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Duke Football: Dominant second half pushes Blue Devils past Temple

By Christian Candeloro

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 13: Members of the Duke Blue Devils celebrate after the game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on October 13, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 13: Members of the Duke Blue Devils celebrate after the game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on October 13, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Duke football ran away from Temple with a strong second half performance, erasing an early deficit to win the 2018 Independence Bowl.

Duke stormed back from a 27-21 halftime deficit to defeat Temple 56-27 in the Walk-On’s Independence Bowl. Junior quarterback Daniel Jones played a near flawless game, leading the Blue Devils with 423 passing yards and five touchdowns on a 30 of 41 passing day. His lone mistakes were a couple of interceptions.

Duke scored 35 unanswered points to flip the scoreboard in the second half. The Blue Devils finish the 2018 campaign 8-5 and enter the offseason with questions regarding whether or not Daniel Jones will enter the 2019 Draft. Here are three takeaways from their final game of 2018.

1. Duke missed its defensive starters, but stiffened in the second half

Duke played the Independence Bowl without senior linebackers Joe Giles-Harris and Ben Humphreys. In addition, the Blue Devils were without starters in cornerback Mark Gilbert, safety Dylan Singleton, and defensive tackle Edgar Cerenord who all sustained season-ending injuries. It showed early. Duke gave up 27 points to Temple in the first half, spotting them 227 offensive yards and 14 first downs. Temple converted 6-of-8 third downs and averaged 5.4 yards per play.

Fast forward to the second half. The Blue Devils defense stiffened, holding Temple scoreless and allowing Jones to work his magic. The Owls gained 54 yards and only five first downs. The third down conversions dried up and the Owls had little success on 4th either. In total, Temple had -29 rushing yards in the second half.

It was a positive day for a Duke defense that struggled in the regular season, finishing as the 70th ranked scoring defense. Duke allowed 59 to Wake Forest, 54 to Pittsburgh, and 35 to Clemson and UNC. It appeared like today was going to be the same old story until the Duke defense made a stand in the second half.

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