Duke led wire-to-wire Saturday in the Birmingham Bowl, sewing up a 17-10 win over Troy with a late Jeremiah Lewis interception.
The win ends Duke’s season at 8-5 and marks the program’s fifth-straight bowl win, heady territory for a program that went over a half-century without a bowl win.
I guess that means interim coach Trooper Taylor will end his Duke tenure 1-0 as head coach. Hard to do better than winning all of your games.
But it was Tyler Santucci’s defense that dominated for Duke, keeping Troy out of the end zone until the final quarter and picking up that crucial turnover.
It was a strange game for Duke. And Troy too. They also have an interim coach, some key opt-outs and a stomach bug that’s been a problem all week.
For their part, Duke was without All-America left tackle Graham Barton and fellow starting tackle Jake Hornibrook, resulting in starting roles for redshirt freshmen Brian Parker II and Matt Craycraft, which hopefully will pay off next season for Manny Diaz.
The Blue Devils got significant contributions from running back Jordan Waters (11 rushes, 66 yards) and defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles, two All-ACC players who have already announced their intentions to transfer to ACC rivals NC State and Virginia Tech.
Strange also is a valid descriptor for the decision-making, perhaps not unusual for a game with two interim coaches-Greg Gasparato was at the helm for Troy.
Troy got the ball first. Their star running back Kimani Vidal became the nation’s leading rusher during the game. Vidal picked up nine and seven yards rushing on their first two plays and I’m sure I’m not the only person who foresaw a long afternoon for the Duke defense.
Then they passed three times and punted.
Vidal had 17 rushes (79 yards), while quarterback Gunnar Watson threw the ball 36 times. Watson is pretty good; he passed for over 3,500 yards this season. And maybe Vidal was one of those sick Trojans. But we know Watson was and his usage rate was pretty high.
Still, Duke’s defense held Vidal to 4.7 yards per carry, a yard-per carry less than his season average coming into the game. And his longest run was 12 yards. Duke’s defense helped take him at least partially out of the game.
Troy converted only 2 of 12 third-down plays, none of three fourth down plays.
Grayson Loftis got the nod at quarterback for the Blue Devils. He lost a fumble early but the Duke defense forced a missed field goal. After a Duke three-and-out Loftis guided Duke to a 64-yard scoring drive, the biggest plays an 18-yard run by Jaquez Moore and a 26-yard pass from Loftis to Jalon Calhoun.
Jaylen Coleman took it in from a yard out and a trick play--direct snap to tight end Nicky Dalmolin--gave Duke two points and an 8-0 lead.
Duke had second-and-one from the Troy 47 to begin the second period but lost the ball on downs.
Whatever happened to the good, old-fashioned quarterback sneak?
Again Duke’s defense turned a short field into nothing, getting the ball back at the Duke 35 on downs.
A 50-yard drive resulted in a 34-yard Todd Pelino field goal.
Up by the somewhat unusual score of 11-0 Duke had a chance to blow it open at the end of the first half when they drove to Troy 19. On third down, with 15 seconds left, Duke ran the clock down and Pelino kicked his second field goal.
Maybe an extra play would have resulted in a turnover. Or a touchdown. We’ll never know. But an awfully conservative approach for a bowl game in which anything-goes-tends-to be the underlying assumption.
Troy and Duke exchanged field goals in the third and Duke went into the final quarter up 17-3.
Pelino ended the season 18 of 23 on field goals, 38 of 38 on extra points.
Troy has a history of fourth-quarter comebacks but it appeared Duke had squelched that with a fourth-down stop at the Troy 47, with 10:32 left.
Now was the time to go conservative. Keep the ball on the ground, burn clock and get at least a field goal to make it a three-possession game.
After picking up one first down on the ground Duke went to the air and Loftis threw an interception.
Troy took over at their 13 and marched 87 yards in just over three minutes. Watson connected on four passes, with a roughing-the-passer call thrown in for good measure. Tackle Derrick Graham--all 310 pounds of him--took a backwards pass and strolled into the end zone with what was officially a run.
It was 17-10 and suddenly that two-point conversion looked awfully important.
Duke ran seven plays, forced Troy to use its final two timeouts, punted to the Troy 11;
Duke punter Porter Wilson had four punts for a 47-yard average.
Duke’s kickers were really good today and all season.
Troy got one first down and then Peebles--on his last play in a Duke uniform, unless he changes his mind--got in Watson’s face and forced an interception.
Loftis ended the game completing 19 of 29 passes for 183 yards. Five of those passes (55 yards) went to Shamir Hagans, three (41 yards) to Jordan Moore, both of whom should be back next season. So should running back Jaquez Moore (14 rushes, 73 yard) and game MVP Chandler Rivers, a defensive back.
The cupboard isn’t bare and Diaz was in the stands, presumably taking mental notes, if nothing else.
Thus ends this most strange Duke football season. Not the ending we envisioned perhaps when Game Day hit town. But I’ve seen more than my share of winless and one-win Duke seasons to scoff at a bowl win.
Hats off, gentleman. On to next season, next play.
This team proved several things that many of us probably didn’t think possible. First was the best defense in my memory, truly a top twenty or better defense. Who could imagine Gameday at Duke in 2023. Many thought five wins would be the max. 4th and 16 to beat Notre Dame at Duke. Oh so close. The camaraderie of the team members has been uplifting to watch. This will always be one of my favorite teams.