Duke rally buries NC A&T

Duke scored 21 points in a 2:36 span just before halftime to pull away from NC A&T and win its home opener, 45-13.

In a role reversal of the Duke’s opening loss to Alabama, the Blue Devils entered the game as the prohibitive favorite, then watched as the underdog played them to a stalemate for much of the first half.

The Aggies scored the first points of the game on a field goal and led for much of the second quarter. A&T held the ball for nine minutes of the first quarter, holding Duke to just 19 yards rushing. On their first five possessions, the Blue Devils punted twice, lost a fumble and gave the ball up on downs, allowing the Aggies to pull ahead on a 66-yard run by Jah-Main Martin.

Duke found its footing late in the second quarter. With 3:20 remaining in the half, Quentin Harris found Mataeo Durant for a 22-yard touchdown. The play gave Duke the lead and Durant his first career score.

On the first play of A&T’s next drive, Leonard Johnson forced a fumble, recovered by Dylan Singleton.

On the next play, Harris hit Eli Pancol for a 39-yard touchdown that was the freshman receiver’s first.

After a three-and-out, Duke moved 45 yards in six plays to score again on a six-yard run by Harris, putting the Blue Devils up 28-10 at the half.

“At that point in the game, after we felt the momentum swing, the defense did a great job for us,” Harris said. “We wanted to reward them by taking advantage of their good play and putting the ball in the end zone to help bolster our score in the second quarter. I’m really happy with the resilience we showed despite being down a few points early. I’m happy about how we clicked after that.”

Harris finished the day 30-of-42 for 345 yards, all career highs, as was his four touchdown passes.

All four of Harris’ touchdowns were for 20 yards or more, which set a school single-game record.

In addition to Durant and Pancol, Harris threw a pair of touchdown passes to true freshman Jalon Calhoun, who finished with eight catches for 105 yards. Calhoun tied a school freshman record last achieved in 2001.

The Blue Devils struggled with injuries in the game. Brittain Brown suffered an undisclosed injury in the first quarter and didn’t return to the game.

“We have a lot of our parts missing,” coach David Cutcliffe said. “I don’t think people realize we came into this game without the services of 11 scholarship players. Two plays in, we have two guys that can’t go and then Brittain hurts his shoulder and he can’t go.”

Duke next travels to Middle Tennessee State.