No. 7 Louisville outlasts Duke, 24-14

 Louisville's lopsided victories had raised expectations so high for the No. 7 Cardinals that a close victory seemed unlikely against an outmatched opponent.

But a second straight defeat looked possible against Duke on Friday night until a late penalty by the Blue Devils allowed quarterback Lamar Jackson to seal a shaky win for the Cardinals.

Jackson provided a cushion with a 2-yard touchdown run with 1:32 remaining and Louisville held off Duke 24-14, and the outcome was all that mattered to the Cardinals.

"We didn't blow them out, but we did win the game," said Louisville coach Bobby Petrino, whose team had averaged a nation-leading 58 points coming in.

The Cardinals caught a break after Evan O'Hara's 46-yard field goal missed wide left as Duke's Breon Borders was called for roughing the kicker. The penalty moved the ball to the 14 and Jackson did the rest with a 12-yard run followed by the short score that Louisville (5-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) sorely needed.

"I wasn't going to let my team down," the Heisman Trophy contender said. "We were going down there to score."

Jackson accounted for 325 yards of offense and two touchdowns, hitting Jaylen Smith with a 5-yard scoring pass on the opening drive. Jeremy Smith added an 80-yard TD run in the third quarter, and O'Hara kicked a 22-yard field goal as the Cardinals came off the bye and earned the program's 500th victory.

Duke (3-4, 0-3) remained winless in ACC play but gave Louisville more than it expected.

The Cardinals sought a big bounce back after losing at Clemson, especially with a week off. The Cardinals' offense certainly looked refreshed from the break as they drove 80 yards in 10 plays with Jackson's TD pass capping the drive.

Duke wasn't fazed and answered quickly as Daniel Jones hit Erich Schneider for a 9-yard TD to tie it and trail just 10-7 at the half. The Blue Devils later closed within three as Jones hit a 20-yard TD pass to Johnathan Lloyd with 6:34 remaining to cap a 15-play, 75-yard drive that consumed 8:53.

"I believed our guys had confidence they could win," said Duke coach David Cutcliffe, whose team controlled the clock for 37:12. "I don't think it surprised anyone that we scored early and matched a team like that."

Duke seemed poised to take one final clock-chewing crack at beating Louisville until the penalty quashed that hope. Jackson then took control for Louisville - as usual.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The Cardinals might lose some position after escaping with a close win despite being 35-point favorites. Petrino chose to focus on the bottom line and said, "our objective is to go win, keep ourselves in (playoff consideration), and I think we did that. We've just got to go play better."

THE TAKEAWAY

Duke: The Blue Devils weren't intimidated by Jackson or the Cardinals. Jones was 14 of 21 passing for 129 yards including a 51-yarder. Jela Duncan returned from a leg injury to rush for 44 yards on 12 carries. But they managed just two scoring drives despite controlling the clock and committed a costly penalty that could have provided one last shot to win.

Louisville: The Cardinals never trailed and outgained Duke 469-239 but never seemed in full control. Two chances to gain breathing room in the third quarter ended with Brandon Radcliffe fumbling on one possession and O'Hara's missing from 42 yards on the next.

"We lost our focus," Jackson said. "We were driving the ball, hit a hump. (We'll) watch film and get everything fixed. We were down there several times; we've got to get it right.

Jackson seemed off on some throws but offset that with his speed and nifty footwork on several key fourth-quarter runs including their final drive. He completed 13 of 26 passes for 181 yards and rushed 21 times for 144. He is responsible for 30 touchdowns, 15 each passing and rushing.

UP NEXT

Duke: The Blue Devils will have a bye before traveling to Georgia Tech on Oct. 29.

Louisville: The Cardinals host North Carolina State next Saturday.

Duke edges Army 13-6 in wind and rain from Hurricane Matthew

 Daniel Jones and Parker Boehme each threw a touchdown pass as Duke beat Army 13-6 on Saturday.

The Blue Devils (3-3) jumped out to a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter, and their defense forced three turnovers and stifled Army's rushing attack to hold on for the victory.

Andy Davidson rushed for 120 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown run late in the first half, for the Black Knights (3-2).

Both teams struggled on offense as Hurricane Matthew made its way through North Carolina. The storm produced stiff wind and driving rain for hours leading up to the game and throughout the contest, making every punt, pass and kick difficult.

Army entered the game averaging an FBS-leading 374 rushing yards per game but ran for only 165 yards on 43 attempts against Duke.

Boehme threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Erich Schneider after Davidson lost a fumble at the Army 9 on the Black Knights' second possession. Jones tossed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Young for Duke's other score.

THE TAKEAWAY

Army: The Black Knights outplayed Duke after falling behind 13-0, but they could not sustain drives. The Black Knights converted two of 13 third-down plays and failed all four times on fourth down, including three times on fourth-and-1 runs.

Duke: The Blue Devils gutted out a victory, but they still need three more wins to qualify for a fifth consecutive bowl game. That will be a difficult task against Duke's six remaining opponents, each of which is bigger, faster and more talented than Army.

UP NEXT

Army: After playing four of their first five games on the road, the Black Knights return home against Louisiana-Lafayette for their first home game since Sept. 10.

Duke: The Blue Devils visit No. 7 Louisville on Friday night to kick off the second half of their season. Four of the remaining six opponents on Duke's schedule entered the weekend ranked.

Virginia forces 6 turnovers in 34-20 win over Duke

Virginia has much less in the playbook - and is doing so much more.

With a defensive game plan that first-year coach Bronco Mendenhall called "the simplest plan we had yet," the Cavaliers intercepted five passes and forced six turnovers in a 34-20 victory over Duke on Saturday.

The five interceptions tied the program record, last accomplished against Miami in 2010.

"The execution, it matches the current level of our players' understanding of the playbook," Mendenhall said. "I'm still getting to learn them. They're still getting to know me."

Kurt Benkert threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns, finishing 23 of 41 with touchdowns covering 28 yards toDavid Eldridge, 12 yards to Olamide Zaccheaus and 3 yards to Richard Burney.

Albert Reid also had a short TD run to help the Cavaliers (2-3, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) snap their 17-game road losing streak.

"The execution appears, I think, to all of us to be improving, and the culture as we all know, was the emphasis to begin," Mendenhall said. "It's starting. ... But it's fun to see the players happy. It's fun to see the players see that it's coming."

Joseph Ajeigbe's 4-yard touchdown run with 11:34 left pulled Duke to 27-20, and the Blue Devils had the ball inside Virginia territory twice after that but were stopped on downs both times.

Daniel Jones threw five interceptions for Duke (2-3, 0-2), and fumbled in his own end zone with 4:24 left after a hard hit from Jordan Mack. Eli Hamback recovered for the touchdown that put the Cavaliers back up by two touchdowns.

THE TAKEAWAY

Virginia: These Cavaliers looked nothing like the crew that was routed by Richmond in the opener, made Mendenhall a winner in his first ACC game and earned their first road win since a 2012 rout at North Carolina State.

"Richmond doesn't even feel like this year," Mendenhall said.

This time, they did it with defense. After failing to force a turnover in its first two games, Virginia now has nine takeaways in the last three weeks. Juan Thornhill and Bryce Hall had two interceptions apiece.

Duke: The Blue Devils pretty much squandered whatever goodwill they generated by beating Notre Dame last week, largely because they couldn't take care of the ball. Jones, who threw three interceptions in his first four games, surpassed that total by throwing four of them in 20 minutes of the first half.

Coach David Cutcliffe bristled at a reporter who asked if he'd considered replacing Jones with backup Parker Boehme, saying that "if I would have considered it, I would have done it, OK?"

With this loss, it's fair to wonder if Duke - which still faces road games at No. 3 Louisville, No. 14 Miami and Pittsburgh - will find the four more wins it needs to qualify for its fifth straight bowl game.

PLAY OF THE DAY

Duke trailed by a touchdown with 98 yards to go and less than 5 minutes to play. It set up a possible Joe Montana-type moment for Jones, who was looking to atone for the four interceptions he'd thrown at that point. Scanning to his left for a receiver, he never saw Mack flying in from the right side. Mack leveled him and knocked the ball free, and Hamback pounced on it for the touchdown that sealed it, and Jones threw his fifth interception on the Duke possession that followed.

STAT LINE

Benkert has thrown for 757 yards and eight touchdowns in his last two games. The East Carolina transfer set the program record with 421 yards against Central Michigan , and was on pace to break that mark before the Cavaliers slowed things down in the fourth quarter. "He's a throw-first guy," Mendenhall said, "and I think he's good at it."

UP NEXT

Virginia: It's all ACC opponents remaining for the Cavaliers, who have an idle weekend before playing host to Pittsburgh on Oct. 15.

Duke: The Blue Devils step back out of league play to host Army, but then they have only six days to get ready for a Friday night visit to Louisville on Oct. 14.

Reed kicks game-winning field goal as Duke beats Notre Dame

AJ Reed kicked a 19-yard field goal with 84 seconds left as Duke rallied back from an early two-touchdown deficit to beat Notre Dame 38-35 on Saturday.

Reed had missed all three of his field goal attempts this season before kicking the game winner. Duke coach David Cutcliffe, who opted to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the 19 early in the fourth quarter and failed, said he didn't hesitate to let Reed attempt the field goal, saying the team had confidence in him.

"That unit there, they believe in him and he's got a lot of talent. I know when it came down there at the end - the field goal - there was no doubt in my mind he was going to make it," he said.

Reed said he knew his teammates were behind him.

"They were all telling me that they had my back and that they knew I was going to get it done for them," he said.

Daniel Jones threw for three touchdowns, including a 64-yard scoring pass to Anthony Nash midway through the fourth quarter to tie the score as Duke beat the Irish for just the second time. The first win was in their first meeting, a 9-7 victory in Durham, North Carolina, in 1958. Jones was 24 of 32 passing for 290 yards and Duke rushed for 208 yards.

"I think we were, as a team, executing at such a high level. We weren't perfect by any stretch, but overall, we were executing more consistently than we had been," Jones said.

With DeVon Edwards out with what likely is a season-ending knee injury sustained on Notre Dame's first kickoff,Shaun Wilson returned a kickoff 96 yards for a score to spark the Blue Devils (2-2) after they fell behind 14-0. The Duke defense set up the final touchdown when it sacked DeShone Kizer for a 7-yard loss at the 5-yard line andDeondre Singleton intercepted a pass at the Notre Dame 45.

The Irish defense continued to struggle, giving up 30 or more points against Power Five teams for the seventh time in their last nine games. The student section chanted "Fire VanGorder," referring to defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said the coaching of the defense is one of the few areas he wasn't disappointed in, saying he doesn't think it was a factor in the outcome. He said Duke was grittier and more determined than the Irish, who opened the season ranked No. 10.

"I told our guys, essentially, that we're going in the wrong direction. We're not going to continue to go in this direction. We'll have to reevaluate what we're doing, who we're doing it with, and how we're doing it," he said.

Nash had six catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns and Jela Duncan ran for 121 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

Kizer was 22 of 37 passing for 381 yards with two touchdowns, an interception and a fumble to lead the Irish (1-3). Kizer threw a 12-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter that put Notre Dame ahead for the first time since squandering a 14-0 lead, but the Irish couldn't hang on.

The Blue Devils, who managed a total of 27 points in losses to Wake Forest and Duke, scored 28 in the first half against the Irish. Duke scored three straight touchdowns after falling behind 14-0.

THE TAKEAWAY

Duke: The Blue Devils defense continued to struggle to stop big plays, allowing 10 passes of 20 yards or more. But they came up with the big plays when they had to, forcing three turnovers while allowing one.

Notre Dame: The Irish came out with the sense of urgency coach Brian Kelly preached all week after falling behind by double digits in losses to Texas and Michigan State, jumping to a 14-0 lead. But they couldn't keep the momentum going, and struggled to do anything consistently well.

UP NEXT

Duke: After back-to-back trips to the Midwest, the Blue Devils return home to face Virginia, a team it has beaten in six of their last eight meetings.

Notre Dame: The Irish travel to East Rutherford, New Jersey, to play Syracuse, the first of three neutral-site games they will play this season.

Northwestern gets first win, 24-13 over Duke

After losing to a Mid-American Conference opponent to open the season, then an FCS school in week two, Northwestern got on the right track by beating a Power Five school.

Clayton Thorson threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns, Justin Jacksonrushed for 94 yards and Northwestern defeated Duke 24-13 on Saturday night.

Northwestern avoided losing its first three games to start the season, something it hasn't done since 1992. They suffered losses to MAC-favorite Western Michigan and FCS-power Illinois State.

"I think I saw a bunch of guys that celebrated their rear ends off," said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. "I think it just shows if you have perseverance and grit and you stay the course that you can do whatever you set your mind to."

After being held to 7 points by Illinois State last week, Northwestern (1-2) scored on the game's opening drive. Thorson connected with Garrett Dickerson for a 26-yard touchdown reception, capping a 10-play, 75-yard drive.

"I think it meant a lot. It was just the first drive of the game and it was Garrett's first touchdown catch, so that was huge, and it was fun for us," said Thorson. "When we get into that situation we have to capitalize more when we get down there.

Northwestern capitalized on Blue Devils' punter Austin Parker's gaffe in the third quarter to take a 14-7 lead. Duke (1-2) was lined up to punt, Parker dropped the snapped and wasn't able to get the punt away. Northwestern took over at the Duke 44. On the next play, Thorson found Solomon Vault wide open in the middle of the field for the go-ahead touchdown.

"We have shown flashes - which is not what you want in game three - of at times being a really good football team. We have shown flashes, unfortunately, of doing things bad football teams do. We are consistently inconsistent," said Duke coach David Cutcliffe.

Thorson also connected with former walk-on Austin Carr on a 58-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Duke's Daniel Jones threw for 279 yards with one interception. Jela Duncan had 53 yards rushing and a touchdown.

"I felt like we were prepared going in and knew what they were trying to do. It's all about execution from there," said Jones.

Byron Fields picked off Thorson's pass at the 1, setting up a 99-yard, 12-play drive to tie the game at 7 with 3:03 left in the second quarter. The drive was highlighted by Shaun Wilson's 39-yard catch from Jones.

Thorson was hurried or on his back for most of the game. Duke was throwing a number of blitz packages at the Northwestern offensive line, which they weren't able to pick up.

"He saw every pressure that I think he will see in his career," said Fitzgerald. "He's won 11 games as a starter, and I think he hung in there pretty well with the amount of time he got."

TAKEAWAY

Duke: The Blue Devils failed to finish on multiple drives. Late in first quarter on fourth-down and 10 at the Wildcats' 38, it looked as if Duke was going to convert on a fake punt, but Erich Schneider, who was wide open in the middle of the field, slipped on the grass and fell before he had a chance to catch Parker's pass. Jones threw a pick to Godwin Igwebuike at the Northwestern 22 at the end of the first quarter and AJ Reed missed a 48 yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter."We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times and it really hurt us in the end," said safety DeVon Edwards.

Northwestern: Despite Thorson getting sacked five times, Northwestern showed some life on offense. The opening scoring drive featured Jackson, and then Thorson was able to open it up in the air in the second half.

GETTING DEFENSIVE

Fitzgerald backed his coaching staff after his staff received criticism with losses to Western Michigan and Illinois State. "I'm very happy for our staff. It's the all-time winningest staff in Northwestern history. We had a couple tough losses and some people are going to take shots at them and I think they shut off the noise pretty well," said Fitzgerald.

UP NEXT

Duke: The Blue Devils visit struggling Notre Dame on Saturday.

Northwestern: The Wildcats' season-opening four-game home stand continues Saturday night against Nebraska, which beat Oregon on Saturday.

Freshman Carney scores 3 TDs, Wake Forest upsets Duke 24-14

Wake Forest has scored a few touchdowns and earned a couple of Atlantic Coast Conference victories under coach Dave Clawson.

They just never happened in the same game - until now.

Wake Forest upset Duke 24-14 on Saturday behind three touchdowns from freshman Cade Carney and a big game from hometown favorite Kendall Hinton.

Carney rushed for 108 yards while becoming the program's first freshman with a three-TD game since Chris Barclay against Purdue in 2002. He scored on runs of 7, 1 and 55 yards - the last of which broke a 14-all tie with about 4 minutes left in the third quarter.

It added up to a big step forward for the Demon Deacons, even if Clawson wasn't ready yet to pronounce it so.

"We're 2-0, and now we've got to work hard. The reward for winning a game like this is, the next game becomes more important," Clawson said. "Whether this is a turning point in our program, you can't say that now."

Wake Forest entered with just seven wins under Clawson. Two of those came against FCS schools and three others were in less-than-inspiring fashion: A 6-3, double-overtime win against Virginia Tech in 2014, a 3-0 win at Boston College last year and last week's 7-3 victory over Tulane.

In this complete effort, the Demon Deacons erased one particularly pesky footnote: They had failed to score a touchdown in either of their prior ACC wins under Clawson.

They can thank Carney and Hinton, who threw for 133 yards and rushed for 63 more. Mike Weaver made it a 10-point game by kicking a 34-yard field goal with 3:50 to play.

The Demon Deacons (2-0, 1-0) entered just 4-20 in league games during the last three years. They outrushed Duke 239-37, and - after managing just 175 total yards against Tulane - more than doubled that in this one by rolling up 389 total yards.

"When a team invests as much as our guys have invested, they're not going to fall apart after one drive or one game," Clawson said.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Daniel Jones had a pair of 1-yard scoring runs on zone-read keepers for the Blue Devils (1-1, 0-1), who were 6 1/2-point favorites. But he was intercepted by Brad Watson deep in Wake Forest territory with 1:54 left, and that all but sealed it.

"You never know what play in the game is going to make a huge difference," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. "This time, we weren't consistent enough."

THE TAKEAWAY

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons not only earned their first win over Duke since 2011, they might have found their quarterback in Hinton - though Clawson wasn't ready to anoint him as his starter.

Hinton had split time with John Wolford since the start of last season and came off the bench in this one, but wound up taking every significant snap in the final 2 1/2 quarters and led all four scoring drives. Hinton was 6 of 11 passing and averaged 5.7 yards on his 11 carries.

"For me to get up here after a game and make a pronouncement isn't fair to any parties involved," Clawson said.

Duke: An offense that was so efficient in the first half against an FCS opponent last week still isn't anything close to a finished product. This could have been a Duke blowout, but in the first half Duke lost a fumble on a deflected backwards pass near midfield, netted no yards after forcing a fumble at the Wake Forest 35 and missed field goals of 30 and 43 yards. The Blue Devils also fumbled away their opening series of the third quarter, turned it over three times - giving them eight on the season - and never led in the second half.

"Our inability to run it early was obvious," Cutcliffe said. "Some of our best players are in the backfield. We've got to put them to work."

BAROMETER GAME?

Maybe Wake Forest can start checking out hotel rates and flights for the holidays because in eight of the last 10 years, the winner of the Wake Forest-Duke game has gone to a bowl while the loser stayed home. The exceptions: the 2009 and '10 Demon Deacons, who beat the Blue Devils but finished with losing records.

UP NEXT

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons will look for their first 3-0 start since 2008 when they play host to Delaware of the FCS.

Duke heads to Northwestern for the first of two straight out-of-conference trips to the Midwest, with a visit to Notre Dame the following week.

QB Jones accounts for 3 TDs, Duke routs NC Central 49-6

Daniel Jones looked like he's played quarterback at Duke for years.

The redshirt freshman threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in his first college start, and Duke routed North Carolina Central 49-6 on Saturday night.

Jela Duncan set the tone with a 50-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage, added a 3-yard TD run and matched a career high with 115 yards.

"Daniel Jones was out there dropping dimes, like I knew he could," Duncan said.

The Blue Devils (1-0) once again had an easy time against their lower-level crosstown opponent, building a three-touchdown lead before the Eagles (0-1) ran a play inside Duke territory and leading 49-0 at halftime after scoring TDs on seven of their 10 first-half possessions.

"It was a lot of fun out there tonight, and I think everyone enjoyed it," Jones said.

A year after rolling up 655 total yards against Central, Duke gained 535 yards, gave up just 112 and improved to 5-0 in the series.

Jones certainly didn't look like he was playing his first college game. He finished 10 of 15 for 189 yards with touchdown passes of 55 yards to Johnathan Lloyd and 20 yards to Erich Schneider, and added a 17-yard scoring run.

"He's smart, and he's talented, and I told you all he could run - he's really fast," coach David Cutcliffe said. "There are a lot of things he can do well. He will learn a lot from that first taste. It's going to get a lot tougher before it gets easier."

Brandon McLaren kicked field goals of 48 and 34 yards for Central.

"The first half was not what we wanted it to be, by any stretch of the imagination," Central coach Jerry Mack said.

THE TAKEAWAY

N.C. Central: Since making the jump from Division II to the Championship Subdivision roughly a decade ago, the Eagles have now played seven FBS opponents and lost them all by an average of 44 points with three shutouts. Those results sure haven't hurt them once they start playing schools at their level: They've won shares of the past two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles, and figure to contend for another.

Duke: All eyes were on Jones in his starting debut two weeks after returning starter Thomas Sirk was lost for the season when he re-injured the Achilles tendon he tore in February. The QB nicknamed "The Future" said earlier in the week that he thought he could both run and pass effectively.

He spent the first half proving it, starting with his first carry - a 21-yard gain on a read option before he threw his first pass.

"I guess that got me comfortable, to get his the first time," Jones said. "It got me rolling, I guess."

His touchdown run came one play after his prettiest pass of the night - a 35-yard throw that he dropped over receiverT.J. Rahming's right shoulder near the sideline. Rahming played a big role in Jones' first TD pass, throwing the key downfield block that sprung Lloyd's catch-and-run.

KEY NUMBERS

N.C. Central had just four first downs and Duke held a 308-38 advantage in yards rushing. ... This surely would have been even more lopsided had Duke not turned the ball over five times - three of those coming in the second half when most of the playing time went to the third- and fourth-stringers. ... Duke DT A.J. Wolf had three sacks - the first time a Duke player accomplished that since 2003.

UP NEXT

N.C. Central: The Eagles get another crack at an FBS school next week when they visit Western Michigan - which knocked off Northwestern in Week 1.

Duke: The Blue Devils dive into Atlantic Coast Conference play with a visit from Wake Forest. Duke has won four straight in the series with its instate league rival.

Duke Blue Devils Season Preview

Offensively, Duke’s main priorities will be to confi rm a replacement for Boone, who threw for 2,700 yards and 19 TDs last fall, and come up with replacements for Crowder, Tomlinson and Cofi eld, three of the better players at their positions in program history...Junior QB Th omas Sirk, who had 11 TDR in a reserve and short-yardage role last fall, emerged from spring as Boone’s successor...Senior WR Max McCaff rey (37 catches) heads a receiver corps that also includes WRs Johnell Barnes (23 catches) and Chris Taylor as well as TEs David Reeves (13 catches) and 2013 TE starter Braxton Deaver... Duke returns a bevy of RBs in Shaquille Powell (618 yards), Shaun Wilson (598 yds, 7.7 avg.), Joseph Ajeigbe (150 yds) and Jela Duncan, Duke’s second-leading rusher in 2013 who missed all of 2014... Skura leads an off ensive line that includes G Lucas Patrick and Ts Casey Blaser and Gabe Brandner with Cody Robinson and Tanner Stone competing for the other guard spot...Defensively, Duke suff ered an off season blow when senior Kelby Brown, an All-ACC linebacker who missed all of 2014 with an injury, saw his career end with another knee injury in July...Th at leaves safety convert Dwayne Norman joining Mike Holmes and Zavier Carmichael to compete for playing time ...On the defensive line, DT Carlos Wray is only returning starter, but DT A.J. Wolf, DT Mike Ramsay and DE Kyler Brown have all seen playing time while senior DE Britton Grier came out of spring as the other starter at DE...Th e strength of Duke’s defense is its secondary where Cash leads a veteran and talented group that includes CBs Breon Borders and Bryon Fields and safeties DeVon Edwards and Deondre Singleton. Th is quintet has 96 starts between them already with Cash the only senior.