the middle for 23 yards and a touchdown, finding the end zone for the first time in his career after just three carries.
When Scott picked up 100 yards on the ground after 15 attempts near the end of the third quarter, he became the first Blue Devil back to reach that plateau since Justin Boyle did it three seasons ago.
Taking Kurunwune’s 93 yards into account, Duke racked up 233 rushing yards in all and seemed nothing like the squad that had generated a very limited rushing output in its first three contests.
Granted, N.C. Central is still making the transition to Division I football. But nonetheless, Kurunwune was quick to praise the offensive line for stepping up and playing to its potential.
“All the credit goes to our offensive line,” Kurunwune said. “We can’t move the ball from the running back position unless the offense line is doing what they’re supposed to do. They did a great job of showing what they can do today.”
Head coach David Cutcliffe, for his part, thought that in addition to good blocking and smart running, sticking to a simple game plan was one of the reasons why his team had so much success rushing the ball, even given the absence of Duke’s two top runners coming into the game.
“There’s no schematic change, no technical change in the design of the run game [compared to the last three weeks],” he said. “We didn’t run a lot of [different] plays tonight in the run game…but we kind of knew that going in against them, they’re so multiple and pressure-oriented in their fronts. We really limited the number of schemes we used and that obviously helped us a little bit—we handled them very well.”
But the running game was not the only area in which the Blue Devils excelled. Duke’s gains on the ground laid the foundation for an efficient aerial assault. Lewis completed 17-of-25 passes for 189 yards and two scores in what Cutcliffe called his best performance this year.
Lewis and redshirt freshman Sean Renfree connected with eight different receivers on the night, and found the second or third option throughout the game. Lewis finished with 189 yards through the air, while Renfree had just 61 yards passing on the night.
In addition to throwing the short screens that Duke usually relies on in the passing game, the quarterback duo came up with a number of long completions over the middle of the field as well. Lewis had throws of 28 and 25 yards to Austin Kelly and Brett Huffman, respectively, and Renfree hit freshman receiver Conner Vernon for 22 yards on the game’s final scoring drive.
“What we haven’t had here is what you’d call a receiving corps,” Cutcliffe said. “I think we’re developing a receiving corps...and we’ve obviously at this point in time developed a couple of quarterbacks that are capable of playing.”
All in all, the Blue Devils scored touchdowns on seven of their 12 offensive possessions and boasted a 50 percent third-down conversion rate. The last time Duke scored more than 49 points was all the way back in 1994.
Saturday was an optimal time to establish an offensive rhythm, as the Blue Devils will need as much chemistry on that side of the ball as possible next week at home against a Virginia Tech defense that held Duke to three points last year and No. 9 Miami to seven points Saturday.
“We’re better than we’re playing—I said that all along,” Cutcliffe said. “I’m anxious to see this tape and see if we are coming closer to reaching that level of what we’re capable of being.”
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