Preview: Duke at Northwestern

[September 15, 2016]  SportsDirect Inc.

For two teams coming off bad losses, Saturday's non-conference matchup between visiting Duke and Northwestern Could make or break the season for both teams. Duke struggled in an ACC home loss to Wake Forest last week, while Northwestern's loss to an FCS foe added to a winless start on the heels on a 10-victory season.

If Northwestern is on the ropes, it's because few positives emerged from a 9-7 home loss to Illinois State. The Wildcats scored on a fourth-down pass with nine minutes left, then lost when a 33-yard field goal deflected off an upright and went through as time expired. Duke's troubles are rooted in its offensive line, which allowed five sacks and led a ground game that was held to 37 yards. Duke's rushing attack was led by Jela Duncan, who carried nine times for 25 yards. C.J. Robbins and Northwestern's defensive line will need to repeat last week's effort when it held Illinois State to 85 yards rushing.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network. LINE: Northwestern -4

ABOUT DUKE (1-1): Freshman quarterback Daniel Jones threw 41 times for 332 yards and scored on two short rushes last week, but fumbled twice and threw an interception. Jones found Anthony Nash (eight receptions, 112 yards), T.J. Rahming and Johnathan Lloyd for a combined 25 catches, but play-calling balance could be a big factor. Senior safety DeVon Edwards told reporters the Blue Devils must match Northwestern's physical play because "we know we're going to have to battle in the trenches a lot. They have some big guys and they ran the ball pretty well against us, better than they threw it against us (last year), so we expect them to attack us with that. We've got to do a better job than we did last year."

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (0-2): Junior running back Justin Jackson, who ran for 120 yards against Duke in 2015, left in the fourth quarter with an injury after gaining only 42 yards for a team that averaged 2.8 yards per carry last week. Sophomore quarterback Clayton Thorson (17-of-41 last week) passed for an average of 193 yards per game and has thrown only one touchdown this season. Northwestern has its own questions at the line of scrimmage according to Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, who told reporters "our inability to run the football is why we had to throw the ball so much. There's no way I could have predicted that our offensive line would be as inefficient as they were."

EXTRA POINTS

1. Northwestern was outscored by three points in its two losses.

2. Duke, which is 13-3 in its last 16 true road games, travels to No. 18 Notre Dame next week.

3. Both teams were 2-0 when they met at Durham last year with Northwestern posting a 19-10 victory.

PREDICTION: Northwestern 24, Duke 20

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.