After last week's shootout against Pittsburgh, the Blue Devils found themselves in a defensive slugfest in the first half against Syracuse.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Orange redshirt freshman Austin Wilson—in his first career start at quarterback—looked uncomfortable in the pocket in his first three plays from scrimmage before Syracuse punted the ball away. A 14-yard return by Jamison Crowder set the Blue Devils up for a short scoring drive. Duke capped the 9-play, 32-yard drive with an easy 27-yard field goal by Ross Martin.
The Orange responded with a 12-play, 65-yard field goal drive of their own to tie the score at 3-3. Wilson completed two passes, including a third-and-eight conversion, to move Syracuse into scoring territory before the drive stalled.
On the ensuing kickoff, DeVon Edwards took the ball to the house only to have his big play negated by a holding penalty. A Duke three-and-out forced Will Monday to punt out of his own end zone and gave the Orange the ball at their own 47-yard line.
A Syracuse three-and-out followed by another empty possession from the Blue Devils ended the first quarter with the score still knotted at 3-3.
The Orange opened the second quarter with another stalled drive, punting the ball away after picking up just one first down.
The Duke offense finally found its rhythm on its first drive of the second quarter after Anthony Boone completed back-to-back third-and-long passes to Crowder for first downs. After beginning the drive on their own nine-yard line, the Blue Devils moved the ball to the Syracuse 22-yard line for a critical third-and-four. Boone completed a short pass to Issac Blakeney in the flat, where he shed the only defender in his area and took the ball to the house for the score. The Martin extra point put Duke on top 10-3.
Down by seven, the Orange received the kickoff looking to tie the game again before halftime. But on the second play of the drive, Wilson lofted a deep pass into double coverage, where sophomore cornerback Breon Borders picked it out of the air and kept a foot in bounds to give Duke the ball back with less than five minutes to go in the half. The Blue Devils were held to another three-and-out, though, and were forced to punt the ball away to Syracuse.
On their ensuing possession, things got worse for the Orange. In a scary moment, Wilson collided with Dezmond Johnson in the backfield and went to the turf holding his head. Wilson began the season as the third option at quarterback for Syracuse, but injuries to Terrel Hunt and AJ Long forced the redshirt freshman into service. Fourth-string option Mitch Kimble entered the game and showed some promise running the football before the Orange decided to simply run the clock down and take a hail mary shot at the end zone before the half.
Observations from the First Half:
- Duke's 35 yards in the first quarter marks its lowest first quarter total since a late-September loss to Miami.
- Boone's second quarter touchdown pass was his fourth in the last two games after having just two TDs in his previous four games combined.
- Borders' interception was his first of the season, fifth of his career, and Duke's first since Oct. 11 at Georgia Tech.
- Crowder reached 5,000 career all-purpose yards, becoming the 11th player to do so in ACC history.
- After starting the day just 1-for-5 on third downs, the Blue Devils went 4-for-4 on third downs on their lone touchdown drive of the half.
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