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 impressive road victory, men’s golf’s ascension to the top and volleyball’s early issues in conference play.
149.2
Quentin Harris put together his third consecutive standout performance in football's 45-10 defeat of Virginia Tech last Friday, compiling a 149.2 passer rating and only throwing seven incompletions against an aggressive Hokie secondary. After a slow start offensively, the Blue Devils (3-1, 1-0 in the ACC) finally began to click on that side of the ball in the second quarter and never looked back, with Harris leading the way.
32
Deon Jackson has struggled to find consistent holes in the running game this year. However, he broke off his longest run of the season against Virginia Tech, a 32-yard scamper with 12:25 left in the ball game. Jackson’s ability to help Duke’s offense on the ground will play a pivotal role in the Blue Devils' ACC slate.
1
Golfweek’s most recent men’s team collegiate rankings place Duke at the top spot. This distinction was announced Friday morning, two days before the Blue Devils began their title defense at the Nike Collegiate Invitational on Sunday. Three players—Adrien Pendaries (No. 2), Steven DiLisio (No. 70), and Chandler Eaton (No. 71)—were part of the individual top 100 rankings as well.
63
Scotty Taylor’s 63rd minute goal gave men's soccer an upset victory over arch rival North Carolina on Friday. With the road triumph over the No. 14 Tar Heels, the Blue Devils put an end to their three-game losing streak and picked up their first ACC win of the season. After giving up the first two goals of the contest to North Carolina, Duke (5-3, 1-2 in the ACC) found a way to secure the comeback win, a victory that could shift the momentum of its season in the right direction.
2
Volleyball has been unable to parlay its win over then-No. 14 Oregon into a positive start to ACC play, with two consecutive 3-1 home defeats to No. 23 Florida State and Miami dropping the Blue Devils to 7-8 on the season and 0-2 in conference. Duke did tally 38 assists against the Hurricanes, but the Blue Devils have to eliminate hitting errors if they want to find a way to take steps forward in the competitive ACC.
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Max Rego is a Trinity senior and an associate sports editor for The Chronicle's 118th volume. He was previously sports managing editor for Volume 117.