Leonard, Waters Lead No. 21 Duke Past Northwestern, 38-14

Saturday, September 16

Durham, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

Duke University

3-0 , 1-0

Northwestern

1-2 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Northwestern

Duke

Leonard, Waters Lead No. 21 Duke Past Northwestern, 38-14

9/16/2023 6:37:00 PM | Football

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DURHAM – No. 21 Duke rolled up 487 yards of offense and improved to 3-0 with a 38-14 win over Northwestern on Saturday afternoon at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium.

The Blue Devils (3-0) defeated the Wildcats (1-2) for the fifth consecutive time in the series, led by junior Riley Leonard, who rushed for 97 yards and two scores and threw for 219 on an efficient 15-of-20 passing. Jordan Waters also rushed for a pair of touchdowns and has five rushing scores this season.

Duke led 17-7 at the half and pulled away with three consecutive touchdowns in the second half to open a 38-7 advantage before a late touchdown by the Wildcats with substitutes in on both sides. The score marked the first second-half points allowed by the Blue Devils this season.

Jalon Calhoun was on the receiving end of five Leonard targets for 112 yards – his sixth career 100-yard receiving game. The balanced Blue Devils rushed for 268 yards, passed for 219 and owned a 487-267 advantage in total yards.

How It Happened

Waters opened the scoring early in the first quarter when he found pay dirt for his first rushing score of the night.
Forty-one seconds into the second quarter, Waters added a second rushing touchdown to cap an eight-play, 89-yard drive, that extended the Blue Devils' edge to 14-0.
With a little more than nine minutes remaining before half, Duke increased its advantage to 17-0 following a 35-yard field goal by sophomore Todd Pelino.
Northwestern finally got on the scoreboard with 34 seconds left in the half when Ben Bryant connected with A.J. Henning for a 14-yard touchdown reception.
The Blue Devils started the second half strong, scoring the game's next three touchdowns to put the game out of reach. Leonard posted two of those scores, both rushing, while rookie Peyton Jones accounted for the other rushing touchdown.
The Wildcats found the end zone one final time with 1:27 remaining in the game after Brendan Sullivan rushed in from 10 yards out.

Notables

The Blue Devils improved to 10-0 when scoring first under head coach Mike Elko.
Duke is now 17-2 when scoring a touchdown on its opening possession since the start of 2017.
Duke won the turnover battle for the 11th time under Elko and has done 9-2 during that stretch.
The Blue Devils have now won the turnover battle in fourth consecutive games dating back to the 2022 Military Bowl.
With the win on Saturday, Elko is now 12-4 (.750) through the first 16 games of his tenure with the Blue Devils, marking the best 16-game start to a head coaching stint in school history.
Elko's 12-4 (.750) record through 16 games is the best among current ACC coaches to open their respective tenures at their current institutions.
As a team, the Blue Devils rushed for five touchdowns in the game for the first time since 2021 against North Carolina A&T when they rushed for six.
Waters tallied his third straight contest with a touchdown and finished with two rushing scores on the day to become the first Blue Devil since Mataeo Durant in 2021 to rush for two-plus scores in back-to-back outings.
Waters now has four multi-touchdown games in his Duke career.
Leonard and Waters each found the endzone twice in the game to becoming the first pair of Blue Devils to do so since Durant (3) and Gunnar Holmberg (2) scored two-plus rushing touchdowns against North Carolina A&T in 2021.
With his 33-yard scamper in the second quarter, Leonard eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark to move into fifth all-time by a Blue Devil quarterback.
Freshman running back Peyton Jones scored his first career touchdown, a 15-yard score in the fourth quarter.
Redshirt senior wide receiver Jalon Calhoun hauled in five catches for 112 yards to record his sixth career 100-plus yard receiving game.
Calhoun moved into a tie for seventh all-time with six career 100-plus yard receiving games.
The Blue Devils defensive unit posted their second consecutive contest holding an opponent to under 300 yards of total offense.
Senior linebacker Dorian Mausi led the team with 10 total tackles, to register the first 10-plus tackle outing of his career.
Freshman linebacker Kendall Johnson tallied his first career sack.
Graduate cornerback Myles Jones produced his second consecutive game with an interception to become the first Blue Devil to do so since Shaka Heyward in 2022 (Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh).
The Blue Devils' defense has recorded three-straight games with five-plus tackles for loss.

Up Next

Duke travels to East Hartford, Conn., for its first road test of the season at Connecticut. The Blue Devils and Huskies are set to face off at 3:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network from Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. UConn fell to FIU on Saturday, 24-17.

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