Bruised, battered, but still unbeaten: Three takeaways from Duke’s OT win at Northwestern

After Duke’s offense struggled for three quarters against Northwestern, quarterback Maalik Murphy threw two touchdown passes in overtime and the Blue Devils’ stout defense made them stand up on Friday night.

After Murphy’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Eli Pancol put Duke in front in the second overtime, the Blue Devils stopped Northwestern on fourth down to emerge with a 26-20 win at Martin Stadium in Evanston, Illinois.

“I just told the team,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said, “I’m in awe of their effort, in awe of all of the adversity that we went through tonight — some self inflicted, some caused by an amazing effort by Northwestern. Our ability to persevere and overcome was remarkable.”

Duke (2-0) trailed 13-10 until Todd Pelino’s 22-yard field goal with 14 seconds left sent the game into overtime.

After a Cam Porter touchdown run gave Northwestern (1-1) the lead, Murphy completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Moore to tie the game at 20 and force a second overtime.

That’s when Duke scored first on Murphy’s short pass to Pancol in the left corner of the end zone for a 26-20 Duke lead.

Needing a touchdown to tie and a two-point conversion to win, Northwestern reached the Duke 3 on its second-overtime possession. But Duke cornerback Chandler Rivers tackled Northwestern quarterback Mike Wright for an 8-yard loss on third down. Wright’s incomplete pass in the end zone on fourth down allowed Duke to escape with the win.

Rivers’ tackle marked the 11th tackle for loss for the Blue Devils in the game.

Pancol caught two touchdown passes, giving him three in the young season. Moore led Duke with 11 catches for 121 yards while catching one touchdown pass.

Things weren’t smooth as Duke overcame three different 3-point deficits in regulation and a seven-point deficit in the first overtime. But the Blue Devils stayed together and found a way to win.

“That’s just a testament to our culture,” Moore said. “You know, the game’s not won in the first quarter. It’s won in the fourth or overtime. We keep fighting, keep taking body blows and we have faith in every single one of our teammates to make plays.”

Duke found groove on offense late

While the Blue Devils offense, particularly the running game, sputtered over the first three quarters, Murphy and the passing game bailed Duke out late.

Duke gained just 93 rushing yards on 30 attempts, averaging 3.1 yards per attempt against Northwestern. That’s after the Blue Devils had 59 rushing yards, with 2.19 yards per attempt, against Elon.

Murphy had just seven completed passes for 52 yards in the first half and Duke had only 111 passing yards through three quarters.

But Murphy completed 9 of 14 passes in the fourth quarter before going 3-for-3 with two touchdown throws in overtime.

“I thought Malik was very much in control in the fourth quarter of the game,” Diaz said “Again, another example of a guy that when he threw the pick, he didn’t panic. No adversity. Went out there and made the plays to win the game.”

For the game, Murphy completed 24 of 39 passes for 242 yards with one interception as the Blue Devils overcame five possessions that went three-and-out to win the game.

Diaz said it simply took his team’s offense that long to crack Northwestern’s defense to find room to make some positive plays.

“They’re tough to get a bead on,” Diaz said. “They do a good job of what they’re doing. But I do think as time went on...This is why we needed to be on the field. We were just not on the field enough in the first half. The longer you’re out there. The more you can figure out what somebody’s doing on defense.”

Tough night for Duke special teams

Mistakes by Duke’s special teams gave Northwestern two easy scoring opportunities. The Wildcats only converted one, though.

Duke punt returner Que’Sean Brown failed to catch the ball on a Northwestern second-quarter punt. The Wildcats recovered at the Duke 11 and needed just two plays to get a touchdown on a 4-yard Cam Porter run.

When Duke’s offense went three-and-out on its first possession after halftime, Kade Reynoldson’s punt was blocked by Northwestern’s Noah Taylor and recovered by Joe Dehaan at the Duke 9.

That time, Duke’s defense held and Northwestern’s Jack Olsen missed a 19-yard field goal when he kicked the ball off the right upright.

Then in the fourth quarter, after Duke moved inside the Northwestern 20, Pelino missed a 33-yard field goal with 5:11 to play that allowed the Wildcats to maintain a 13-10 lead. He made up for it by making a 22-yard field goal with 14 seconds left, but that only tied the game due to the earlier miss.

Three big Duke injuries

The Blue Devils started the game without a defensive starter and lost two offensive players in the first half.

Middle linebacker Nick Morris was not in uniform, and actually on crutches, due to a lower body injury that appears set to keep him sidelined for multiple games. Graduate student Ozzie Nicholas started in his place and finished with five tackles, including four solo stops.

Duke starting running back Jaquez Moore suffered a lower body injury of his own when he came up limping and in obvious discomfort following an eight-yard run in the first quarter. Moore did not return and was on the sideline during the second half in street clothes with a protective boot on his right foot.

Star Thomas, a graduate transfer from New Mexico State, and sophomore Peyton Jones handled the running back snaps the rest of the game. Thomas led Duke with 58 yards on 17 carries while Jones finished with 15 yards on five carries.

In the second quarter, while playing special teams on the punt team, tight end Jeremiah Hasley suffered a right leg injury that knocked him from the game. He was carted off the field.