Duke Becomes Bowl Eligible With Their Win On The Road At Wake Forest
Duke and their head coach David Cutcliffe who is in his tenth season at the helm are going back to a bowl game after edging Atlantic Coast Conference foe Wake Forest in Winston Salem at BB&T Field.
Daniel Jones threw for two touchdowns and ran for another and Duke earned bowl eligibility by beating Wake Forest 31-23 on Saturday. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211687169&DB_OEM_ID=4200
The Blue Devils closed their regular season by winning back-to-back games for the first time since starting the season 4-0, and reached the six-win mark for the fifth time in six years. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211687169&DB_OEM_ID=4200
Duke (6-6, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 17-3 after John Wolford threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Alex Bachman with 6:44 remaining in the first half. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211687169&DB_OEM_ID=4200
But the Blue Devils clawed back thanks to Jones' two touchdown passes that countered field goals by Wake Forest. Duke took its first lead when Jones scored from 1 yard out to make it 24-23 with 13:53 remaining. It extended the margin to eight points on a 4-yard run by Brittain Brown with 8:23 to play. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211687169&DB_OEM_ID=4200
Jones finished 25 of 44 for a career single-game high 346 yards for the Blue Devils, whose 443 total yards were their fourth-most this season. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211687169&DB_OEM_ID=4200
The loss snapped a two-game win streak for Wake Forest (7-5, 4-4), which could have closed a regular season with three straight wins for the first time since 1967. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211687169&DB_OEM_ID=4200
THE TAKEAWAY
Duke: The Blue Devils' defense showed up again. It was the fifth game in a row, and 10th time in 12 games this season, that Duke surrendered fewer than 25 points. Mark Gilbert had two interceptions for the Blue Devils to raise his team-leading total to six. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211687169&DB_OEM_ID=4200
Wake Forest: Wolford threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns. Wolford also rushed for 48 yards on 12 carries, giving him 3,417 total yards on the season and breaking the single-season mark set by former Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner in 2009. It was his sixth straight game with multiple touchdown passes. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211687169&DB_OEM_ID=4200
Duke will now wait to learn their bowl destination. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22672&SPID=1843&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211687169&DB_OEM_ID=4200