Duke Football: Halftime at Senior Day as Wake takes on the Blue Devils

As the Duke Football team takes on Wake Forest on Senior Day, the Demon Deacons needs a win to become bowl eligible.

It was an easy opening drive for Wake Forest as they marched 74 yards in nine plays in just over two minutes which was capped by a Cade Carney touchdown.

The Blue Devils were able to get a first down on their opening drive but that was it as they had to give the ball right back to Wake Forest which started their next drive with a 34 yard run by Carney, but the Duke defense stiffened and forced a punt.

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However, any momentum the Blue Devils might have had did not last as on the first play after the Wake punt, Deon Jackson fumbled and the Deacons took over at the Duke 16 yard line.

A touchdown pass from Jamie Newman to Greg Dortch gave Wake a 14-0 lead, still in the first quarter.

Once again, the Blue Devils managed to get a first down but nothing more and Wake Forest took advantage as the Demon Deacons took the ball 80 yards in 12 plays in just under four minutes to take a 21-0 lead over the Blue Devils with a minute remaining in the first quarter.

The Wake touchdown came from a Newman pass to Scotty Washington but the drive was set up by Carney continuing to run all over the Duke defense who just didn’t show up.

The Duke offense decided to go uptempo and found some success by punching it in with a Deon Jackson touchdown, but the key play of the drive came on a 4th & 1 from the Wake 11 when Daniel Jones took the shotgun snap and tried to hand the ball to Jackson while the Wake defender was in the backfield but managed to fight his way for a first down.

The Duke defense finally looked like themselves as they forced a three and out with a great punt return by T.J. Rahming set the Blue Devils up at midfield, but the offense could not take advantage of things as they went three and out and more concerning, Daniel Jones limped off the field after being rolled into by his own offensive lineman on 2nd down.

The Duke defense looked like they gained their mojo back as they forced their second straight three and out, trying to get back into this game, but the offense couldn’t get anything going as they put together another three and out.

After another Wake Forest punt, the Blue Devils took the field and once again they were forced to punt.

The Demon Deacons punted again, the seventh straight punt in this game, but the Blue Devils looked to have some life after a great punt return by Rahming, but it was negated thanks to a illegal block in the back penalty.

The Wake Forest defense would take advantage as on the first play for the Duke offense, Jones threw a pick six giving the Demon Deacons 28-7 lead.

After another Duke punt, Wake Forest ran the two minute drill just about to perfection, but just couldn’t find the end zone and had to settle for the field goal which gave them the 31-7 halftime lead.

Jones completed ten of his 15 pass attempts for 95 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, while Deon Jackson rushed five times for 15 yards and caught four passes for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Carney led the way for Wake with 118 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown, while Newman completed 13 of 17 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham at our Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

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