Defense does the trick: 3 takeaways from Duke football’s win over Triangle rival NC State

On a day its defense led the way, Duke got just enough offense from efficient quarterback Maalik Murphy on Saturday to beat N.C. State for the second year in a row.

Murphy threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Blue Devils toughed out a 29-19 win over the Wolfpack in ACC football at Carter-Finley Stadium,

Duke (7-3, 3-3 ACC) won despite not converting a third down on nine attempts and gaining just 276 yards of total offense. But Duke’s defense delivered a safety and forced two turnovers the offense converted into 10 points.

NC State (5-5, 2-4 ACC) saw its two-game winning streak snapped and its home season end. To earn bowl eligibility, the Wolfpack need a win either at Georgia Tech or at North Carolina in its final two regular-season games.

Duke jumped to a 12-0 lead but the Wolfpack rallied to tie the score when Kanoah Vinesett kicked the fourth of his field goals.

But the Blue Devils answered right back under Murphy, who scored his first rushing touchdown of the season on a 3-yard run to put Duke in front for good at 19-12 with 4:37 left in the third quarter.

Murphy completed 22 of 31 passes for 245 yards with touchdown throws to Jordan Moore and Sahmir Hagans.

Duke defense stands tall

The Blue Devils set a tone early, recording a safety on N.C. State’s first possession before forcing a turnover on the Wolfpack’s second drive that the Duke offense converted into a field goal.

Wesley Williams and Aaron Hall combined on a sack of N.C. State quarterback CJ Bailey to give Duke a 2-0 lead.

The next time NC State had the ball, Bailey fumbled after being hit on Duke’s Cameron Bergeron at the Wolfpack 30. Bergeron recovered and Duke made the score 5-0 when Todd Pelino kicked a 50-yard field goal.

N.C. State gained just 16 yards on its first 10 plays from scrimmage.

After holding N.C. State out of the end zone while beating the Wolfpack 24-3 in Durham last season, the Blue Devils once again made things difficult for the N.C. State offense.

Even though the Wolfpack possessed the ball inside the Duke 25 six times, N.C. State managed nothing but field goal tries on the first five of those drives. N.C. State was successful on the first four field goal kicks before a third-quarter miss.

The Wolfpack finally reached the end zone in the fourth quarter, when CJ Bailey fired a 16-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Grimes on a fourth-down play to slice Duke’s lead to 26-19 with 9:01 to play.

N.C. State had the ball with a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter. But the Wolfpack, trailing 26-19, went three-and-out, losing 1 yard on the three plays, and punted the ball back to Duke.

Duke finished the game with eight tackles for losses, including two sacks. The Wolfpack gained 263 yards of total offense and finished 3 of 15 on third downs.

Mistakes slow Duke attack

The Blue Devils made a crucial turnover that prevented them from scoring points and delivered three to the Wolfpack late in the second quarter.

That miscue, along with seven Duke penalties costing it 77 yards, kept the Blue Devils from protecting their early 12-0 lead and let the Wolfpack back in the game.

The turnover late in the first half was particularly painful.

With the Blue Devils in position to add to a 12-6 lead as the half was expiring, Murphy completed a pass from the N.C. State 15 to Eli Pancol. But N.C. State’s Tamarcus Cooley ripped the ball from Pancol’s hands at the Wolfpack 10. Cooley returned the ball 70 yards before being tackled with six seconds left. That allowed N.C. State’s Kanoah Vinesett to kick a 37-yard field goal to leave Duke up 12-9 at halftime.

Duke’s discipline issues in terms of penalties cost it on N.C. State’s first drive after halftime, allowing the Wolfpack to pull even.

On a drive that started from the N.C. State 35 after Duke kicker Cosme Salas kicked the ball out of bounds on the second-half kickoff, the Wolfpack benefited from three Duke penalties while driving to the Blue Devils’ 3.

Duke’s Wesley Williams was called for roughing the passer as CJ Bailey threw an incomplete pass on a second-and-20 play from the N.C. State 25.

Later, Duke’s Kendy Charles was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for a late hit. That penalty moved the ball to the N.C. State 15 and the Wolfpack added another field goal to tie the score at 12.

It’s the fifth game this season where Duke had seven penalties or more. The Blue Devils entered Saturday averaging 5.7 penalties for 50.4 penalty yards per game.

Wolfpack capitalizes on red zone FGs

N.C. State’s offense struggled for most of the game, unable to get into a rhythm in the run game or the pass game. The Wolfpack, however, earned field goal scoring opportunities on five drives. It turned four of those into points.

The Pack started 4 of 4 in the red zone, thanks to Vinesett.

One week after losing the starting place kicker job to Collin Smith, Vinesett returned to the lineup as the No. 1 guy. Entering the game, Vinesett was 11 of 15 on field goal attempts.

Vinesett looked comfortable in his return, playing a crucial role in the Wolfpack’s loss to Duke on Saturday. He scored the team’s first 12 points and tied the game in the third quarter.

The sophomore’s third field goal came with one second left in the first half. Nickelback Tamarcus Cooley returned a fumble for 70 yards, and the Wolfpack took the easy points when Vinesett made a 37-yard field goal.

He missed his fifth and final attempt of the night from 36 yards out.

Vinesett, however, made the extra point after Wesley Grimes’ touchdown reception as well. The sophomore has made all 26 PATs this season and is now 15 of 20 on field goal attempts.

The sophomore’s hot start was imperative to keep N.C. State within striking distance, something the offense couldn’t do.