Duke Breezes Past Middle Tennessee State, 41-18

Saturday, September 14

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

7:00 PM

Duke University

2-1

Middle Tennessee

1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Middle Tennessee

Duke Breezes Past Middle Tennessee State, 41-18

9/14/2019 11:05:00 PM | Football

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Duke football scored on seven of its nine possessions to take down Middle Tennessee State, 41-18, Saturday night at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium.

The Blue Devils saw great output from redshirt senior quarterback Quentin Harris, who finished 24-of-27 for 237 yards and four touchdowns. His four passing scores matched Dave Brown's program record for touchdowns in consecutive games (eight), after he also had four against North Carolina A&T last week. In addition, Harris added 107 yards on 11 carries, including a career-long 65-yard run in the third quarter.

Junior running back Deon Jackson got Duke on the board first as he muscled his way into the end zone to give the Blue Devils the lead midway through the first half. The score capped off a 14 play, 67-yard drive that ate 6:04 of the clock. Jackson finished with 71 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown.

Following the score, Duke redshirt junior kicker AJ Reed surprised the Middle Tennessee special teams unit by converting on an onside kick. After the ball traveled the required ten yards redshirt sophomore wide receiver Damond Philyaw-Johnson jumped on it. The Duke Blue and White would capitalize on the good field position and add another score as Harris completed a screen pass to rookie wide receiver Jalon Calhoun who made a couple Middle defenders miss before finding the end zone. That touchdown handed Duke a 14-3 lead and it would never look back.

Redshirt senior wide receiver Aaron Young led the team in receiving with 106 yards on six receptions and two touchdowns. Young turned many heads with an incredible 25-yard catch in the back of the end zone late in the second quarter.

Rookie wide receiver Eli Pancol made one catch for the Blue Devils and scored an 11-yard touchdown to help the Duke offense. The Pendleton, Ind., native, scored his second touchdown in as many games.

Sophomore running back Mataeo Durant added 10 carries for 47 yards for the Blue Devils. His carries were highlighted by a 22-yard rush in the opening half. Junior tight end Noah Gray added five catches for 33 yards as well.

Defensively, senior safety Dylan Singleton and senior linebacker Koby Quansah led the team with eight total tackles apiece. This was the third consecutive game that Singleton led the Blue Devils in tackles. Redshirt junior linebacker Brandon Hill followed the pair with six tackles.

Redshirt sophomore defensive end Chris Rumph II led the team with two sacks for five yards and four tackles for a loss of ten yards. In addition, Rumph II tied redshirt senior defensive tackle Trevon McSwain for tops on the team with three quarterback hurries. Hill added the largest sack of the night, tackling the Middle Tennessee quarterback 16 yards behind the line of scrimmage in the fourth quarter.

Reed scored six points on the night with a 49-yard kick in the second quarter and a 26-yard strike in the third. Redshirt senior punter Austin Parker booted the ball twice for 84 yards at 42 yards per kick.

Duke goes into its first open week of the season before traveling to Blacksburg, Va., on Friday, September 27th to open ACC play at Virginia Tech. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPN.