Duke football holds on to beat Northwestern, 31-23. Mike Elko begins tenure 2-0

Duke started the season with an historic defensive effort.

The second act on Saturday lacked the bite that, a week earlier, brought a rare shutout.

What the Blue Devils did, though, was keep trying when things didn’t go their way at Northwestern. That extra effort led to key plays late that delivered a resilient win.

Sophomore defensive back Brandon Johnson intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble in the end zone to end Northwestern’s final two possessions as the Blue Devils, after leading by three touchdowns, held on to beat the Wildcats 31-23 at Ryan Field.

Duke whipped Temple, 30-0, a week earlier to open the season. That was the program’s first shutout over a Football Bowl Subdivision team since 1989.

On Saturday, Duke allowed the Wildcats to gain 511 yards and reach Blue Devils territory on nine of their 12 possessions.

But the Blue Devils made up for a lack of overall bite by forcing three turnovers. None were bigger than the two plays Johnson made in the final four minutes.

“It’s just a credit to the effort that those kids are playing with right now,” said Duke coach Mike Elko, who has started his head-coaching career 2-0. “I don’t know that our execution is always exactly where we want it to be. But the effort was certainly there today.”

Johnson’s interception, with 3:31 to play, gave Duke the ball at the Northwestern 33 up 28-23. Duke reached the 1 where, on fourth down, Charlie Ham added a field goal for a 31-23 Duke lead with 1:18 to play.

Undaunted, Northwestern reached the Duke 16 with 32 seconds to play when Ryan Hilinski completed a 17-yard pass to Thomas Gordon before Duke jumped offsides.

With 19 seconds to play, Northwestern running back Evan Hull ran the ball up the middle and appeared on the verge of scoring. But Duke defensive backs Jaylen Stinson and Darius Joiner hit him at the 1 with Stinson getting credit for the forced fumble.

Johnson fell on the ball in the end zone to secure the win for Duke (2-0).

“Crazy,” Stinson told The News & Observer. “I mean, I saw him coming. All I could think was, you know, I just gotta lay my my body on the line and do it for the guys.”

In an interview with The N&O, Johnson made sure to first credit Stinson and Joiner for their hit on the 210-pound Hull.

“A hell of a play by them,” Johnson said. “Being alert, always being ready, never giving up on a play. So when I saw the ball come out, I jumped on it.”

Hilinski finished the day completing 36 of 60 passes for 435 yards and two touchdowns. Hull caught 14 of those passes for 213 yards with one touchdown. Hull only gained 65 yards on 17 carries though, as Duke limited Northwestern to 76 rushing yards.

“It felt like a roller coaster to us,” said Joiner, who recorded 14 tackles (13 solo). “Like we were up and we were down. But I think we kept telling ourselves, ‘Don’t look up. Don’t look at the score. Just keep grinding.’ Everything turned out the right way.”

Duke’s Riley Leonard completed 13 of 24 passes with a touchdown as Duke built a 21-0 lead in the first half and held on.

Duke’s defense started the season in historic fashion a week earlier in a 30-0 win over Temple, recording the first shutout over a Football Bowl Subdivision team since 1989.

It took until the second quarter for Northwestern to score against Duke on Saturday, and the Wildcats eventually cut a three-touchdown deficit down to 21-16 in the third quarter.

But the Blue Devils turned in a solid effort in managing to only give up those points. Northwestern reached Duke territory on seven of its first nine possessions. Duke stopped the Wildcats on downs on two of them and saw Wildcats kicker Adam Stage miss a 39-yard field goal.

On another, in the third quarter, Duke defensive end DeWayne Carter slapped the ball from Hilinski’s hands for a fumble that Anthony Nelson recovered for Duke.

Trailing 28-16 in the fourth quarter, though, Hilinski directed a quick 80-yard drive that gave his team a chance to pull off the comeback. His 14-yard touchdown pass to Donny Navarro, one play after a fourth-down conversion, cut Duke’s lead to 28-23 with 5:49 to play.

After a Duke three-and-out, Northwestern got the ball back at its 25 with 4:23 to play.

That’s when Johnson recorded his first career interception, which was an impressive precursor to his game-clincher later.

“I was in a position to make plays for my team,” Johnson said. “So I was thinking about winning the game. I thought about making that play and helping my team win the game.”

After building a 21-0 lead in the first half, Duke saw Northwestern methodically climb back into the game. Duke’s lead was 21-10 at halftime.

With 1:50 left in the third quarter, Hull scored on a 39-yard pass play on fourth-and-3, slicing Duke’s lead to 21-16. The Wildcats attempted a two-point conversion pass, but it was broken up by Johnson.

That’s when Duke’s offense, which had grown stagnant, found its groove again with a bit of luck.

The Blue Devils faced third-and-4 from their own 29 when Leonard zipped the ball over the middle toward Jordan Moore. The ball bounced off Moore’s outstretched arm and up into the air, where Calhoun caught it and ran to the Wildcats’ 20 for a 51-yard gain.

Moore’s catch on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Leonard put Duke up 28-16 with 13:33 to play.

From there, it was up to Duke’s defense to protect the lead. The Blue Devils did it with six inches to spare.

On offense, Riley Leonard completed 13 of 24 passes for 240 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Wide receivers Jalon Calhoun and Eli Pancol accounted for nearly all those passing yards.

Calhoun caught six passes for 108 yards, while Pancol amassed 106 yards on two catches.

Duke’s rushing game produced a strong day with 221 yards. Jordan Waters led the way with 91 yards on 10 carries, while Jaylen Coleman had 83 yards on 11 carries.

Duke scored on its first three possessions of the game to lead 21-0 but went quiet from there. The Blue Devils marched deep into Northwestern territory on their first two drives of the second half. But one ended with an interception in the end zone and the other when Ham missed a 39-yard field goal.

Calhoun’s catch on the circus play involving Moore’s tip changed Duke’s fortunes, though, as the Blue Devils scored 10 fourth-quarter points.

The Blue Devils offense started the game in unstoppable fashion, stringing together touchdown drives covering 77, 80 and 90 yards. Coleman scored first on a 16-yard run and Waters added runs of 42 and 4 yards for the other touchdowns.