Edwards, Connette power Blue Devils to 38-20 win over Wolfpack

Chris Baird, TSN via Baird Photography
Chris Baird, TSN via Baird Photography

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke Blue Devils clinched their seventh win of the season, a 38-20 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) victory over the NC State Wolfpack that threw the crowd of 32,010 at Wallace Wade Stadium into a jubilant postgame mood on Saturday.

Redshirt freshman DeVon Edwards (10 tackles, 2 INT) had the game of his short collegiate career, scoring three touchdowns in the second half to propel the Blue Devils to victory while quarterbacks Anthony Boone (13-21, 139 yards, 3 INT) and Brandon Connette (7-13, 59 yards) scored rushing touchdowns to extend Duke’s current win streak to five games.

“We proved, Duke proved, why you play four quarters and not three,” Blue Devils head coach David Cutcliffe said.

“We have been talking since August. We knew that this team would be ‘the’ team to break what’s been a long drought and we’ve never gone anywhere before without not having a kickoff return for a touchdown. We went five-and-a-half, over five-and-a-half years, before we finally got it, so thank you to Devon.”

While the tandem of Boone and Connette worked tenaciously to moved Duke’s offense forward against a hard-working and grinding Wolfpack defense, it was the Blue Devils’ defensive play that once again topped of another benchmark win late in the game.

Along with Edwards, David Helton (12 tackles), Kenny Anunike (11 tackles), Kelby Brown (10 tackles, 1 sack), Deondre Singleton (10 tackles), and Jeremy Cash (6 tackles, 1 INT) all created problems for NC State quarterbacks Brandon Mitchell (7-18, 148 yards, 2 INT) and Pete Thomas (6-15, 100 yards, 1 INT) throughout the game.

“We are a team that has to play to play as a team,” Cutcliffe said.

“Certainly our defense stood out, consistently stood out, time after time. We’ve had some struggle offensively, but we continue to find a way to make critical plays at critical times. We’ve got obviously some improving to do which we can and will do.”

Boone put Duke on the board first at the 11:07 mark of the first quarter after setting it up with a 75-yard strike to Jamison Crowder (7 catches, 134 yards) before ending the five-play, 90-yard drive with his touchdown score.

Kicker Ross Martin extended the Duke lead to 10-0 just under three minutes later, and the Blue Devils’ effective special teams play along with the defense carried the 10-point advantage into the second half.

“They’re 0-5 in conference and we knew that they were going to come out there, nothin’ to lose, and fight for four quarters,” Boone said.

“You can’t fight the emotion of the game, you just gotta’ stay even and fight for 60 minutes.”

Fight as it did, the Wolfpack finally got into a groove offensively during the third quarter and put up 13 unanswered points to take its first lead 13-10 with 3:58 remaining to play.

As the mood in the stadium settled, it was Edwards who quickly regenerated the buzz with a spectacular 100-yard kickoff return just seven seconds later to regain the lead for Duke at 17-13.

Heading into the fourth quarter, both teams continued to struggle to convert third downs and kept Duke punter Will Monday (8 punts, 369 yards) and his NC State counterpart Wil Baumann (8 punts, 307 yards) busy.

With just over six minutes remaining, it was NC State who struck next as Mitchell launched an 80-yard pass that Quinton Payton corralled and carried into the end zone to put the Wolfpack ahead again, 20-17.

Having struggled to create a productive series of downs since he stepped into the game late in the third quarter, Connette then put together an eight-play, 79-yard series of downs which he capped off by scoring the go-ahead and eventual game-winning touchdown with 3:31 to play.

“Our offensive line did a great job,” Connette said.

“We were able to run the ball, a lot of teams whenever they get down in the fourth quarter with four or five minutes left, they want to throw the ball. Luckily, we’re confident enough in our running game and our running backs to be able to be able to run the ball and run the ball effectively. We had a couple of big runs by Juwan (Thompson) that really got us down the field. Then, also you have to be able to throw the ball, and Jamison was able to make a couple of plays for us to get the ball in his hands quick.”

Leading 24-20, it was the Duke defense led by Edwards who capped off the win, scoring back-to-back touchdowns on successive interception plays – all made in a matter of 26 seconds.

Edwards was in the right place at the right time as a mistimed shovel pass by Mitchell landed in the safety’s hands and allowed him to run the ball in for a 25-yard touchdown to extend the Blue Devils lead to 31-20.

Following the ensuing kickoff, it was then Thomas who threw an interception that Edwards made and allowed him to run another 45 yards into the end zone, scoring his third touchdown of the game.

“He had a magic night,” Cutcliffe said.

“It may never happen quite like that again, but it was a magic night.”

According to Cutcliffe, even while earning the win and securing the program’s first winning regular season since 1994, his team will continue to work hard to make critical plays and magical moments happen for the remainder of the season.

“I like the fact that I sense a hunger there amongst everybody involved,” Cutcliffe said.

“We will get to that point.”