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 numbers from last week's action in Duke sports, whether they be historic or underwhelming. This week, let the numbers take you inside football's dominating win, field hockey's bounce back weekend and women's soccer's battle against North Carolina.
38
Duke put on a clinic this past weekend in the first half of its contest against Georgia Tech, dropping 38 points before heading to the locker room. Coming off of a close defeat at the hands of a capable Pittsburgh team, the Blue Devils were in desperate need of a rebound, and rebound they did. Duke (3-2, 2-1 in the ACC) was stunned right out of the gate with a Georgia Tech touchdown five minutes into the game, but after that, the Blue Devils went on to put up 38 consecutive points. Those 38 points were the most Duke has scored in a half against an ACC opponent since 1999 against Wake Forest. This is a true testament to the grit of Blue Devil football. They may have been taken by surprise last week, but that only served as motivation to come back and show the world what they’re made of.
197
Among many things working in Duke’s favor Saturday was its rushing game. Georgia Tech’s effort to stop the Blue Devils' offense was futile, as Duke finished off the game with 197 total rushing yards. Leading the pack was Mataeo Durant with 74 yards, including one 38-yard rush that led to a one-yard touchdown by Quentin Harris. Deon Jackson also had perhaps his biggest game of the year with 69 yards and two touchdowns. Duke’s success this season appears to be tied to the effectiveness of its running game, so the Blue Devils can only hope it’s there for them when they make the trip to Virginia this weekend.
5
Similar to the football team, fall break was less than stellar for Duke field hockey. The Blue Devils' two matchups against then-No. 12 Princeton and No. 1 North Carolina resulted in two losses, their first consecutive losses of the season. However, like the football team, the girls would not roll over and feel bad for themselves. Instead, they got right back up and shut out both No. 20 Wake Forest and then-No. 22 Old Dominion this past weekend, scoring a total of five unanswered goals. No. 3 Duke (10-3, 1-2) is intimidating enough, but when the Blue Devils are as angry as they were this week, they’re downright terrifying. Both Wake Forest and Old Dominion deserve some amount of credit for even showing up knowing full well that they’d be going up against a relentless force of Duke field hockey players.
8
At Koskinen Stadium, meanwhile, the women’s soccer team was in the battle of its lives against No. 3 North Carolina. In one of the biggest matchups of the year, the Tar Heels showed up offensively, putting up a total of 18 shots. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t account for the brick wall that is Duke goalie Brooke Heinsohn. The North Carolina offensive onslaught was seemingly endless, so she had to stay alert and ready to go for all 110 minutes of play. Finishing off the night with 8 saves, Heinsohn left everything on the field and was critical for the 11th-ranked Blue Devils (7-1-5, 2-0-4) to hold onto that elusive 0-0 tie.
15
Payton Schwantz put up a double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs in volleyball's loss to Notre Dame Sunday. While Duke (8-11, 1-5) continues to struggle with consistency as a team this year, Schwantz has been a reliable leader and competitor on the court. As evidenced by the double-double, she’s been at work both offensively and defensively, doing all she can to motivate her team and get some results by the end of the season. If there’s any takeaway from this weekend, it’s that Duke can compete with the best of the ACC, but it will all come down to whether they can close out in tight games.
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