Duke opens season with rout of N.C. Central

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DURHAM, N.C. — Season openers always come with a certain sense of mystery. Whatever was present leading up to Saturday’s matchup with North Carolina Central was eliminated by the mid-point of the first quarter.

At least for this night.

“The players had themselves well prepared,” head coach David Cutcliffe said. “They were very focused and it showed to start the game.“

Duke rolled to a 60-7 win at home, scoring touchdowns on five of its first six offensive possessions. The lone possession during the first half that didn’t result in six points ended in a 32-yard field goal from Austin Parker.

The Blue Devils also put six on the board when Bryon Fields intercepted a Micah Zanders pass and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown at the 11:21 mark of the first half, just six seconds after Shaun Wilson scored the Devils’ first touchdown of the game.

It was evident at that point, Duke would be hard to stop.

And that clearly held true for much of the night. In fact, the Blue Devils didn’t have a scoreless drive until their opening attempt of the second half.

The Blue Devils did damage on both sides of the ball by dominating the line of scrimmage from the jump. Cutcliffe emphasized all preseason long the need for Duke to get stronger play from its offensive and defensive lines.

He got it for the most part on Saturday.

Offensively, Duke rushed for 243 yards, with redshirt freshman Brittain Brown posting 120 yards and one touchdown in his first career game. Wilson, who started the game for the Blue Devils, rushed for 59 yards and one score on just nine carries.

As a team, the Blue Devils averaged an impressive 5.2 yards per rush.

Duke’s improved line play was also present, for the most part, against NCCU’s pass defense. The Eagles did record a sack and three quarterback hurries on the night, but most of their success came against Duke’s second and third team offensive line.

Quarterback Daniel Jones took advantage of his protection, completing 19-of-25 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns before being taken out of the game for good midway through the third quarter.

Aaron Young was also a beneficiary of the Blue Devils’ line play, as he had plenty of time to find holes in the NCCU secondary. The redshirt sophomore pulled in five passes for 89 yards and a score, including a 54-yard reception midway through the second quarter to boost Duke’s lead at the time to 40-0.

“I thought they did a great job,” Daniel Jones said. “Both in run blocking and pass blocking - they protected well. There were lanes to run in and Shaun and Brittain, Deon (Jackson), Nico (Pierre) and Elijah (Deveaux), all those guys who ran the ball did a very good job of that.”

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Defensively, Duke was dominant for much of the night, save one breakdown in the second quarter when Isaiah Totten broke loose for an 81-yard touchdown run. It proved to be the only points NCCU would post, and one of just three plays that went for 10 or more yards.

Preventing explosives were the key for Duke coming in, and while the 81-yard run did not leave Cutcliffe too happy, the overall effort was promising.

There really was not much Duke’s defense was unable to accomplish against the Eagles. The Devils posted nine tackles for loss, three sacks, one turnover, a safety and a forced fumble.

Fields nearly posted a second pick-6 in the second half, but the interception was called back due to a Mike Ramsay roughing the passer penalty.

Perhaps the most impressive performances for Duke’s defense came via defensive ends Tre Hornbuckle and true freshman Victor Dimukeje. Hornbuckle tallied six tackles, 3.5 of which came for a loss. He also registered two hurries and forced one fumble.

Dimukeje was outstanding in his first collegiate game, posting a sack and a half.

Duke needed a strong performance from its line, and its young bookends provided it.

“Victor, he and Drew Jordan - one of the things they’ve done is they’ve come in and competed from day one,” Cutcliffe said. “Coach (Ben) Albert has done a tremendous job with them. I think right now we are looking at the possibility of playing five freshmen defensive linemen this year.”

Fields also talked about the play of the defensive line and how it impacts the defense’s success.

“They put pressure on the quarterback. That leads to turnovers,” he said. “Without them, we don’t make a lot of plays we make on the backend. I’m definitely excited about what they’re going to do.”

Overall, Duke’s defense allowed just 158 total yards and held the Eagles to just 3.2 yards per play.

While NCCU doesn’t represent the level of play Duke will be facing going forward, the Devils’ ability to execute was something very positive to take from the opener.