Miami’s offense cooled after the first quarter, but its defense dominated all game.
Miami defeated Duke 31-6 thanks to a dominant defensive performance, and some early big plays by its stars Ahmmon Richards and Mark Walton. Duke was held to an embarrassing four-yards/pass. Read below to see how everything unfolded.
First quarter
Miami did a great job in the opening quarter of taking advantage of the man-to-man coverage the Hurricanes expected out of Duke’s defense. The Hurricanes likely expected this because it is a common response to the run-pass option game (RPO) that Miami heavily utilizes.
The way the Hurricanes took advantage was to get the ball to their two best playmakers: Running back Mark Walton and receiver Ahmmon Richards in the passing game. The pair had catches of 39, 29, and 28 yards in the first quarter, and all were nice plays and not mental errors by the Blue Devils. QB Malik Rozier put the ball in a spot where his stars could make a play on the football, and they did. He was 8-8 in the quarter, for 155 yards, with a passing and rushing touchdown.
The Blue Devils typically win with patience, flawless execution, and waiting for the opponent to make a dumb mistake. It’s an approach that has often had David Cutcliffe’s Duke program in bowl games. But in the first quarter, Duke shot itself in the foot badly. It had two pass interference calls and an offsides on defense. Miami has superior athletes, so the Blue Devils cannot afford to commit so many penalties. On offense, an unnecessary clip derailed one drive, and a (likely) blown protection call allowed a blitzer through on another.
At the end of one, the scoreboard read 14-3, Hurricanes.
Second Quarter
Duke’s attempted defensive adjustments
On the first drive of the second quarter, Duke seemed intent on changing things up after allowing over 10 yards/play in the first. The Blue Devils started bringing a lot of pressure, which seemed to catch Miami off guard, forcing a quick punt.
For the second Miami drive of the second quarter, Duke continued to bring pressure, while occasionally mixing up its fronts to create free rushers against Miami’s offensive line. Malik Rozier, who had been tremendous in the first quarter, was forced to take his eyes down and watch the rush. On the two drives, he was 1-3, for zero yards, and was sacked twice.
Duke’s defense continued to blitz on Miami’s third series of the quarter, but a great Walton run, and some nice blitz pickup on a third-and-8 were the keys to getting down deep in Duke territory. Rozier had a nice scramble too against yet another blitz to get Miami down deep, but the Hurricanes could not punch it in from the one-foot line, and settled for a field goal to go up 17-3.
Duke’s attempted offensive adjustments
Offensively, the Blue Devils went up-tempo and kept the ball on the ground well with some inside zone and wham blocking, but a holding and clipping resulted in a second-and-34 from Duke’s own territory.
The second Duke drive of the second quarter ended quickly, as Miami’s Michael Pinckney made a great diving interception on a tipped ball, though it was the result of an uncalled pass interference penalty.
Miami is the first team Duke has faced with multiple athletic big men on defense, and the Blue Devils are not handling it well. The Hurricanes are squatting on the quick game, because Duke has not been able to pass protect long enough to push the ball down the field. The Blue Devils had drives of 14, 10, 10, and 9 plays fail to result in a touchdown.
The third Duke drive of the half saw the Blue Devils try to work more of the middle of the field with the passing game, several times successfully singling up a speedy pass catcher on a linebacker. But the Hurricanes held strong, forcing a field goal attempt, and have the 17-6 lead at the half.
Third quarter
Miami dodged a bullet to open the second half, as Malik Rozier threw what looked like an lateral to Mark Walton, but it was ruled an incomplete on the field, and review lacked clear evidence to overturn, so the call stood. Duke ended Miami’s drive by bluffing a blitz and then sagging into coverage, which was the right call for Miami’s blitz-counter call of a tunnel screen.
One theme emerging so far tonight is Miami’s attempt to get the ball to its two all-world speedsters in true freshmen Jeff Thomas and Mike Harley. But the first four targets resulted in just two catches for two yards.
Duke’s opening drive of the half looked quite promising, with rushes of 15, 11, and 13 yards on consecutive plays. But QB Daniel Jones badly underthrew a wide open T.J. Rahming on what would have likely been a 45-yard touchdown, and then was sacked.
After a 3-8 stretch for Rozier, Miami went back to the ground on its ensuing drive, perhaps in an attempt to settle down its QB. But on a crucial third down, Miami got Walton singled up on a defensive end and Rozier hit him in stride for a gain of 25. Though Duke was able to hold the Hurricanes scoreless on the drive thanks to continued pressure on Rozier, Miami’s offense looked as it had successfully flipped the field. But Miami punter Zach Feagles booted a ball for negative one yard. Seriously.
After a Duke punt, Rozier badly overthrew Richards due to some pressure in his face, and was intercepted.
Miami’s first two drives: 12 yards/play. Miami’s next seven drives: 3.9.
On the ensuing drive, Duke finally hit a deep shot down the sideline against cover-2, with Jones beautifully fitting the ball over the corner and in front of the safety. But Miami held on fourth down. Duke’s players were upset about several potential uncalled pass-interference penalties during the drive, but Miami took over at its own 43. The mood only soured once Duke was immediately, and correctly, called for pass interference on Miami’s first play of the ensuing drive.
But the Blue-devils held strong with more pressure against against the Hurricanes, forcing another punt. Miami led 17-6 going to the fourth quarter.
Fourth quarter
Mark Walton looked to have banged up his ankle back in the second quarter, and since then has been looking to avoid contact, which is probably smart with a double-digit lead.
But Miami’s other playmaker, Ahmmon Richards, who was quiet for the middle two quarters, took advantage of a Duke coverage bust on a slant and ran 49 yards to put Miami up 24-6.
After another stop, it is a bit surprising that Miami still has Mark Walton still in the game considering he is coming off an ankle injury. Five carries after I wrote the last sentence, Walton was down in pain. He walked off under his own power, appearing to have rolled his left ankle.
It didn’t matter much in this game, because Miami was clearly superior to Duke, but the Hurricanes’ secondary was allowed to be very physical and grabby against Duke. Given that group is considered the weaker of the three levels of Miami’s defense, that will be worth watching going forward. If the Hurricanes are allowed to play that way, this Miami defense can be nasty.
