Preview: Duke at Northwestern
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[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."
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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."
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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
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