A bend-but-don’t break defense and a big-play offense was all Duke needed Saturday night in defeating NC State 24-3.
The win keeps Duke undefeated (2-0) in ACC play, with a big trip to Florida State next Saturday night. Duke also hits the halfway mark of the season at 5-1.
Henry Belin IV got his first start and completed only four passes. But two of them went for touchdowns.
Belin’s night could hardly have started worse. An incomplete pass, a Jordan Waters rush for zero yards and an interception when he was blitzed and was throwing off his back foot.
Mike Elko said there was a miscommunication on the interception.
State’s offense wasn’t much better except that running back turned safety Terry Moore dropped an easy interception on third down which enabled State’s Brayden Narveso to nail a 57-yard field goal.
No, that’s not a typo.
But it was 3-0, not 7-0.
“That was really big,” Elko said “because that’s when things start sliding. We didn’t want to get into a game where we had to play catch-up because that’s not going to be a recipe for success for us.”
Then Duke couldn’t pick up third and a couple of inches and punted back to the Wolfpack.
Trend lines not good for Duke blue early.
But Duke’s defense wouldn’t let State get any separation. State reached the Duke 45 but Moore made a big pass break-up on third down and State punted to the Duke 10.
Then Belin took a deep breath. He hit tight end Jeremiah Hasley for 21 yards, then a wide-open Jalon Calhoun for 69 yards and a touchdown.
Todd Pelino’s PAT put Duke up 7-3, with 6:26 left in the first period.
Here’s how Belin described the bomb.
“It was a double move. I pumped it, the corner bit and I had him. So, I just threw it. It’s nice to go out and execute the plays you practice all week.”
Duke took over at their three following another State punt, got out of the hole on a pass interference call and finally got some yardage on a rush, 17 yards by Jaquez Moore, then a roughing-the-passer, then a 20-yard run by Jordan Waters and the first quarter ended with Duke at the State 32.
A false start and a hold pushed Duke back to 1st and 25 but three rushes brought Duke close enough for Pelino to nail a career-best 52-yard field goal.
Duke led 10-3, with 12:45 left in the half.
It got worse for the visitors. Duke linebacker Tre Freeman picked off M.J. Morris and returned it 24 yards to the State 8. Belin hit Hasley for a TD on the next play and Duke was up 17-3.
Freeman’s interception was part of an exceptional performance by the redshirt sophomore from Durham. He ended the game with a game-high 15 tackles, 1.5 for a loss.
“He’s playing really, really well,” Elko said of Freeman. “He’s athletic, he’s dynamic, he’s making a ton of plays, he’s disrupting the football.”
“I just kind of sunk under,” Freeman said of the interception “ and I was trying to score but I got tackled. My confidence is really through the roof. Our confidence is through the roof on defense. When they got a big play, we just knew we were going to the next play and stop them. If there’s a blade of grass, we’re going to defend it.”
It started raining, a holding penalty nullified a Jalon Calhoun punt return touchdown and the teams went into the locker room with Duke up 17-3.
State burned six minutes to start the second half but a Dorian Mausi sack stalled the drive. State punted to the Duke 17, pinning Duke back.
Danger zone for Duke?
Well, State did get the ball back after one Duke play. That play was Jordan Waters going 83 yards up the middle through a hole big enough to drive a truck through.
“All I did was hit my hole,”Waters said. “I was disciplined enough to hit my hole. It was a zone run and they zoned to the the gap and there was no one at the second level. We made some adjustments at the half. We knew they were blitzing and we wanted to run into the blitz. That was the adjustment.”
Elko said that this was no accident.
“We knew it was going to be kind of a hit-or-miss night. You’ve got to hit some big ones.”
Waters ended with 123 yards on 13 carries. The Fairmont (Robeson County) NC native said “it means a lot, especially me not really being recruited by NC State. So it meant a lot to go out and beat them and beat them bad.”
State had 18 first downs to Duke’s 12 and kept the ball for almost 37 minutes. But their longest play from scrimmage was only 21 yards, Duke sacked M.J. Morris four times and stopped State three times on fourth down.
Belin deserves props for settling down after that shaky start and Elko praised his game-management.
But Elko acknowledged that “the story of our game tonight was our defense. We challenged them early in the week to step up. We knew the best defense on the field would win the football game and it had to be us and it certainly was. I thought they played lights out from beginning to end.”
Not only do I know where Fairmont is, I've actually been there. !!
Heading into the season, I labeled linebacker a position of concern or an unknown. Tre Freeman has really stepped up with outstanding play.