Duke ended its four-game skid on Saturday with a 27-21 victory against Wake Forest in Winston Salem, N.C. Thomas Sirk threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score and senior Max McCaffrey caught two long touchdown passes for the Blue Devils. Sirk was able to play well in his return to the Duke offense after the team struggled on that side of the ball in the last few weeks.
Offense: B+
Pass: Sirk was able to march the offense up and down the field against the Demon Deacons after struggling against Virginia. The Glen Saint Mary, Fla., native was 26-of-39 for 275 yards and two touchdowns. Sirk was able to consistently place the ball where his receivers could go up and get it and the offense finished two long drives of more than 70 yards with touchdowns. Max McCaffrey caught five balls for 93 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown catch late in the third quarter that put the Blue Devils up by three scores.
Rush: Sirk rushed 16 times for 57 yards and a touchdown on the ground, as the running game threatened the Wake Forest defense and was able to help open up things through the air. Senior Shaquille Powell rushed 15 times for 46 yards and junior Jela Duncan chipped in 40 yards as well. The ground game's ability to pick up solid yardage on early downs allowed Duke to get into manageable third-down situations and find open receivers downfield.
X’s and O’s: Offensive coordinator Scotty Montgomery called the right plays and put Sirk in a position to win the game for the Blue Devils. McCaffrey and freshman T.J. Rahming got open consistently and Powell was able to slash the Demon Deacons on the ground. Montgomery's decision to keep grinding the clock by running the ball also helped preserve Duke's win as Wake Forest mounted a late comeback. The offense showed the efficiency and quick-strike ability it had lacked in recent games and made enough plays to come away with a win.
Defense: B-
Pass: Although the secondary made the plays needed to stop Wake Forest and win the game, quarterback John Wolford was able to slash the Blue Devil secondary for long gains on a couple of occasions. This was partly due to the absence of All-American strike safety Jeremy Cash, who sat out the first half due a targeting penalty and ejection last week against Virginia. Redshirt junior Corbin McCarthy played in his place while Devon Edwards moved outside to cornerback. Wolford threw for 338 yards and two touchdowns, but was also picked off twice by an opportunistic Blue Devil defense.
Rush: Demons Deacons running back Tyler Bell was able to get free to the Blue Devil second level on multiple occasions and finished with 94 yards on 16 carries, including an early one-yard touchdown run that tied the game up. Bell paced the Wake Forest offense and kept the Demon Deacons in the game when Wolford’s three turnovers threatened to close the door on the Wake Forest comeback attempt. Although the Duke defense missed some tackles, the rush defense was supplemented by the swarming secondary, as McCarthy and Deondre Singleton were in the Wake Forest backfield all day, with Singleton recovering a fumble in the first half.
X’s and O’s: The Duke defense was able to hold the Demon Deacons to just seven points through the first half while its defense leader Cash served his suspension. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was able to make the right adjustments and the defense forced Wolford into back-breaking mistakes. Although they did give up some big pass plays, Knowles’ unit held when it needed to.
Special Teams: A-
The Blue Devils were able to excise some of the ghosts of the last-minute loss against Miami, when punter Will Monday booted the ball to Wake Forest returner Tabari Hines and the Blue Devil coverage swarmed Hines—before he could get off a lateral—to end the game. Monday punted six times with a long of 49 yards and senior kicker Ross Martin was 2-for-3, including a 35-yarder in the fourth quarter to make it a two-score game.
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