Risks pay off in Duke rout of Middle Tennessee

It’s always dangerous to play an underdog, because they have nothing to lose.

Underdogs are more willing to take risks—going for it on fourth down, airing the ball out, pulling out trick plays. If they don’t work, well … the team wasn’t expected to win anyway. Might as well go down fighting.

Duke traveled to Middle Tennessee State on Saturday to play a non-conference road game against a team with a history of upsetting ACC teams.

Just two weeks ago, the Blue Raiders put a scare into Michigan.

It had all the earmarks of a classic trap game for Duke.

Sure enough, in the first quarter, viewers on Facebook Live saw fourth down pass plays and an onside kick. Except it was Duke, the favored Power Five team, who was taking the risks and playing like an underdog and taking the risks.

The strategy paid off, as Duke scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns on its way to a 41-18 blowout win.

After Middle Tennessee marched down the field on a 13-play drive to start the game with a field goal, Duke responded with a 14-play drive of its own.

The Blue Devils appeared to stall at the Middle Tennessee 18, but, instead of going for the game-tying field goal, Duke left its offense on the field on fourth-and-one.

Quarterback Quentin Harris passed to tight end Noah Gray for four yards, and Duke scored four plays later on a Deon Jackson rush.

Cutcliffe then called for a surprise onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, which was recovered by Duke’s Damond Philyaw-Johnson.

Calling himself “crazy,” Cutcliffe said he made the decision to kick onside on the second kickoff of the game the previous Sunday, while watching film alone.

Why the second kick?

“Because if you don’t decide that, you’ll never do it,” he explained afterward.

Duke again faced a fourth down, and, again, Cutcliffe left his offense on the field on fourth-and-two at the Middle Tennessee 39. This time, Harris passed deep, hitting Aaron Young for 27 yards. Duke scored on the next play, when Harris hit Jalon Calhoun for 12 yards.

Harris completed his first 12 passes of the game and finished 24-of-27 for 237 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 107 yards to lead Duke on the ground.

Jackson finished with 71 rushing yards on 22 carries.

Young led all receivers with six catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Eli Pancol caught the other touchdown pass.

While Middle Tennessee was able to move the ball on the early drive and late in the game, Duke’s defense was able to keep the Blue Raiders in check most of the night. Five different Blue Devils recorded a total of six sacks, and Duke had 11 tackles for loss. Chris Rumph led the way with two sacks and four TFL.

The Blue Devils now hit their first bye week, which comes at a good time.

Running back Brittain Brown missed the game with an injury. Injured wide receiver Jake Bobo dressed for the first time this year but wasn’t listed on the participation report as ever getting into the game.

During the game, defensive lineman Edgar Cerenord, linebacker Koby Quansah and defensive back Michael Carter all went down with injuries, although each of them returned to the game. Defensive back Leonard Johnson also went down late in the game.

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