So far, so good, redux

Duke rallies for double-overtime win at Northwestern

Had it all the way.

Sure.

Don’t bury the lede. Rule number one. Duke defeated Northwestern 26-20 in double overtime Friday night in Evanston, Illinois, a game in which Duke kept shooting itself in the proverbial foot and somehow came away with a win.

Never look down on a road win, especially against a favored team from a power conference.

Never.

Let’s get some things out of the way. I hope Duke never has to play another game at that glorified high school stadium. And yes, I hear my Texas friends saying “you call that a high school stadium?”

And the weather certainly contributed to the rash of mistakes that plagued both teams, dropped passes, fumbled punts, errant throws, slipping and sliding.

But those nine Duke penalties for 80 yards? Yikes. Penalties that extended Northwestern drives, penalties that ended Duke drives.

But Duke never quit.

Not after Cam Porter reeled off a 44-yard run on 2^nd and 13 from the Northwestern 13 to set up a field goal that made it 3-0. Not after Que’Sean Brown fumbled away a punt at the Duke 11. Not after a penalty led to a subsequent touchdown, Northwestern’s only TD in regulation. Not after losing Jaquez Moore to an injury, severity TBD. Ditto with Jeremiah Hasley. Not after a 64-yard drive came up empty when Pelino missed a 33-yard field goal into the kind of wind that the Windy City is infamous for, a field goal that would have tied the game at 13 with just over five minutes left.

But Duke got the ball back, aided by a Northwestern holding penalty; Duke feet weren’t the only ones being shot. Maalik Murphy marched Duke 51 yards in about three minutes and Pelino tied the game after Duke couldn’t convert on a third and one from the three.  

And, yes, Duke benefitted from a review that overturned a Murphy fumble; knee was down but maybe there’s a reason Murphy doesn’t run much.

Northwestern tacked on seven points on the first possession of overtime but Duke answered when Murphy hit Jordan Moore on Duke’s first play, maybe the best pass of Murphy’s short Duke tenure.

With the game on his foot for the second time in a New York minute, Pelino kicked the PAT and it was 20-20.

Doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down and all that.

Duke got the ball first in the second overtime and it took two plays to find the end zone this time, Murphy to Moore for 22 yards and then Eli Pancol for the score.

By rule Duke had to go for two and came up empty when good coverage smothered Nicky Dalmolin at the back of the end zone.

Then Northwestern got cute. Too cute. Porter is a big running back and was battering Duke’s tired defense. On third and one from the three Northwestern inexplicably sent quarterback Mike Wright on a bootleg, where Chandler Rivers met him eight yards behind the line of scrimmage. Northwestern’s fourth down pass fell incomplete in the end zone.

Not one for the time capsule, at least from an execution stand point. But from a grit standpoint, maybe so. No matter how you slice it, Duke is 2-0 and Northwestern isn’t.

It’s too late to go into a deep dive on stats. But after a shaky start Murphy ended with 242 passing yards (24 for 39), with three touchdowns. Jordan Moore had 121 of those yards on 11 receptions. Star Thomas led Duke with 58 rushing yards, on 17 carries.

And Youngstown State transfer Alex Howard had 14 tackles, 2.5 for losses. Duke didn’t have a sack but they did have 11 tackles for loss and Wright seemed to be throwing a lot while running for his life.

I guess the stat folks ruled that second-overtime tackle by Rivers a rush instead of a sack. Fine with me.

Connecticut next, then Middle Tennessee State and I know all about not looking ahead but a 4-0 start going into conference play seems like a realistic possibility, one that didn’t seem all that realistic for much of the second half. But digging deep is a thing and Duke dug deep.