Last-second field goal, turnovers power Blue Devils over Demon Deacons, 24-21
Posted November 2, 2023 4:39 p.m. EDT
Updated November 3, 2023 7:59 a.m. EDT
 Wake Forest Demon Deacons |
21 |
 Duke Blue Devils |
24 |
| Final | |
Durham, N.C. — The Duke Blue Devils looked like they were going into overtime Thursday night, but two penalties by the Wake Forest Demon Deacons' defense and a last-second field goal by Todd Pelino gave Duke a 24-21 win at Wallace Wade Stadium.
The Blue Devils turned to freshman quarterback Grayson Loftis after Riley Leonard was ruled out hours before kick off due to a toe injury he suffered in Duke's shutout loss to the Louisville Cardinals five days prior.
"I can't even put into words how proud I am of these kids," head coach Mike Elko said after the game.
The game-winning field goal was set up by two late penalties by the Wake Forest defense. One penalty was a pass interference penalty and the other was an unnecessary roughness call. Both penalties were called on Demon Deacons defensive back DaShawn Jones.
"Hopefully this will finally put to bed all of the talk about whether or not this team will respond, whether or not this team will keep fighting, and whether this team will represent Duke the right way. Hopefully nobody ever will question the character of this locker room again," Elko said.
Not A Loss for Loftis
Loftis started slow, with no score in the first quarter, but eventually settled in and developed a pocket presence at Wallace Wade Stadium late in the fourth quarter.
"We didn't want it to be a lot of full-field reads. We were trying to find easy throws for him, we were trying to find open-access throws where he could just kind of have one look and go," Elko said.
Loftis completed 7/19 passes, 86 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Utilizing the run throughout most of the game, Loftis handed it off to Jaquez Moore in the second for a 32 yard rushing touchdown.
Glimpses of greatness began to show for itself in the young quarterback, coming alive after the first quarter. With another rushing touchdown from Jordan Waters, Loftis started to gain some confidence in his offense and threw his first career passing touchdown to WR Jordan Moore for 29 yards in the fourth quarter, trailing by seven.
Taking on a defense like Wake Forest made the passing game difficult to develop for Loftis, with star wide receiver Jalon Calhoun only having one reception throughout the entire game.
"We knew Grayson was going to be the guy all week and so I just told him, 'Take a deep breath, go out there, let it loose,'" Elko said.
Loftis threw one interception to Wake Forest LB Quincy Bryant towards the end of the second quarter, but the Duke defense was able to stop anything from leading that.
Defend Griffis, Defeat Deacons
Duke's defense was relentless against Wake Forest quarterback Mitch Griffis, sacking him six times throughout the game.
A strip sack from Duke DL Jasheen Davis gave the Duke offense a great opportunity in the first quarter to put points on the board. Another forced fumble in the second quarter was recovered by Wake Forest, but the pressure was on Griffis throughout the entire game.
Throughout this season, Duke's defense has proven time and time again that the sea of blue will forever swarm the quarterback, consistently breaking up passes and forcing scrambles from Griffis - no matter where they are on the field.
Duke's defense forced Griffis to throw a pick, with the game tied late in the fourth quarter. The interception set up Duke's game-winning drive.
Griffis had two rushing touchdowns throughout the game in the red zone, but a certified run game was hard to develop for the Deacons.
Field Goal for The Win
While Pelino only saw the field one time tonight, it was in a clutch moment and gave the Blue Devil's their sixth win of the season, officially making the Blue Devils bowl eligible.
Wake Forest kicker Matthew Dennis missed two field goals tonight, helping Duke to keep the game too close for comfort, and giving them a chance to take the win home.
Up Next
The Blue Devils will take on the UNC Tar Heels November 11, 2023 at Kenan Stadium. The time is to be determined, but the Battle of the Blues is final.
Scoring Summaries
Quarter 4: Duke: Jordan Moore 29 yard receiving touchdown, (T. Pelino kick), 11:40. Key Plays: Duke defense creates a fumble, recovered by Tre Freeman. Much needed big play for Duke's defense - time to take a shot. Interception by DE Ryan Smith gives Duke's offense another chance at a win. Duke 24, Wake Forest 21.
Quarter 3: Wake Forest: Mitch Griffis gets his second rushing touchdown of the night for 5 yards, (M. Dennis kick), 4:35. Key Plays: Mitchell Dennis misses second field goal of the night. Huge 61 yard gain by Taylor Morin to send the offense into the red zone. Wake Forest 21, Duke 14.
Quarter 2: Duke: RB Jaquez Moore 32 yard rushing touchdown, (T. Pelino kick), 14:22. RB Jordan Waters 4 yard rushing touchdown, (T. Pelino kick), 1:00. Wake Forest: QB Mitch Griffis 8 yard rushing touchdown, (M. Dennis kick), 8:15 Key Plays: Mitch Griffis fumbles at the Duke 25 yard line, recovered by Wake Forest. Duke defense stuffs Wake Forest on a 4th & 1. LB Quincy Bryant picks off Loftis at the Duke 28 yard line, giving the Deacons what they need to get back on offense. Duke 14, Wake Forest 14.
Quarter 1: Wake Forest: RB Tate Carney 3 yard rushing touchdown (M. Dennis kick), 7:10. Key Plays: Strip sack from DL Jasheen Davis gives Wake Forest the ball on offense and puts them in the red zone. Matthew Dennis misses a 27 yard field goal for the Deacons after the turnover, giving Duke another chance on offense. Wake Forest 7, Duke 0.
Pre-game: Wake Forest delayed en route; Riley sidelined by injury
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons sat in traffic for awhile on Thursday where N.C. Highway 147 was blocked by a group demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Blue Devils host the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at 7:30 p.m. Gates opened at Wallace Wade at 6 p.m. The game airs on ESPN.
Duke star quarterback Riley Leonard will not play against Wake Forest on Thursday night, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Third-string quarterback Grayson Loftis will start for the Blue Devils (5-3, 2-2 in the ACC) against the Demon Deacons (4-4, 1-4), Thamel reported.
Leonard has missed the NC State game with a right ankle injury suffered in the waning seconds against Notre Dame. He reportedly injured his toe in the Blue Devils' loss to Louisville that will keep him out an "extended period of time," according to the ESPN report.
Earlier this week, Duke coach Mike Elko said Leonard was "day-to-day."
"It doesn't benefit us to get up here and let the whole world know all of the things that are going on inside of our program," Elko said earlier in the week about injury updates. "A lot of people make a lot of these snap judgments watching games and watching kids play and a lot of times there's a lot more going on behind the scenes and so maybe giving the kids some benefit of the doubt every once in a while might, you know, help people a little bit."
Backup quarterback Henry Belin IV is also injured. He's dealing with an upper body injury, Elko said.
Loftis, from Gaffney, South Carolina, is a true freshman. He enrolled in January. Loftis went 3-for-5 for 30 yards against Louisville.
"He's progressing," Elko said of Loftis. "He's been able to get a lot of reps. There's been different weeks this year where we've had to shut Henry [Belin IV] down and try to let his injury calm down and last week was another one. So, he's been able to get a lot of reps.
"He kind of moved off a scout team really after the UConn game, so he's been getting reps consistently since then, and I think you saw that last week. It was obviously not a fair sample, the part of the game that he goes out there in it's a completely different sample in terms of the score and the makeup of it all, but certainly was able to go out there with confidence and operate and do the things that we needed him to do and so I think he'll be ready if needed."
Leonard, a junior, passing for nearly 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushing for 699 yards and 13 scores.
He has completed 57.6% of his passes this season for 1,102 yards and three touchdowns. Leonard has rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns this year.
The Blue Devils upset Clemson in the season opener and began the year 4-0. They were poised to upset Notre Dame in Durham, but the Irish rallied in the final minute for a 21-14 win, and Leonard was injured in the final seconds of the loss.
He missed all of Duke's next game against NC State, but returned to the lineup against Florida State and Louisville. He did not finish either game. In those two games, both losses to ranked teams, he completed 16-of-39 passes for 190 yards and two interceptions.
