Duke football uses big second half to pull away from Kansas

The Duke football team pulled away from the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday afternoon for another victory. 

For two schools that certainly are not known for the success of their football programs, the Duke football team and Kansas Jayhawks put on an entertaining show at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Devils outscored Kansas 31-9 in the second half after going into halftime trailing 24-21 to win, 52-33.

Kansas had not scored more than 23 points in a game since November 23, 2019 and posted 24 points on Duke in the first half thanks to touchdown drives on three of the team’s final four drives before the intermission.

Jayhawks quarterback Jason Bean was a problem for the Duke defense, completing 19-of-32 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns, but he did throw two interceptions.

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Bean also rushed for 54 yards while running back Devin Neal racked up 107 yards on 17 carries with one touchdown.

As for the Blue Devils, the offense was never that big of an issue as quarterback Gunnar Holmberg was 22-of-29 for 328 yards and a touchdown, but the Duke signal caller also rushed for a career-high four touchdowns with 17 carries for 88 yards.

Running back Mataeo Durant found the end zone once again after he piled on 124 yards on 21 carries in addition to his score.

Duke football schedule gets much tougher very quickly

After a disappointing opening night loss to the Charlotte 49ers, the Blue Devils have rattled off three victories in a row against sub-par competition. Now, things get more challenging.

Duke will travel down Tobacco Road and play the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday afternoon, beginning the ACC portion of its schedule.

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David Cutcliffe has to find a way to win three games to get the Blue Devils back to a bowl game, and the Tar Heels have shown vulnerability after being projected as one of the best teams in the country in the preseason.

Carolina has two losses against Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech sandwiched between two victories against Georgia State and Virginia.

North Carolina and quarterback Sam Howell hung 56 points on Duke last season, 42 in the first half.

Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00pm EST on ESPN2.