It took no time to see that Duke football was ready to continue its winning ways that it got used to last season.
The Blue Devils took advantage of momentum that resulted from a quick start in the first half and cruised past visiting FCS opponent Elon 52-13 Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium. Redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Boone led the Blue Devils offensively, completing 22-of-33 passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns that lit up a Phoenix defense that struggled to stop the Duke offensive attack. Boone is now 11-2 as a starter.
“We executed pretty well,” Boone said. “They started mixing their looks a little bit, which was inconsistent from what we were working on all week. We made our adjustments, I thought our offensive line did a great job adjusting. Our [running] backs found their holes and got the necessary yards.”
The Weddington, N.C., native got the offense going early, leading the Blue Devils (1-0) down the field on their opening drive, which ended in the end zone with a four-yard pass to wide receiver Issac Blakeney. Blakeney, who recently switched from the slot to the No. 2 outside position, finished the game with four receptions for 45 yards and a pair of first-half touchdowns.
The Elon offense, led by redshirt senior quarterback Mike Quinn, found some early success against the Duke defense, but the Phoenix (0-1) were stifled each time they moved into the red zone. On a pair of drives in the first half, Elon had to settle for field goals by kicker John Gallagher.
“It was very important [to keep them out of the end zone in the first half],” defensive tackle Carlos Wray said. “We are a strong defense and we are going to play hard.”
Quinn did have limited success when he was not being chased around the backfield by the Duke defense, throwing for 190 yards on 19-of-38 passing. Kierre Brown—Elon’s 2013 team MVP—caught five of Quinn’s passes for 70 yards.
Leading 7-3 after the first quarter of play, Boone began to pick apart the undersized Phoenix defense. On the first play of the Blue Devils’ third drive of the game, Boone lofted the ball to a wide open Jamison Crowder, who had ran past the Elon defense for a 46-yard touchdown. This would only be the beginning of a Duke offensive clinic that churned out 567 total yards.
The connection between Boone and Crowder was the first of two on the evening, as Boone also found his favorite target again with 11:32 to play in the third quarter for a 13-yard touchdown pass that extended the Duke lead to 35-6. Crowder finished with seven receptions for 93 yards. The Monroe, N.C., native needs only 79 receptions and 1,267 yards to break program and ACC records for receptions and receiving yards.
The Blue Devil passing attack also benefitted from a steady run game that racked up 275 yards on the ground. Junior Shaquille Powell contributed to the Duke lead on a two-yard scamper into the end zone midway through the second quarter. True freshman Shaun Wilson took advantage of second half minutes to rush for 71 yards on just six carries.
“I like to play four [running backs] if I can,” Cutcliffe said. “[Powell and Snead] did a couple of things, they held onto the football and they got the most out of every carry they got and then some. They’re different is what I like. We have not had one like Shaun, he is a different back than we have played with.”
There was one area of concern for the Duke offense, as a handful of receivers, including Crowder, had trouble hauling in Boone’s passes throughout the game.
“Coach Montgomery and the offensive staff did a great job of adjusting as the game went,” head coach David Cutcliffe said. “You see the balance that created in that ball game. From that standpoint, Elon knows what they are doing. That is good for us, because it tested us in a lot of areas. The short of what I saw, is that we do have players making plays. We were not as smooth starting as we could have [been]. But we made up for it.”
On the other side of the football, the defense wasn’t flawless, but it did enough to get the job done.
The front six struggled at times to contain Elon running backs Tracey Coppedge and B.J. Bennett, who racked up 151 rushing yards against a defense that played its first game without senior leader Kelby Brown. But the defensive line, which lost three starters to graduation last year, held its own in the pass rush, harrassing Quinn all game and hurrying his throws.
Both defensive end Dezmond Johnson and Wray each recorded a sack, contributing to the havoc in the Elon backfield. The defense produced a combined four quarterback hurries on Quinn.
A number of newcomers took their first snaps as Blue Devils. Most notably, redshirt sophomore quarterback Thomas Sirk saw time under center in the second half, as he threw for 40 yards and rushed for 54 yards and two touchdowns. His first career touchdown came early in the fourth quarter, when he barreled over a handful of Phoenix defenders before lunging into the end zone to cap a nine-play, 82-yard drive.
True freshmen saw considerable time on defense, with linebacker Zavier Carmichael and cornerbacks Zach Muniz and Alonzo Saxton playing in the second half. The two young cornerbacks shed light on what could be a bright future in the secondary when they recorded back-to-back pass breakups toward the end of the third quarter.
“We have some talent in our young people,” Cutcliffe said. “You can see the speed. You see two freshmen defensive backs [Zach Muniz and Alonzo Saxton] out there who can get you excited in a hurry. We have some young quarterbacks. When I went to the locker room I had our team take a knee and I asked everyone who had played in their first college football game to stand up. And I counted, there were a lot of good football players who played in their first college football game.”
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