Notes: Northwestern 24, Duke 20

9/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football

By: Duke Sports Information

Pregame:

Game captains: Duke ? Re'quan Boyette, Vincent Rey, Tielor Robinson, Michael Tauiliili;
Northwestern ? Brendan Smith, Eric Peterman, C.J. Bach?r, Prince Kwateng

Northwestern won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Duke will receive and defend the North endzone.

Weather at kickoff: 86 degrees, partly cloudy, 57-percent humidity, wind west at 2 MPH

Kickoff was at 7:05 p.m.

Duke Game Starters: Offense ? QB Thaddeus Lewis, RB Clifford Harris, FB Tielor Robinson, WR Eron Riley, WR Johnny Williams, WR Austin Kelly, LT Cameron Goldberg, LG Kyle Hill, C Bryan Morgan, RG Rob Schirmann, RT Fred Roland; Defense ? LDE Wesley Oglesby, DT Vince Oghobaase, NG Clifford Respress, RDE Greg Akinbiyi, MLB Michael Tauiliili, WLB Vincent Rey, CB Leon Wright, CB Glenn Williams, LS Catron Gainey, RS Eddie Morgan, CB Jabari Marshall.

Northwestern 24, Duke 20

Starting Streaks
Four players have started over 20 straight games for the Blue Devils. Senior wide receiver Eron Riley earned his 27th straight starting nod. Vince Oghobaase and Rob Schirmann started for the 26th straight game while junior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis has now started in 25 consecutive games. Junior defensive end Ayanga Okpokowuruk had his starting streak of 15 straight games snapped in the game.

Harris Scores Third Touchdown
Senior running back Clifford Harris put Duke on top 7-0 on the opening drive of the game with a two-yard touchdown run. It was the third touchdown of the season for Harris and fourth of his career. He now has a rushing touchdown in both games of the 2008 season.

Lewis Scores On Ground
Junior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis scrambled for a 16-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to give the Blue Devils a 20-17 lead with 12:08 left in the game. It was his first rushing touchdown of the season and fourth of his career. The 16-yard run was also the longest of Lewis' career.

Kickoff Return Record
Senior cornerback Jabari Marshall broke Duke's career kickoff return yardage record on the opening kickoff with a 14-yard return. He passed Randy Jones for first all-time and now has 1,914 career kickoff return yards.

J. Williams Posts 11 catches, 100-Yard Receiving Game
True freshman Johnny Williams caught 11 passes for 135 yards against Northwestern. He became the first freshman wide receiver with a 100-yard receiving game since Eron Riley caught four passes for 130 yards and one touchdown against Clemson in 2005. The last time a Duke receiver caught 10 passes was Oct. 21, 2006 when Jomar Wright had 10 receptions against Miami.

Lewis Passes For Over 200 Yards
Thaddeus Lewis finished the game 24-of-42 for 256 yards. It was the 11th 200-yard passing game for Lewis in his career. He also passed for 246 yards against Northwestern last season on 19-of-23 passing and three touchdowns.

Lewis Breaks School Record For Consecutive Pass Attempts Without An Interception
Thaddeus Lewis turned in his fifth consecutive game without throwing an interception and broke the school record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception. Lewis has not thrown an interception in his last 171 attempts, breaking the previous school record of 169 set by Ben Bennett over a four-game span in the 1982-83 seasons.

Kelly Records Career High With Four Catches
Sophomore wide receiver Austin Kelly registered four catches for 37 yards with a long catch of 16 yards. His four catches were a career high, topping his previous career high of three catches for 49 yards against Wake Forest last season.

Lewis and Asack Complete Passes To Eight Different Receivers
Junior quarterbacks Thaddeus Lewis and Zack Asack combined for 29-of-47 passing in the game and completed passes to eight different receivers. The wide receiver group caught 24 passes, the running backs caught three passes and the tight ends hauled in two passes.

Tauiliili Moves Up Tackles For Loss Charts
Senior middle linebacker Michael Tauiliili recorded one tackle for loss against the Wildcats to move in to a tie with Reggie Andrews for sixth on Duke's career tackles for loss chart. Tauiliili now has 34.5 career tackles for loss and is 1.5 TFL shy of Mike Junkin for fifth place.

Respress Nets Career High Six Tackles
Senior defensive tackle Clifford Respress notched six tackles in the game for a career high. His previous career high was five tackles against Clemson and North Carolina in 2005 and Navy in 2006.

Maggio Stays Perfect On Kicks
Sophomore placekicker Nick Maggio remained perfect on field goals and extra point attempts for the 2008 season. He was 2-for-2 on extra point attempts and is now 6-of-6 on the season. Maggio made 21-yard and 38-yard field goal attempts in the game and is now 3-of-3 for the year.

Third Down Conversion Defense
The Blue Devils were able to get off the field on third down as Northwestern converted only 4-of-13 third down attempts. For the season Duke has held opponents to 4-of-21 on third down.

Duke Controls Time Of Possession
The Blue Devils held the ball for 39:15 minutes in the game compared to 20:45 minutes for Northwestern. Duke had the ball for nearly 11 more minutes than James Madison in the season opener with a 35:19-to-24:41 edge.

Attendance: 23,614