After suffering a heartbreaking loss last Saturday, Duke was dominated from the opening kick in a 66-31 loss in its annual Tobacco Road rivalry game against North Carolina. The Blue Devils gave up 704 yards of total offense to the Tar Heels and fell behind by 28 points at halftime en route to the crushing defeat. With the loss, Duke fell to 6-3 on the season and 3-2 in the ACC and no longer controls its destiny in the ACC Coastal Division.
Offense: C-
Pass: Quarterback Thomas Sirk completed only 18-of-37 passes, registering 191 yards without a touchdown. Sirk struggled through the air as the Tar Heels defense forced the redshirt junior to throw the ball into tight windows and the Blue Devils racked up the majority of their passing yards after the game was in the books. For much of the contest, the Glen St. Mary, Fla., native was inconsistent, missing receivers too high and too low on multiple occasions. Duke's wide receivers were not much of a factor in the game, as they struggled to get open down the field all afternoon.
Rush: The Blue Devils rushed for 327 yards and the run game was the only positive for the team Saturday. Running back Jela Duncan and Sirk both broke off 50-plus yard touchdown runs up the middle and Duke seemed capable of running the ball down the teeth of the Tar Heels defense at will. Shaquille Powell also had a strong game for Duke, rushing 13 times for 98 yards. Although the rushing attack put the offense in favorable third down situations, Sirk struggled to convert in key situations. Before long, the score eliminated any possibility of the Blue Devils running the ball to get back in the game.
X’s and O’s: Offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery called a strong game, but his offense did not execute. Dropped passes and miscommunication, as well as inconsistent play from Sirk, plagued the Duke offense. The 31 points that the Blue Devils’ offense put on the scoreboard proved to be misleading, as they scored the majority of their points late with the game out of reach.
Defense: D
Pass: Although the Duke defense came into the matchup as one of the top pass defenses in the nation, it was absolutely shredded by Marquise Williams and the rest of the North Carolina offense. Williams averaged 14.1 yards per pass attempt, and had little problem sifting through the Blue Devil secondary. Three of the Tar Heels’ first half touchdowns came on plays longer than 48 yards, including the final nail in the coffin, a 49-yard touchdown pass to Bug Howard to conclude the first half. Duke also lost safety Deondre Singleton for much of the game and was forced to play redshirt sophomore Phillip Carter.
Rush: Duke's rush defense was not much better than its pass defense. Outside of a couple of tackles for loss by defensive tackle A.J. Wolf, Duke struggled to contain North Carolina’s running backs. The Blue Devils fell victim to numerous missed tackles and missed on opportunities to halt the Tar Heels’ drives. Running back Elijah Hood finished with 69 yards on 17 carries on the afternoon and simply proved too much for the defense to handle. The run defense had one of Duke’s only good defensive plays of the afternoon when they stuffed North Carolina on the goal line to keep the Blue Devils behind 21-10 in the second quarter.
X’s and O’s: The Duke defense was atrocious throughout the game, and Jim Knowles’ unit missed assignments, especially on play-action fakes. Williams took advantage of the aggressiveness of the Duke safeties and torched them over the top nearly at will. Duke struggled to pressure Williams, who with ample time, was able to find his wide receivers in the soft spots of the Blue Devil defense. After making tremendous strides during the course of the season, the Duke defense disappointed when the team needed it most Saturday.
Special Teams: B-
The Blue Devils’ special teams did not do anything particularly poorly—unlike Duke’s other two units—but did not making the game-changing plays it needed. Star safety Jeremy Cash was called on a key offsides penalty to negate a missed field goal, gifting the Tar Heels a chance to continue their drive in the second quarter and add to the scoreboard. Punter Will Monday landed two of his four punts inside North Carolina’s 20-yard line, and kicker Ross Martin was perfect in his limited opportunities.
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