EVANSTON, Ill. — Duke’s offense, red hot early, built a big lead and the Blue Devils defense made enough stops to secure a win on Saturday.
Duke’s Brandon Johnson intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble in the end zone to end Northwestern’s final two possessions as the Blue Devils, after leading by three touchdowns, held on to beat the Wildcats, 31-23, at Ryan Field.
Johnson’s interception, with 3:31 to play, gave Duke the ball at the Northwestern 34 up 28-23. Charlie Ham added a field goal for a 31-23 Duke lead.
Undaunted, Northwestern reached the Duke 16 with 32 seconds to play when Ryan Hilinski completed a 17-yard pass to Thomas Gordon before Duke jumped offsides.
With 19 seconds to play, Evan Hull ran the ball up the middle and appeared on the verge of scoring. But Jaylin Stinson hit him to force the fumble at the 1. Johnson fell on the ball in the end zone to secure the win for Duke (2-0).
Hilinski finished the day completing 36 of 60 passes for 435 yards and two touchdowns. He helped the Wildcats gain 511 yards of offense.
Duke’s Riley Leonard completed 13 of 24 passes with a touchdown as Duke built a 21-0 lead in the first half.
Northwestern cut the lead to 21-16 in the third quarter before Leonard’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Moore gave Duke a 28-16 fourth-quarter lead.
Duke’s defense started the season in historic fashion a week earlier in a 30-0 win over Temple, recording the first shutout over a Football Bowl Subdivision team since 1989.
It took until the second quarter for Northwestern to score against Duke on Saturday, and the Wildcats eventually cut a three-touchdown deficit down to 21-16 in the third quarter.
But the Blue Devils turned in a solid effort in managing to only give up those points. Northwestern reached Duke territory on seven of its first nine possessions. Duke stopped the Wildcats on downs on two of them and saw Wildcats’ kicker Adam Stage miss a 39-yard field goal.
On another, in the third quarter, Duke defensive end DeWayne Carter slapped the ball from Hilinski’s hands for a fumble that Anthony Nelson recovered for Duke.
Trailing 28-16 in the fourth quarter, though, Hilinski directed a quick 80-yard drive that gave his team a chance to pull off the comeback.
First Hilinski converted a fourth-and-6 play from the Duke 28 with a 14-yard pass to Malik Washington. Then Hilinski fired a 14-yard touchdown pass to Donny Navarro cutting Duke’s lead to 28-23 with 5:49 to play.
After a Duke three-and-out, Northwestern got the ball back at its 25 with 4:23 to play.
After building a 21-0 lead in the first half, Duke saw Northwestern methodically climb back into the game. Duke’s lead was 21-10 at halftime.
With 1:50 left in the third quarter, Northwestern’s Evan Hull scored on a 39-yard pass play on fourth-and-3, slicing Duke’s lead to 21-16. The Wildcats attempted a two-point conversion pass, but it was broken up by Brandon Johnson.
That’s when Duke’s offense, which had grown stagnant, found its groove again with a bit of luck.
The Blue Devils faced third-and-4 from their own 29 when Leonard zipped the ball over the middle toward Jordan Moore. The ball bounced off Moore’s outstretched arm and up into the air, where Calhoun caught it and ran to the Wildcats’ 20 for a 51-yard gain.
With 13:33 to go in the game, on third-and-goal, Leonard threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Moore giving Duke a 28-16 lead. Moore leaped high to catch the ball and was able to get his feet down in bounds in the back of the end zone.
Duke scored on its first three possessions of the game to lead 21-0 but went quiet from there. The Blue Devils marched deep into Northwestern territory on their first two drives of the second half. But one ended with an interception in the end zone and the other when Charlie Ham missed a 39-yard field goal.
Calhoun’s catch on the circus play involving Moore’s tip changed Duke’s fortunes, though.
The Blue Devils offense started the game in unstoppable fashion, stringing together touchdown drives covering 77, 80 and 90 yards.
On the first drive, the Blue Devils went six plays without needing to run a third-down play. Leonard completed a 23-yard pass to Jalon Calhoun to the Northwestern 16. Jaylin Coleman’s 16-yard run on the next play put Duke up 7-0.
After the Wildcats missed a field-goal attempt, Duke moved into Northwestern territory aided by a personal foul penalty. Waters broke loose for the first of his two touchdowns, this one a 42-yard run for a 14-0 Duke lead.
On the final play of the first quarter, with Duke facing third-and-6 from the Northwestern 14, Leonard and Eli Pancol connected on an 81-yard pass play. Leonard fired a pass down the right sideline where Pancol broke free from Northwestern defensive back Jaheem Joseph to make the catch. Joseph had a hold of Pancol’s jersey and was flagged for pass interference, but that penalty was declined as Pancol caught the ball and raced to the Northwestern 5.
On the second play of the second quarter, Waters scored his second touchdown of the game to give Duke a 21-0 lead.
