Duke Falls to Wake Forest 24-14 in ACC Opener

Saturday, September 10

Durham, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

Duke University

Wake Forest

Duke Falls to Wake Forest 24-14 in ACC Opener

9/10/2016 10:00:00 PM | Football

DURHAM, N.C. – Wake Forest outscored Duke 17-7 in the second half to hand the Blue Devils a 24-14 loss in the 2016 ACC football opener at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday afternoon. Redshirt freshman quarterback Daniel Jones finished his day 31-of-48 with a career-high 332 yards.

Anthony Nash headlined the receiving corps with eight catches for a career-high 112 yards, while Johnathan Lloyd had eight catches for a career-best 67 yards. Jones accounted for both of Duke's touchdowns on the day, a pair of short dashes into the end zone.

Jones orchestrated a 17-play drive 60 yards down the field and into the end zone on Duke's opening possession. The rookie signal caller completed 5-of-8 passes for 26 yards and ran for 10 yards, including the one yard dash up the middle for the 7-0 lead.

Duke came up with an outstanding defensive stand late in the first quarter following a turnover on its own 46-yard line. The Blue Devils, after a 20-yard run from Wake Forest was negated due to a holding penalty, stopped the Demon Deacons' next two rushes to force another punt.

The Blue Devils struggled offensively in the second quarter, missing a 30-yard field goal and were unable to convert on a Duke fumble recovery on the Wake Forest 37-yard line. DeVon Edwards, already with a handful of solo stops to his name on the afternoon, forced the fumble and Joe Giles-Harris recovered as Duke's defense provided another stop on a crucial drive for the Deacons.

Wake Forest, after forcing a Duke fumble to start the second half, took advantage of the short field in converting the giveway into seven points to take its first lead of the game, 14-7.

The Blue Devils responded right away with a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by a Jones two-yard rush into the end zone. Jones passed for 67 yards, including a game-high 56-yard strike to Anthony Nash, and rushed for the other eight yards to tie the game with just over 10 minutes to play in the third quarter.

The offensive struggles continued for Duke in the final 25 minutes of the game, managing just two yards on the ground in the second half and only 177 yards of offense overall.

Duke's defense was led by a standout performance from Giles-Harris. The redshirt freshman finished with 15 tackles, including 11 solo stops, and his first career interception. Edwards posted 13 tackles and a forced fumble. The defense forced a pair of turnovers, but Duke was unable to convert on offense as penalties and pair of missed field goals doomed the Blue Devils.

The Blue Devils hit the road for the first time in 2016 next Saturday, Sept. 17, at Northwestern. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. (ET).

#GoDuke