By Bob Holliday, WRALSportsFan contributor

Duke had not won since Sept. 28, the night of the fourth-quarter comeback against Carolina. NC State had not experienced victory since that same late September day when the Wolfpack survived Northern Illinois.

The Pack in fact had gone 0-for-October, with brutal losses at home to Wake Forest and Syracuse. But each program won this weekend, insuring bowl eligibility for Duke and creating a possible path to a winning season for State.

Defense rules for Duke

Normally, wins come from quality play in all three phases of football, but Duke suffered multiple hiccups in the kicking game and its offense was mostly moribund. The Blue Devils scored their first ever football win over Florida State on the strength of their defense—sacking Seminoles’ quarterbacks six times, recording an astounding 11 tackles for loss, and improbably, forcing turnovers on three consecutive snaps; this against a team with the nation’s most experienced returning offensive line.

Make no mistake, Florida State’s offense is woeful, having scored just 10 touchdowns in seven games. Still, on the game’s first drive, the ‘Noles actually looked competent.

Brock Glenn, making his second start at quarterback this season, moved his team to within the shadow of the Duke goal, mixing runs and short passes. FSU started at its own 49 after a very short 25-yard punt from Duke’s Kade Reynoldson, one of three glaring errors by Duke special teams.

Lawrance Toafili accounted for 39 yards on the drive, 27 of those coming on a pass from Glenn. On 3rd and 7 at the Duke 9, Glenn hit Hykeem Williams with a short pass. Williams had just one man between him and the goal line. Josh Pickett made a touchdown saving tackle at the 5. FSU’s Mike Norvell took the points.

The Seminoles would not even sniff the red zone during the game’s remaining 55 minutes.

Still, Duke’s offense struggled mightily against a defense loaded with NFL talent, gaining just 11 yards on the first 10 offensive plays.

Florida State followed the Blue Devils’ third three and out with a three and out of its own. Except the ‘Noles weren’t exactly out. On 4th and 4 at the FSU 26, Norvell called a fake punt that produced the team’s biggest gain of the night. Big Kyle Morlock caught Duke’s punt return unit napping—special teams gaffe #2 for the night. Morlock rumbled 31 yards into Duke territory. Cam Davis ran 16 more yards to the Blue Devils 27, but there the drive stalled.

And the ‘Noles suffered their own kicking game mishap. Normally reliable Ryan Fitzgerald mishit a 48-yard field goal. The ball not only failed to clear the line of scrimmage, it failed to clear the Florida State offensive line. Duke’s Wesley Williams was credited with a block but this was purely a self inflicted mishap. And one of the many factors in Florida State’s sixth loss.

The game turned Duke’s way a few minutes later. Chandler Rivers picked off Glenn’s pass and raced 36 yards for 6 points. Rivers play nearly doubled Duke’s entire offensive output to the point, which was an embarrassing 19 yards.

That Duke defense of course had to go right back on the field after the score, but the Blue Devils didn’t stay there long. Ozzie Nicholas punched the ball away from Glenn as he was running for a 12-yard gain. Ryan Smith recovered at the FSU 36.

It took Duke 10 plays and two FSU offside penalties to navigate those 36 yards but Star Thomas, on a 2-yard run, finally gave the home team an offensive touchdown, albeit on a short field.

And then Brock Glenn did it again, passing to a guy wearing blue. Nicholas secured the interception as Glenn incredibly committed his third turnover in just three snaps.

This time Duke only got a field goal. Fortunately, Todd Pelino was the lone bright spot amidst Duke’s kick game woes, connecting on all three of his field goal attempts.

But yes, the Blue Devils suffered one more monstrous special teams failure, allowing Sam Singleton to return the second half kickoff 95 yards for the Seminoles only touchdown.

Duke’s defense, however, continued to suffocate the Florida State offense, insuring that first Duke win against this team in 23 tries.

It’s not often you see a college football team win with just 180 yards of offense, but that’s the measure of Duke’s dominance defensively.

In fairness, tight end Nicky Dalmolin did not play and star wide receiver Jordan Moore barely played, catching one pass for ten yards. Still, Maalik Murphy has to do better than 12 of 24 for 70 yards.

Thomas had a good night with 88 yards on 21 carries. Plus, he had a 26-yard run nullified by a holding penalty. Still, while the passing game was woefully inadequate the run game was only barely adequate.

Maybe the most important positive on the offensive side of the ball is that when Florida State scored, Duke answered. FSU cut the Duke lead to 17-13 and then 20-16. Both times the Blue Devils drove for a field goal.

But moving forward Duke faces a nationally ranked SMU team with one of the best offenses in the country. Duke will need touchdowns-not three & out punts or field goals. The Blue Devils can’t beat SMU on defense alone.

Wolfpack gets a break

After eight straight weeks of football, NC State finally gets a break in the schedule. And the Wolfpack can enjoy that week off, because of a big break at California Memorial Stadium when the Cal Bears freshman kicker missed a chip shot field goal.

Cal is arguably the best 3-4 team in America, with a win at Auburn and four losses to ACC schools by a collective nine points. The Bears should have beaten Miami and had a great chance to knock off undefeated Pitt. So NC State’s 24-23 triumph in Berkeley is no small thing.

We saw Cal’s immense offensive talent early in the game as Javian “Jet” Thomas broke off a 49-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza came at the Wolfpack defense with rapid fire short passes. The man completed 30 of 42 passes for 288 yards.

But State survived Cal’s early blitz, holding the Bears to 68 yards rushing over the final 58 minutes of the game. More importantly the Pack did not allow Cal’s receivers to pile up big yardage after the catch. The Bears longest pass play covered just 22 yards and that was to Ryan Cardwell, a running back, not a tight end or wide receiver.

NC State meanwhile did hit some long passes. C.J. Bailey found Wesley Grimes on a 27 yard strike that led to a field goal. Bailey hit wide receiver KC Concepcion for 32 yards and tight end Justin Joly for 31. That pass led directly to State’s first touchdown. And so the Wolfpack trailed just 13-10 at half.

Those pass plays mattered as Robert Anae’s offense again had great difficulty running the football. Even with Hollywood Smothers averaging almost four yards per carry, the Pack managed just 29 yards on 30 attempts. Part of the problem is that Bailey was sacked six times and those sack yards count against the rushing total rather than the passing tally. But even if we take away “the Calgorithm” (as Cal’s pass rush is known) State’s total ground yardage would not have exceeded 75 yards.

NC State coughed up the football twice in the third quarter, giving Cal custody of the football at the Wolfpack 33 and then again at the State 16. Tony Gibson’s unit played wondrously after the first fumble, the one by Noah Rogers. The Bears could move just 27 yards and needed 12 plays to do that before kicking a field goal. The fumble by return man Jalen Coit was more problematic. The Bears moved the 16 yards in just two plays, helped by a costly NC State defensive holding penalty. Jet Thomas’ 7 yard touchdown made it 23-10 Cal.

The Wolfpack made the longest road trip in the Dave Doeren era to play this game. Yet the Pack played with great energy in the fourth quarter.

State’s big play offense returned with Bailey passing 29 yards to Joly. Then Concepcion, working one of Anae’s creative gadget plays, assumed the role of passer. He connected with Smothers for 28 yards. In the red zone Bailey hit Dacari Collins for a touchdown, cutting Cal’s margin to six.

That was a 75-yard drive. On the next possession the Pack drove 80 yards. Again-big plays! Bailey hit Joly for 23 and Collins for 13 yards. But the biggest pass play came on a short one to Smothers. Hollywood took Bailey’s pass, juked a defender, split the defense and raced away for the game winning touchdown.

Over the first 9 minutes of the second half, State held Cal to just 18 yards total offense. But the Bears got going after Smothers’ touchdown, seemingly marching toward the game winning score. State’s defense stiffened in the red zone, leaving freshman Derek Morris to try a 28-yard field goal.

Morris was starting for the first time, and while he was officially 3-3 prior to the critical kick, he actually caught a break on his first try. Morris missed from 36 yards out, but got another chance because of a Cal false start. After the five yard penalty was assessed, Morris connected from 41 on the second attempt. There was no second attempt after the 28-yard miss.

NC State doesn’t play again until Nov. 2 when Stanford makes the long trek east. The much needed extra week will give this squad time to heal some bumps and bruises and above all get some mental rest.

Here’s another piece of great news. Bailey, once the No. 2 quarterback, is continuing to improve. He passed for 306 yards and two touchdowns at Cal. And get this, against the nation’s No. 1 pass defense – the Bears have 10 interceptions – Bailey did not throw a single pick.

NC State has a lot of football to play and things are looking up.

Source: wralsportsfan.com