Duke Football: Dominant second half pushes Blue Devils past Temple

3. A decisive third quarter shifted the game for the Blue Devils

Entering halftime, Temple led Duke 27-21 and was playing with momentum. Temple was converting third downs at will and appeared to be in control of the game. The Blue Devils came out swinging in the third quarter, completely shifting the game. After rushing for 82 yards in the first half, Temple had -22 in the third quarter.

The Owls did not convert a third down (0-3) and failed on both its fourth down attempts. Duke out-gained Temple 216-27 en route to completely flipping the scoreboard. Its final drive of the quarter set up a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, putting the Blue Devils up 49-27 and all but ending any chance of a Temple comeback.

Daniel Jones was the catalyst for Duke, completing 12 of 14 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns in the half. He connected on a slant pass to senior wide receiver T.J Rahming, who took the pass 85 yards for the touchdown. Jones was perfect for the Blue Devils right when they needed him to be, displaying a killer instinct that overwhelmed the Temple defense.

One play epitomized the quarter for Temple, when the Owls attempted to run a fake punt deep in its own territory. The long snapper directed the snap to the wrong player, sending the ball spinning past the punter. Temple would recover, but only after a 20-yard loss that gave Duke a first and goal from the 10. Duke would punch it in shortly after to put the game away.