Turnovers Doom Blue Devils in Loss to Syracuse

Saturday, November 16

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

4-6 , 2-4

Syracuse

4-6 , 1-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Syracuse

Turnovers Doom Blue Devils in Loss to Syracuse

11/16/2019 8:03:00 PM | Football

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DURHAM, N.C. — Syracuse capitalized on Duke's three third-quarter turnovers to beat the Blue Devils, 49-6, in ACC football action on Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium.

The Orange held Duke scoreless in the second half as the Blue Devils fell to 4-6 overall and 2-4 against conference foes. Syracuse improved to 4-6 and 1-5, respectively.

The Blue Devils' offensive woes continued as three turnovers on three possessions to start the second half handed the Orange 21 of their 49 points. In addition to the three takeaways, the Orange run game made life tough for Duke. Syracuse finished the contest with 286 rushing yards with both Moe Neal and Jarveon Howard picking up 115 yards apiece. Orange quarterback Tommy Devito completed just six passes, two of which found the end zone.

Duke saw redshirt senior quarterback Quentin Harris throw for 157 yards on 19-of-36 attempts. Sixty-three of those 157 yards went to Aaron Young as he led the team in receiving yards. Mataeo Durant led the ground game with 54 yards on 11 carries, while teammate Deon Jackson racked up 32 yards on 13 carries. Duke also managed to compile with 279 yards of total offense throughout the game.

Syracuse jumped out to a 14-0 lead, scoring on its first two possessions before Duke's defense settled in and held the Orange scoreless for the rest of the opening half. The Blue Devils struggled offensively to start the game, only managing to get their first points with a little over six minutes remaining in the half when AJ Reed connected on a 31-yard field goal. Reed added three more points to Duke's first-half total with a career-long 51-yard field goal to send the Blue Devils into halftime trailing just, 14-6.

Duke started the third quarter with a huge defensive three-and-out. Unfortunately, the Orange defense came up big on the Blue Devils' next three possessions by returning an interception for a touchdown and converting another interception and a fumble into 14 more points to pull away, 35-6.

The Blue Devils were never able to get into a rhythm offensively after the break, compiling just 97 yards of offense in the second half and only seven first downs.

Austin Parker had another outstanding game punting the ball for Duke, including sending a booming career-long 72-yard kick down the field in the second quarter. The 72-yarder ties him for 10th longest in Duke history. Overall, Parker punted six times for an average of 41.8 yards per kick and put three inside the 20-yards line.

Defensively, the Blue Devils were led by safety Dylan Singleton and linebacker Shaka Heyward with eight tackles each. Heyward recorded Duke's only sack of the night, a seven-yard takedown.

The Blue Devils hit the road for the final time Nov. 23 when they take on Wake Forest. The time for this game is yet to be determined.