Duke secures 38-31 win over Troy

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network
Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke Blue Devils celebrated a 38-31 victory over the Troy Trojans in front of a homecoming crowd of 30,126 in attendance at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday.

Duke quarterback Brandon Connette (20-28, 324 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT) summed up the game succinctly during the postgame media scrum.

“Looking at the game, kind of an offensive shootout in the first half and a defensive stand in the second half,” Connette said.

“Luckily were we able to win the first half and the second half. It’s nice to get a victory.”

It was the first-ever meeting between the two teams who started the day with identical records (2-2) and similar game plans which resulted in surprisingly identical offensive yardage totals from each – Duke with 514 yards and Troy with 512 yards respectively.

Both teams traded possessions and third-and-outs for the first five minutes of play until Troy orchestrated a scoring drive that put the Duke defense to the test.

Playing without linebacker Kelby Brown and safety Dwayne Norman in the lineup, the Blue Devils fell behind 7-0 with 6:46 remaining to play in the opening quarter.

Duke answered back quickly with a 53-yard rush from Josh Snead that set up the home team’s first score of the game on a five-play, 75-yard series.

Connette drew the ball on three consecutive downs before floating an easy seven-yard pass to Max McCaffrey (4 catches, 54 yards) to score his second touchdown in as many games.

Kicker Ross Martin (5 PAT, 1-2 FG) then converted the PAT and tied the score 7-7.

Less than a minute later, the Blue Devils suffered injuries to two players on either side of the ball.

Safety Jeremy Cash (14 tackles) appeared to get up screaming in pain after making a tackle, but stayed on the field for another down before going to the sideline, while running back Josh Snead (11 rushes, 112 yards) was felled during a rushing play less than a minute later around the 50-yard line before he was helped off the field.

Both players eventually returned to the game to help Duke secure its third win of the season.

When Duke got the ball back late in the first quarter, Connette put together a drive which he capped off by running the ball into the end zone to score his 22nd career rushing touchdown of his career, and gave the Blue Devils their first lead of the game, 14-7.

Connette then connected with Jamison Crowder (7 catches, 149 yards) on a 60-yard pass that extended the Duke lead to 21-7 with 11:44 to play in the half.

However, Troy remained diligent and continued to keep the Duke defense busy for the remainder of the second quarter, scoring two touchdowns, sandwiching another Blue Devils score from Jela Duncan (8 rushes, 29 yards) which extended the Blue Devils lead to 28-21 by halftime.

“Proud of our team, getting better as the game went on,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said.

“That wins football games for ya’. Regardless of how the personality of the game is shaped, we weren’t perfect in any real area today. A lot of players played hard and a lot of players playing well.”

Coming out for the second half, it was Duke’s defense that made the difference led by linebacker David Helton who made a career-high 15 tackles on the day, including a tackle for a loss.

“We didn’t change up any schemes, we didn’t change up really anything,” Helton said.

“We knew what we were going to do the whole game. We knew what we had to do. You know, they tempoed us the first half and Troy came out and played great. We really didn’t do anything different. We just made a decision that we weren’t going to let them gain any more yards.”

Both teams fought to a draw for the remainder of the game, scoring a touchdown and field goal apiece that enabled the Blue Devils to win the game, powered on the strength of its defensive play.”

“I thought that we came out with a lot of fight and a lot of horsepower that made it tough for Troy,” Connette said.

“Troy came out as well. They were playing really good offense and things were clicking for them. Then in the halftime, I think both defensive units made very good adjustments.”

For Cutcliffe, though his team survived to earn the win, he indicated that there was still much work for his team to do.

”All three areas, there were really good things; all three areas, there’s things we gotta’ do better,” Cutcliffe said.

“We can’t waste a day. We got better playin’ in the football game today, but we’ve gotta’ get better.”