Duke desperately needed to move the chains late in the third quarter.
After racing out to a 12-0 lead in Raleigh against the NC State Wolfpack, four field goals from the in-state rivals left the Blue Devils locked in a tie game. With the offense nearing 30 consecutive scoreless minutes, quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] faced a second-and-20 from well within his own territory.
The redshirt sophomore hit the back of his drop, but with the edges of the pocket constricting around him, he pushed back toward the line of scrimmage and let the ball fly toward senior wideout [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag].
Moore caught the pass a few yards short of the sticks, creating a manageable third down, but he didn’t stop there. He brushed off a tackle and beat the Wolfpack defense to the sideline, somehow getting all 20 yards the Blue Devils needed.
Six plays later, Murphy pushed his way forward for a three-yard rushing touchdown to take a 19-12 lead, and Duke never gave up the advantage again en route to a 29-19 victory.
After allowing 497.5 yards per game to the two best offenses in the conference (SMU and Miami) over the last two weeks, the Blue Devils’ defense bounced back in a big way against the Wolfpack.
After Duke punter Kade Reynoldson pinned NC State within its own 5-yard line for their first possession, defensive linemen Wesley Williams and Aaron Hall wrecked a read-option run on second down and pulled down freshman quarterback CJ Bailey for a safety to give the Blue Devils the lead.
On the second play of NC State’s next drive, Bailey scrambled past the sticks before linebacker Ozzie Nicholas punched the ball out for a fumble, creating Duke’s FBS-leading 12th recovery of the season and giving the offense the ball in enemy territory.
That ensuing drive tacked on three more points thanks to a 50-yard field goal from Todd Pelino, and after two more three-and-outs, NC State finished the first quarter with 41 yards and one first down in 13 plays.
The two biggest plays of the night came from veteran safeties Jaylen Stinson and Terry Moore. NC State star receiver Kevin Concepcion snuck behind the Blue Devils’ secondary on third and goal in the second quarter and made a leaping grab, but Stinson tackled him toward the back line to make sure he couldn’t bring his feet down in bounds.
In the fourth quarter, with the Blue Devils leading by seven, Moore corraled a tipped ball for an interception on the positive side of the field. He made it all the way to the NC State 20-yard line before getting tackled, setting up the touchdown that made it a two-score game.
Duke’s defense finished the game with eight tackles for loss, upping their total to 85 for the season, and the Wolfpack only managed 263 yards of offense for the day.
Murphy eventually won the day by extending his strong recent form. One week after his first career 300-yard game against Miami, the former Texas Longhorn completed (six of his first seven) passes for 102 yards, highlighted by a 45-yard scoring strike to Moore in the middle of the first quarter that made it a 12-0 ballgame.
Moore, who spent the first half of ACC play recovering from an injury, also found the end zone against the Mustangs and Hurricanes. He finished Saturday’s game with three catches for 76 yards, including that critical 20-yard conversion, as he looks like a prominent feature of the offense once again.
After his 245 passing yards and two touchdowns against NC State (even without including the go-ahead rushing touchdown), Murphy is now up to 2,366 yards and 22 passing touchdowns for the season, bringing him within two scores of the single-season school record with two games left to play.
Now 7-3 for the season and back to .500 in conference play, the Blue Devils get a bye week before hosting Virginia Tech on November 23.