Duke Football Comes Back to Defeat Indiana 44-41 in Overtime
By Chris Brown
Blue Devils beat Indiana to earn the school’s first college football postseason win since 1961.
The Duke football team was able to break their bowl game losing streak and come away with a very tight win against the Indiana Hoosiers in the 2015 New Era Pinstripe Bowl. The
- Key Offensive Stats: 536 total yards (163 passing, 373 rushing)
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Everyone knew that this would be a high-scoring game won on offense, and teams compiled more than 1,200 total yards to break the record for. Quarterback Thomas Sirk had an up-and-down game, totaling 163 passing yards, 155 rushing yards, and accounting for 3 touchdowns including a 5-yard TD run to tie the game, but also made several inaccurate throws to wide open receivers that could have been touchdowns early on in the game.
Duke was led by running back Shaun Wilson, who had a historic night breaking the school record for longest run with an 85 yard TD and accounting for over 282 total yards. The running game also helped carry the Blue Devils with 3 players, Sirk, Wilson, and Jela Duncan, rushing for 100+ yards.
- Key Defensive Stats: 3 turnovers, 4 yards and 0 points allowed in overtime
Even though the defense allowed over 600 yards from Indiana, they were still able to make big stops during this game without ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jeremy Cash. The Duke defense started off great early in the game keeping the Hoosiers from scoring at all in the 1st quarter and disrupting their offense. After the game was tied at 41 Indiana still had a chance to go and take the lead, but the defense held strong and forced the Hoosiers to attempt a long 56 yard field goal that was missed. In a similar scenario in overtime, after the Blue Devils scored the go-ahead field goal the defense made Indiana go three-and-out on their first possession and the Indiana kicker missed another field goal that was ruled no-good and despite complaints it couldn’t be reviewed because it went over the post.
Special teams also played a crucial role in winning this game for both teams, with Wilson returning a kickoff for a touchdown and senior kicker Ross Martin making all 3 of his field goal attempts including a 52-yard kick for the first score of the game and the go-ahead 36 yard FG in overtime that would give Duke the lead and the win and two kicks missed by Indiana.
Congrats to the Blue Devils on competing in another great postseason game and finally winning their first bowl game in 54 years. Stay tuned for more Duke Football news and updates on the Blue Devils’ bowl victory and the upcoming offseason for the program.