Greg’s Grades 2019: Duke

The defense put up A's in the weekly grades.
Joey Blount returns an interception against Duke. ~ Kris Wright

Looking to end a four-game losing skid to Virginia and improve their 2019 road record to 3-0, the Blue Devils ran into one of the most complete defensive performances from a Virginia defense in my memory. That helped spark a 48-14 victory for UVA that pushed its season record to 5-2 and drew some good grades.

Duke’s first six drives produced 26 plays and 73 yards (2.80 yards per play), three first downs, no third- down conversions (0-5), and a smidge over 8:00 of possession time. Coach David Cutcliffe’s outfit punted three times, lost a fumble, threw an interception, and turned the ball over on downs. The Cavalier defense held the Blue Devils scoreless in the first half for the first time since Oct. 20, 2018, also against the Hoos (almost 2 years to the day).

The second half wasn’t much better as Duke finally managed a touchdown, due in large part to punter Austin Parker’s back-to-back fourth down conversions runs from punting formation. Let the punt return grade reflect my annoyance with that sequence of events. The Devils didn’t even reach plus-field territory until five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

In addition to the punter-aided score, Duke’s second half drives ended with two fumbles, an interception, three punts, and a meaningless touchdown with 2:41 reaming in the game for the 48-14 final tally. Duke’s 250 yards of total offense were the team’s second lowest in 24 games and the 14.29% third down conversion percentage was the lowest since September 27, 2014 in a loss at Miami.

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