When the clock hit triple zeros at Wallace Wade Stadium on Friday night, the Duke Blue Devils finally had their victory over the Florida State Seminoles.
After 22 previous matchups over the past 32 years, first-year head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] and his team forced four turnovers and stacked six sacks against a struggling FSU offense for a 23-16 victory.
Yes, the defending conference champions entered Friday’s game with one win in their first six games of the season, but 1-22 sure sounds a lot better than 0-22.
Linebacker Alex Howard notched two sacks of his own, linebacker Ozzie Nicholas forced a fumble and intercepted a pass, and star cornerback Chandler Rivers ran a pick of his own all the way back to the end zone for a touchdown.
The FSU offense only managed 291 yards of offense for the game with two conversions on 14 third-down attempts.
It looked like Duke might break the streak in Tallahassee last season, building a 17-7 lead early in the second quarter, but an injury to then-quarterback Riley Leonard and three fourth-quarter touchdowns from the Seminoles left the Blue Devils on the wrong side of a 38-20 final score.
The win, Duke’s sixth of the year, also ensured the Blue Devils would be eligible for a bowl game in the first year of the Diaz era.