On paper Duke and North Carolina A&T was a mismatch. Any time an ACC team hosts a Big South team, it should be a mismatch.
And it was. The final was Duke 49-20, which is about what the experts predicted as a margin. But it really wasn’t that close.
Jaylen Stinson returned the opening kickoff 67 yards for Duke to the A&T 33. After a delay-of-game penalty Riley Leonard hit Nicky Dalmolin with a 38-yard TD pass, 15 seconds into the game.
About that kickoff return. Mike Elko said that he was disappointed with Duke’s special-teams play last week and he challenged them to do better. In fact, he said Duke would have accepted the kickoff had they won the toss, so anxious was he to see that unit on the field.
He also said that after turnover margin, special-teams play is his biggest predictor of victory.
“I thought from a mentality standpoint we attacked special teams the way we wanted to tonight and were able to make some big plays. Our special teams impacted the game tonight.”
In addition to Stinson’s return, Jalon Calhoun had punt returns of 24 and 17 yards. Charlie Ham made all seven of his PATs and seven of his eight kickoffs were touchbacks. Porter Wilson had his only punt downed on the A&T three-yard line and Duke stuffed an A&T fake punt.
Leonard hit Jordan Moore with a four-yard slant-in on Duke’s second possession and it was 14-0 with 8:12 left in first quarter. A few plays later 300-pound tackle DeWayne Carter picked up a fumble and scampered 35 yards and it was 21-0.
“Anytime you get to see one of those D-linemen scoop the ball up and score themselves, it’s a great moment,” Elko said.
Down three scores, the Aggies took a deep breath and put together a time-consuming, eight-minute drive that ended with a 22-yard field goal.
Leonard and Sahmir Hagans hooked up for 41 yards to set up a three-yard keeper by Leonard and it was 28-3.
A truly ugly Leonard interception stopped a promising Duke drive and allowed A&T enough time to kick another field goal and the teams went into the locker room at 28-6.
What did Leonard see on the pick?
“A terrible read by me. Trying to make a play. Can’t happen.”
The second half was more of the same. A&T lost a fumble on the Duke side of midfield and two plays later Leonard went 56 untouched yards for another Duke TD, a perfectly called and executed quarterback keeper.
“Just a typical read-option play,” Leonard said. “I ended up pulling it. The guys were making fun of me as I approached the end zone and said I had some work to do. It was a great feeling. I was expecting someone to run me down. But I did okay.”
Leonard added that his teammates said he runs like a giraffe.
A giraffe who totaled 66 rushing yards on five carries, 11 for 12 passing for 155 yards, two rushing touchdowns, two passing touchdowns, not sacked once.
Elko said of Leonard “I thought he managed the game well. He continues to get more comfortable.”
Jaylen Coleman extended the lead with a 12-yard run and it was 42-6 with 8:34 left in the third period.
Then we got to see that very unsuccessful fake punt and lots of reserves. True freshman Eric Weatherly scored on a 14-yard run for Duke, while lots of Blue Devils notched their first career rushes or receptions. Henry Belin IV took over from Leonard at quarterback late in the third quarter and with the first team for a series, which suggests that he may Duke’s backup quarterback.
And Duke’s defensive reserves need some work.
Running back Bhayshul Tuten was hyped as A&T’s best player and lived up to that billing, popping runs of 48 and 55 yards to set up two fourth-quarter A&T touchdowns against Duke’s second unit.
Tuten ended with 133 rushing yards. But 111 of them came in the second half, long after the outcome had been decided and while Duke’s starters were taking a well-earned rest.
And a shout-out to Duke safety Brandon Johnson, who had two tackles for loss, including a sack, and forced a fumble.
“We work on turnovers in practice every day,” Johnson said. “Right place, right time. Just playing the defense. Just doing my job.”
So, that’s a big three for three with a big road test coming up next week against Kansas.
Our QB looks good and our former QB looks like a seasoned wide receiver. The next game against Kansas on the road will tell us a lot. From the way Kansas scores, it looks like our Defense will need to play their best game of the year.
GoDuke!
Riley Leonard looks really good so far this season. His continued development is critical to Duke winning more games. Kansas will be a tough test followed by winnable games against Virginia and Georgia Tech. The next three weeks are extremely important.