Duke Suffers Their Fourth Straight Loss, Syracuse Gets Back On Track

Yesterday I asked this? Will Duke or Syracuse Get Back On Track In Durham?

Turns out it wasn’t Duke’s day yet again.

The Blue Devils' offensive woes continued as three turnovers on three possessions to start the second half handed the Orange 21 of their 49 points. In addition to the three takeaways, the Orange run game made life tough for Duke. Syracuse finished the contest with 286 rushing yards with both Moe Neal and Jarveon Howard picking up 115 yards apiece. Orange quarterback Tommy Devito completed just six passes, two of which found the end zone. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Duke saw redshirt senior quarterback Quentin Harris throw for 157 yards on 19-of-36 attempts. Sixty-three of those 157 yards went to Aaron Young as he led the team in receiving yards. Mataeo Durant led the ground game with 54 yards on 11 carries, while teammate Deon Jackson racked up 32 yards on 13 carries. Duke also managed to compile with 279 yards of total offense throughout the game. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Syracuse jumped out to a 14-0 lead, scoring on its first two possessions before Duke's defense settled in and held the Orange scoreless for the rest of the opening half. The Blue Devils struggled offensively to start the game, only managing to get their first points with a little over six minutes remaining in the half when AJ Reed connected on a 31-yard field goal. Reed added three more points to Duke's first-half total with a career-long 51-yard field goal to send the Blue Devils into halftime trailing just, 14-6. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Duke started the third quarter with a huge defensive three-and-out. Unfortunately, the Orange defense came up big on the Blue Devils' next three possessions by returning an interception for a touchdown and converting another interception and a fumble into 14 more points to pull away, 35-6. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

The Blue Devils were never able to get into a rhythm offensively after the break, compiling just 97 yards of offense in the second half and only seven first downs. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Austin Parker had another outstanding game punting the ball for Duke, including sending a booming career-long 72-yard kick down the field in the second quarter. The 72-yarder ties him for 10th longest in Duke history. Overall, Parker punted six times for an average of 41.8 yards per kick and put three inside the 20-yards line.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Defensively, the Blue Devils were led by safety Dylan Singleton and linebacker Shaka Heyward with eight tackles each. Heyward recorded Duke's only sack of the night, a seven-yard takedown. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

While Duke suffered their fourth straight loss Syracuse meanwhile snapped their four game losing streak in Durham.

The Syracuse defense forced three Duke turnovers in the third quarter that resulted in 21 points and the Orange (4-6, 1-5 ACC) went on to defeat the Blue Devils 49-6 at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night. “according to https://cuse.com/news/2019/11/16/football-defense-sparks-orange-in-49-6-victory-at-duke.aspx

The win gave Syracuse head coach Dino Babers a victory in his 100th career game as a collegiate head coach. It was also the Orange's first win in four tries against Duke (4-6, 2-4 ACC).”according to https://cuse.com/news/2019/11/16/football-defense-sparks-orange-in-49-6-victory-at-duke.aspx

Sophomore safety Andre Cisco recorded his first career pick-six to start the turnover barrage and turn a 14-6 halftime lead into a 21-6 margin.”according to https://cuse.com/news/2019/11/16/football-defense-sparks-orange-in-49-6-victory-at-duke.aspx

On the next Duke drive, cornerback Christopher Fredrick intercepted a pass that led to a Luke Benson touchdown. Syracuse cashed in again a little more than three minutes later when senior Moe Neal scored from two yards out following an Evan Foster fumble recovery. Neal's touchdown extended the Syracuse advantage to 35-6 and effectively put the game out of reach.”according to https://cuse.com/news/2019/11/16/football-defense-sparks-orange-in-49-6-victory-at-duke.aspx

Neal and Jarveon Howard paced the offense with 115 rushing yards each. For Neal, it was his fourth career 100-yard rushing game, while Howard averaged 12.8 yards per rush on nine carries.”according to https://cuse.com/news/2019/11/16/football-defense-sparks-orange-in-49-6-victory-at-duke.aspx

Linebacker Lakiem Williams led the defense with a team-high 14 tackles, including one sack. Foster logged 12 tackles and one pass breakup to go along with his fumble recovery. “according to https://cuse.com/news/2019/11/16/football-defense-sparks-orange-in-49-6-victory-at-duke.aspx

Duke will now turn their attention to their next opponent as Saturday they will travel to Winston Salem to take on Wake Forest at BB&T Field who unlike them is bowl eligible but like them will be looking to get back on track as they were routed by Clemson in Death Valley on Saturday by a score of 52-3.