Photo by John Quackenbos

I don’t know that one could call BC’s performance against Duke Friday night “competitive,” but to some extent it felt as if it was in the second half. Sadly, even that modest level of play was a highlight of the current season.

Behind 31-14 in the third quarter, the Eagles then out-scored the Blue Devils 17-7 to close the gap to 38-31 at the end. Scoring a field goal with 17 seconds remaining, BC attempted an onside kick, but it was recovered by Duke.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Emmett Morehead played the entire game, in place of the injured Phil Jurkovec. Morehead became the first BC quarterback on record (since 1981) to throw four touchdowns in his debut as a starter and the first to throw four or more since Dennis Grosel against Virginia in 2020. He’s also only the third BC quarterback to throw for 300+ yards in his first start, joining Mark Hartsell (338 yards against Michigan, 1994) and Jurkovec (300 vs. Duke, 2020).

Morehead was 27 of 45 passing, for 330 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions.

I leave it to others to gauge to what extent Duke’s weakness at pass defense (next to last in the ACC) was a factor.

Duke might have watched the BC-UConn game, because they did something very similar on their opening drive. Starting at its 10-yard line, Duke was a little less efficient than the Huskies, but the Blue Devils got the same result. They went 90 yards in six plays for the touchdown, with QB Riley Leonard running 60 yards up the middle for the score.

I was tardy to the gamewatch and listened to the first seven minutes of the game on XM radio. I heard the BC radio broadcast. When Duke scored that early touchdown, I could see in my mind’s eye analyst and former Eagle football player Peter Cronan’s shoulders slump as he said, “They practiced against that play every day.” 

Duke was ahead only 10-7 after the first quarter, but expanded that lead to 24-14 at halftime. Duke had gained 254 yards, exceeding the Eagles’ offense by 109 yards.

While gaining 174 yards in the fourth quarter, compared to 19 yards for Duke, BC scored only 10 points, three more than the Blue Devils.

Overall, the Eagles gained 405 yards in offense, 15 more than Duke. It was the second game in a row that BC gained more yards than its opponent in a loss.

Leading rusher for the Eagles was freshman Alex Broome, with 49 yards on 10 carries. BC wide receiver Zay Flowers had six catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns, while Griffin had five receptions for two touchdowns.

Highlights

BC falls to 2-7, 1-5 in the ACC. Eagles travel Saturday to meet North Carolina State at 12:30 pm PT.