The Devil's in the Details: Week of Sept. 26

Daniel Jones struggled to pass the ball Friday in a 31-6 loss to Miami.
Daniel Jones struggled to pass the ball Friday in a 31-6 loss to Miami.

They say the devil is in the details. But in Durham, the Blue Devils are in the details—and numbers.

Each week, the Blue Zone will dissect five key stats from last week's action in Duke sports, whether they be historic or underwhelming. This week, let the numbers take you inside Duke's first loss in football and an impressive start to conference play for Blue Devil volleyball. 

4.0

With a national audience and the largest crowd this season at Wallace Wade, the Blue Devil offense sputtered when it counted against a stout Miami defense Friday evening, falling 31-6. As has been the case throughout the entire season, Duke’s ground game was very strong, amassing over 183 yards amongst seven different ball carriers. Outside of Jonathan Lloyd, however, the Blue Devil receiving corps struggled along with quarterback Daniel Jones, who threw for his lowest total of the season behind poor pass blocking. Jones averaged just 4.0 yards per pass as Duke relied heavily on screen passes. The Blue Devils' offense couldn't finish drives, scoring just two field goals in three red zone trips. 

Find out the whole story—Duke football out of sync in passing game for third straight week AND Anemic offense dooms Duke football against No. 14 Miami in season's first loss

5

Duke’s women’s cross-country team competed over the weekend against a much tougher crowd in its second race of the season. The Blue Devil women finished seventh out of 42 teams behind freshmen Amanda Beach and Michaela Reinhart, who paced Duke en route to 25th and 28th place finishes, respectively. Five Duke women finished in the top 100 out of a field over almost 350 runners.

Find out the whole story—Freshmen lead Duke cross country to seventh-place finish at Paul Short Invitational

7

Defense has been a focal point for Duke field hockey this season and that effort has produced tremendous results. The Blue Devils possess the third best goals against average in the nation and have allowed only nine goals through ten contests. This weekend, however, it was the offense that propelled Duke to victories over No. 9 Boston College and No. 22 Boston University. Junior Rose Tynan led Duke with three goals during the weekend as the team amassed seven goals in two games, which ties the team’s season record for goals in a weekend.

Find out the whole story—Duke field hockey caps weekend road trip with offensive onslaught in win

16 

NCAA tournament contenders for the first time in almost a decade, Duke men’s soccer fell to No. 8 Louisville on Saturday night despite dominating play throughout. The Blue Devils amassed 16 shots, including five on goal against a Cardinals defense that had averaged less than six shots allowed per game. Duke held a significant advantage on corners, eight to Louisville’s two, but were unable to capitalize on the set piece opportunities. 

Find out the whole story—Missed chances haunt Duke men's soccer in 1-0 loss to No. 8 Louisville

1

After a 21-9 season that included a 12-1 run in conference play, Duke volleyball’s ACC schedule is starting to heat up after a string of non-league games. The Blue Devils blanked Boston College 3-0 Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium, improving their ACC record to 3-1. Outside of a 3-1 setback to Syracuse on Thursday, Duke has dropped just one set against conference opponents thus far. 

Find out the whole story—Duke volleyball bounces back from loss with Sunday sweep of Boston College

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