Duke football holds on for victory against Northwestern, eyes another win

The Duke football program held on for victory against Northwestern on Saturday afternoon. 

It was a stunning first quarter at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday as the Duke football team jumped out to a 21-0 lead against Northwestern.

Duke, a team that has seen two slow starts in two games this season, came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, scoring a touchdown in three of its first four drives.

The Blue Devils also forced a Northwestern turnover in three of the first five drives for the Wildcats.

David Cutcliffe’s team expanded on its lead in the second quarter as well, going into halftime with a commanding 30-7 advantage and looking to move above .500 for the first time this season.

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While the Blue Devils ended up winning 30-23, the second half certainly was not pleasant to watch for the small crowd in Durham.

Duke had eight drives on offense in the second half, three ending in punts, one missed field goal, one turnover on downs, two turnovers (one fumble and one interception), and one which ended the football game.

However, given how the program has fared on the gridiron over the last three seasons, fans certainly will take a victory over a Big Ten opponent.

Duke football skill position players come up big in the victory

Quarterback Gunnar Holmberg was 31-for-44 in Saturday’s victory with 314 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while he also ran 11 times for 46 yards.

Holmberg had completions to ten different receivers in the game, as wideout Jake Bobo was the leading receiver for the Blue Devils, reeling in 11 catches for 109 yards.

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Running back Mataeo Durant had another quality game with 102 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown, but the tailback did lose two fumbles on the afternoon.

Jordan Moore also rushed for a touchdown on his 11 carries, and he also threw a pass for a 36-yard completion.

Duke (2-1) remains home to face the lowly Kansas Jayhawks (1-2) on Saturday, September 25 at 4:00pm EST on the ACC Network.