Team Grades for Duke’s Loss vs. Northwestern
It was a disappointing result for the Duke football team on Saturday afternoon as they fell to the 23rd ranked Northwestern Wildcats, 19-10. In our preview before the game, two keys that were highlighted were the run defense of Duke against the ground and pound rushing attack of Northwestern and the play of QB Thomas Sirk. Duke’s defense actually played exceptionally well. While they did give up 201 yards on the ground, it came on 54 rushing attempts. That is an average of 3.7 yards a carry. As a defense you take that every day of the week. The problem was the offense and Thomas Sirk.
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Offense – C-
There was no explosiveness to the offense whatsoever. Sirk threw the ball 39 times with 24 completions totaling 150 yards. That is an average of 3.8 yards per pass. Duke averaged more on the ground per attempt than they did through the air. Sirk looked nothing like the QB we saw the first two weeks of the season and the wide receivers such as Johnell Barnes, T.J. Rahming and Braxton Deaver disappeared. That threesome combined for 5 catches for 25 yards. Not good. The Northwestern defense came in highly touted and they did not disappoint.
The rushing attack was a brighter spot as Shaquille Powell, Shaun Wilson and Sirk had above average days on the ground. Wilson did have a fumble in the second quarter that lead to a Northwestern field goal. Two turnovers by the offense deflated an already unexplosive offense.
Defense – A
Another dominating performance by one of the best defenses in the ACC. The secondary continued to show their aptitude for being blankets on opposing receivers. Holding a team to 70 yards passing is more than impressive. The run defense, as was previously stated, was stout besides the 55 yard touchdown run by Northwestern runningback Warren Long. DeVon Edwards had an interception that put the Duke offense in position to score their only touchdown of the day. Alonzo Saxton II also had a pick. Only so much a unit can do before they wilt from having to carry the team on their backs.
Special Teams – F+
Surprisingly the worst unit of the day. Solomon Vault had a 98 yard kickoff return for a touchdown that gave Northwestern the lead in the third quarter. Ryan Smith fumbled away a punt that iced the game. Both the punt and kick return units did nothing with ample opportunities. The plus is for Ross Martin and Will Monday who continue to be the best duo of kicker and punter in the ACC. Will Monday even had a 71 yard bomb.
A really disheartening loss considering how well the defense played. It also does not get any easier for the Blue Devils as they face Georgia Tech next week. It was a game where Duke could have stated that they belong in the top 25. Now they might be headed for 2-2.