Duke football routs Elon in home opener 52-13
By Amie Just
Once Duke put the ball in the end zone for the first time, they didn’t look back. The Duke football team pulled out all the stops against Elon in the home opener, routing the Phoenix with a score of 52-13.
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As Ball Durham predicted, Duke put the hammer down against Elon, earning 567 offensive yards. Elon accumulated 328 yards in the contest.
One of the men of the night, quarterback Anthony Boone, threw four touchdown passes in the contest and accumulated 247 passing yards. Boone had 22 of 33 completions on the evening and averaged 7.5 yards per pass.
“We expect to win every game on our schedule,” Boone said. “We practice to win and we go out there to win. We don’t go out there just to compete anymore. We play for keeps, and that’s something that’s a different mentality around here.”
“We expect to win every game on our schedule. We practice to win and we go out there to win. We don’t go out there to compete anymore.”- Anthony Boone
Boone targeted two men for the four touchdown passes. Wide receiver Jamison Crowder was one of Boone’s go-to men on the night. Crowder caught seven passes for 93 yards, averaging 13.3 yards per catch. He caught two of Boone’s passes that resulted in touchdowns.
Wide receiver Isaac Blakeney was the other touchdown target for Boone. Blakeney had four receptions on the night, two of which were touchdowns. He had 45 receiving yards on the night, averaging 11.3 yards per catch.
The third receiver gaining attention from Boone was Max McCaffrey. He had five receptions on the night for 65 yards, averaging 13 yards per catch.
11 Blue Devils caught at least one pass tonight, totaling 292 yards with an average of 10.4 yards per reception.
On the ground, Duke utilized six different men. Running back Josh Snead had 12 carries for 74 yards, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. Shaun Wilson had just six carries for 71 yards, which averaged 11.8 yards per touch.
From what came out of tonight, sophomore quarterback Thomas Sirk is more of a dual-threat than Boone. Sirk had eight quarterback keeper rushes for 54 yards, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. Two of those came in the red zone and produced touchdowns. In the air, Sirk was 5 for 7 on 40 yards.
The other rushing touchdown came from running back Shaquille Powell. He had 11 carries for 54 yards, averaging 4.9 yards per touch.
Rounding out the rushing yards, Parker Boehme and Joseph Ajeigbe combined for seven carries and 22 yards.
The other points on the evening came from kicker Ross Martin. He was perfect on the night in field goal attempts (one) and extra points (seven).
When looking over the stats from tonight, the Ball Durham game ball goes to Boone for his electrifying performance that resonated that Duke is looking to continue their success from last season.