After six straight losses, Duke has rallied with a win against Georgia Tech and a 31-23 come-from-behind win at Wake Forest to earn its sixth win and clinch bowl eligibility. The Blue Zone hands out grades to every Blue Devil unit:
Offense: B
Pass: Quarterback Daniel Jones made his fair share of mistakes in the first half, but redeemed himself when it counted. After throwing interceptions on three of Duke's 11 drives, Jones rebounded to lead three consecutive touchdown drives—in which he threw for 173 yards—to push Duke ahead 31-23 after facing a 20-10 deficit. Jones finished the day 25-of-44 for 346 yards, with two touchdowns and the three picks.
Rush: After exploding for 319 rushing yards against Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils couldn't get anything going on the ground. As a team, Duke averaged just 2.2 yards per carry and gained 97 total yards. The duo of Brittain Brown and Shaun Wilson that tore up the Yellow Jackets was a relative non-factor, taking 28 carries for 71 yards. With 37 yards, Jones was the Blue Devils' second-leading rusher, and he added a short touchdown on Duke's second scoring drive of the second half.
X's and O's: Although he was unable to establish the traditional running game for most of the game, offensive coordinator Zac Roper was able to get the offense rolling with well-balanced play-calling throughout the second half. Duke had one more rushing attempt than passing attempts, a level of balance that it wants to sustain heading into the postseason—though it would prefer to be much more efficient on the ground.
Defense: B+
Pass: The Blue Devil secondary did well to limit Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford, who led the conference in completion percentage, passer rating and touchdown-to-interception ratio heading into Saturday. Duke's defense limited Wolford to just 16-of-33 passes for 191 yards, forcing two interceptions. Mark Gilbert's pick late in the fourth quarter with the Demon Deacons driving sealed the win. Although the defense did give up some big plays, it made big plays itself when it counted.
Rush: Duke's stout rush defense did its job once again Saturday, limiting Wake Forest to just 145 rushing yards on a pedestrian 4.1 yards per carry. Wolford led the Demon Deacons in rushing with 48 yards, and the Blue Devils limited explosive plays, giving up just two plays of 18 or more yards.
X's and O's: Duke did well to put heat on Wolford, forcing two sacks and four tackles for loss. As it has all season, the defense kept the Blue Devil offense in the game—and it finally came through Saturday after failing to do so during Duke's losing skid.
Special teams: B-
Although Duke did well in its own kicking and punting game, Wake Forest owned the Blue Devils early in the game in punting. After the Demon Deacons first four punts, the Blue Devils' average starting field position was the seven-yard line. Wake Forest punter Dom Maggio averaged 52 yards on seven punts, including a long of 74 yards. T.J. Rahming was able to break one big punt return for 33 yards, but outside of that, the Blue Devils' special teams unit was unspectacular.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.