Duke fell to the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday, but the defeat didn’t fall entirely on the offense. The Blue Devils scored 31 points, their second-most in a game this season and their most against a Power Four team, and took a 28-17 lead early in the second half.
The offensive explosion wouldn’t have happened if not for a productive performance from quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag], who surpassed the 300-yard mark for the first time in his career.
Murphy finished Saturday’s game 25-for-41 for 325 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He’d come close to the milestone before, throwing for 291 yards against Elon in the opener and picking up 295 yards against SMU in Week 9.
Sahmir Hagans was a big help to Murphy, hauling in nine catches for 139 yards and a score. The Blue Devils were unable to match Miami’s five second-half touchdowns, but the Duke offense kept pace with the Hurricanes for three quarters.
Murphy has now thrown for 2,121 yards and 20 touchdowns this season, climbing into a tie for fourth in single-season school history in the latter category.