Duke Rolls Past NC State in Blowout Win on Road

The Duke Blue Devils kept their Atlantic Coast Conference title hopes alive again this week and did so in dominating fashion. 

Duke traveled down the road to Raleigh and made quick work of NC State, blowing them out for a  41-3 win. And it wasn't really close from the start.

Backed by another big game from running back Nate Sheppard, who finished with 217 yards, Duke controlled the game early, jumping out to a 7-3 lead after the first quarter. It was the second quarter in which they totally established their dominance, as they outscored NC State 24-0 in that second period to grab a 31-3 lead at halftime. 

Sheppard opened up the scoring with a 69-yard touchdown run on Duke's opening drive for a 7-0 lead. He then found the end zone again from eight yards out in the second quarter to go up 14-3. After that, Duke got a field goal, and then Walker Eget hit Jaivon Solomon for a touchdown pass to extend the lead. 

And then the play of the game happened.

As NC State lined up for a 50-yard field goal attempt, Duke's Andrew Pellicciotta caught the short attempt and brought it back 109 yards for a kick-six touchdown to give the Blue Devils a 31-3 lead at halftime. It was the longest play in Duke football history and capped off a dominant first half for the Blue Devils.

While the second half didn't feature a lot of scoring, it was Duke that had all of the points in the final 30 minutes.

Sheppard found the end zone again from four yards out for a touchdown and then Strange added a field goal in the final quarter to seal the deal. With two touchdowns on the game, Sheppard has set the single-season record in Duke program history.

It was also his second game this season going over 200 yards rushing, also doing it against Tulane in Week 1. Sheppard has been over 150 yards four total times this season, making his case for the Heisman Trophy as he hit the pose after a touchdown on Saturday. 

With Sheppard playing this well, Duke continues to roll and are now 7-2 overall and 4-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, sitting in fourth place in the conference. 

NC State had just 217 total yards as a team on Saturday, with Duke's defense dominating throughout the game. 

Duke will now head to Miami next week for a showdown against former quarterback Darian Mensah and the Miami Hurricanes.