Duke Falls at No. 5 Miami, 53-31

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Duke led No. 5 Miami 28-17 in the third quarter, but the Hurricanes rallied with 36 of the game’s final 39 points at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday afternoon to claim a 53-31 victory.

Sophomore running back Peyton Jones scored two touchdowns – one rushing and one receiving – and accumulated 152 all-purpose yards to guide Duke’s offensive effort. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Maalik Murphy threw for three touchdowns and year-high 325 yards while redshirt junior wide receiver Sahmir Hagans led the squad with a career-high nine catches and matched his personal best with 139 receiving yards.

Defensively, Duke forced Miami into consecutive three-and-out drives for the first time this season, booked 6.0 tackles for loss, broke up seven passes and tallied two takeaways. Graduate linebacker Ozzie Nicholas paced the Blue Devils with 10 tackles with junior safety Terry Moore carding nine. Junior cornerback Chandler Rivers also intercepted a pass, giving him three consecutive games with a pick. 

The Blue Devils fell to 6-3, 2-3 in ACC play while Miami upped its record to 9-0, 5-0 ACC.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Miami took a 14-0 lead with touchdowns on two of its first three drives, but Duke’s defense responded and forced consecutive three-and-outs.
• Duke cashed in each of the three-and-out drives with touchdowns to forge a 14-14 tie with 11:15 to go in the half.
• The Blue Devils made it 14-7 with an eight-yard touchdown run by Peyton Jones and evened the game with a 27-yard third-down reception by Sahmir Hagans. Jones also aided in Duke’s second scoring drive with a 40-yard reception, the longest catch of his career.
• During Duke’s first scoring drive, Jordan Moore became the 12th Blue Devil to reach 2,000 career receiving yards with a leaping, tip-top, 27-yard reception.
• With the 14-14 tie, Miami took its next possession and converted on a 29-yard field goal to go back in front by three with 4:51 to play in the half.
• The Blue Devils responded again, this time with a seven-play, 75-yard march capped off by a Jones six-yard reception to take a 21-17 lead into intermission.
• Duke extended its advantage to 28-17 on the opening drive of the third quarter with a six-yard pass from Murphy to Moore.
• The Hurricanes quickly answered on their two ensuing drives with a pair of touchdowns, plus a two-point conversion, to go ahead 32-28 with 3:08 to play in the third quarter.
• The Blue Devils closed the gap to 32-31 on a Todd Pelino field goal with 13:51 to play, but Miami scored two plays later with a 49-yard touchdown pass to make it 39-31 with 12:56 remaining.
• Miami added another two-play scoring drive, halfway through the fourth quarter, to open up a 46-31 margin and the hosts eventually closed out the 53-31 victory.

UP NEXT

• Duke travels to NC State next Saturday, Nov. 9. The game time and television network are still to be determined.

For more information on Duke Football, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching “DukeFOOTBALL”.
 
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