Duke Offense Too Much for Northwestern
Northwestern traveled to Duke to take on the Blue Devils in what was both teams opening game. Northwestern looking to get off to a strong start to the season by making an impact taking down an ACC contender in Duke. Duke, however, was ready for the Wildcat challenge that they were faced with.
Northwestern got the ball to start the game but was short lived as they were forced to a 3 and out. Duke immediately answered with a quick drive and chip shot Field Goal putting them up 3-0. Northwestern would at least get a first down on their next drive but that would be all as they were forced to punt yet again. Duke wasted little time on the following drive stringing together 3 or 4 ten plus yard plays in route to the games first touchdown. Duke was up 10-0 on the Cats real quick into this one. Northwestern finally started to put a drive together that looked like they had found life, but this was put to end as NW QB Oliver threw a lazy pass over the middle that was intercepted. Following the turnover, Duke went right back to work and drove it down on several plays which culminated in yet another touchdown as Duke QB Sirk ran it in from 17 yards out. After just one-quarter of football, Duke held a commanding lead of 17-0 and this looked like a route.
Northwestern finally found life in the 2nd quarter through the running game of their star running back Justin Jackson. Jackson carried the load on the first drive of the 2nd quarter and eventually put himself in the end zone getting NW on the board. 17-7 following the NW score. Northwestern's defense looked revived after their offense put some points on the board. They forced a quick 3 and out against Duke and got the ball back in decent field position. Although Northwestern wouldn't get anything on that drive it set up the tone for the 2nd quarter as Duke was unable to get anything going on offense. Late in the 2nd the Wildcats were able to find the end zone yet again to cut into the lead. With just 11 seconds left in the half, Cameron Dickerson beat him man off the line and was wide open in the endzone for an easy touchdown. The score at the half was 17-14 in favor of Duke but Northwestern looked to be back in the game at least.
The 2nd half was more of the same in terms of offensive outbursts. Duke came out flying and score on their opening possession on what was Sirk's 2nd touchdown pass of the game. Duke increased their lead early to 24-14. Northwestern refused to go away, though. They stuck to the running game and were able to net a field goal on the drive in response to the fast touchdown. The 3rd really quieted down after the opening two drives. Both teams would trade punts and set up a close 4th quarter. Going into the 4th the score was 24-17 Duke.
Only being down by a touchdown was a surprise for a team that showed no life in the first and was down by as much as 17 points in this game. But Duke continued their fast starts to quarters in the 4th. Continuing a drive that started near the end of the 3rd, Duke was able to find the end zone again on the arm of their quarterback Sirk. He threw his 3rd touchdown of the game giving Duke a 31-17 lead just 30 seconds into the 4th. Northwestern came right back, though. They strung together a drive that would take up half of the quarter in terms of time. They drove close to 75 yards in about 3:40 minutes. Luckily on 3rd and goal they were finally able to cross the plane. making it a 31-24 game. The Wildcats just needed one stop to have a shot at tying the game up. But on 2nd down on the ensuing drive, Duke put the game away. Northwestern got their blitz picked up and a slanting WR Barnes beat his corner off the line and was hit in stride by Sirk. No safeties were back to stop Barnes as he ran 74 yards for what would be the dagger. Northwestern drops week 1 against Duke 38-24.
*If you watch the video on the YouTube page itself there is a timeline of events in the game to allow the viewer to fast forward via time stamps.
| Northwestern Wildcats at Duke Blue Devils |
| Aug 31, 2015 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | OT | SCORE |
| #13 Northwestern Wildcats (0-0) | 0 | 14 | 3 | 7 | - | 24 |
| Duke Blue Devils (0-0) | 17 | 0 | 7 | 14 | - | 38 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
| NW | DUKE |
| Total Offense | 316 | 532 |
| Rushing Yards | 114 | 151 |
| Passing Yards | 202 | 381 |
| First Downs | 19 | 24 |
| Punt Return Yards | 66 | 11 |
| Kick Return Yards | 250 | 101 |
| Total Yards | 632 | 644 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 0 |
| 3rd Down Conversion | 6-14 (42%) | 5-10 (50%) |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-1 (0%) | 0-0 (0%) |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 (0%) | 0-0 (0%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 3-3-0 (100%) | 5-4-0 (80%) |
| Penalties | 1-15 | 0-0 |
| Possession Time | 22:04 | 13:56 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | NW | DUKE |
| 6:57 | (DUKE) R. Martin 50 Yd FG | 0 | 3 |
| 3:46 | (DUKE) T. Lee, 9 Yd pass from T. Sirk (XP Good) | 0 | 10 |
| 1:03 | (DUKE) T. Sirk, 17 Yd run (XP Good) | 0 | 17 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | NW | DUKE |
| 8:01 | (NW) J. Jaskson, 2 Yd run (XP Good) | 7 | 17 |
| 0:11 | (NW) C. Dickerson, 7 Yd pass from Z. Oliver (XP Good) | 14 | 17 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | NW | DUKE |
| 7:38 | (DUKE) T. Lee, 17 Yd pass from T. Sirk (XP Good) | 14 | 24 |
| 5:32 | (NW) H. Niswander, 37 Yd FG | 17 | 24 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | NW | DUKE |
| 8:27 | (DUKE) S. Powell, 16 Yd pass from T. Sirk (XP Good) | 17 | 31 |
| 4:08 | (NW) G. Dickerson, 8 Yd pass from C. Thorson (XP Good) | 24 | 31 |
| 3:46 | (DUKE) J. Barnes, 74 Yd pass from T. Sirk (XP Good) | 24 | 38 |
| Northwestern Wildcats | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Zack Oliver | 13/22 | 130 | 1 | 1 | | Clayton Thorson | 8/9 | 72 | 1 | 0 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Justin Jackson | 22 | 104 | 4.7 | 1 | | Warren Long | 4 | 9 | 2.2 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Christian Jones | 4 | 54 | 13.5 | 0 | | Cameron Dickerson | 3 | 54 | 18.0 | 1 | | Miles Shuler | 2 | 42 | 21.0 | 0 | | Dan Vitale | 7 | 16 | 2.2 | 0 | | Garrett Dickerson | 3 | 28 | 9.3 | 1 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Matthew Harris | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Dean Lowry | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | | Drew Smith | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Godwin Igwebuike | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Nick VanHoose | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Hunter Niswander | 1/1 | 3/3 | 6 | 38 | | PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | IN20 | | Chris Gradone | 5 | 194 | 38.8 | 2 | | KICK RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | TD | | Pierre Youngbloodary | 6 | 250 | 41.6 | 0 | | PUNT RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | TD | | Pierre Youngbloodary | 3 | 66 | 22.0 | 0 |
| | Duke Blue Devils | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Thomas Sirk | 29/39 | 381 | 4 | 0 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Shaun Wilson | 13 | 73 | 5.6 | 0 | | Thomas Sirk | 9 | 49 | 5.4 | 1 | | Shaquille Powell | 3 | 22 | 7.3 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Johndre Bennett | 6 | 60 | 10.0 | 0 | | Shaun Wilson | 4 | 33 | 8.2 | 0 | | Max McCaffrey | 4 | 50 | 12.5 | 0 | | Johnell Barnes | 3 | 102 | 34.0 | 1 | | Trevon Lee | 3 | 35 | 11.6 | 2 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Jermey Cash | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Kyler Brown | 7 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | | Devon Edwards | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Deion Williams | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | Carlos Wray | 5 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Ross Martin | 1/2 | 5/5 | 8 | 51 | | PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | IN20 | | Will Monday | 3 | 140 | 46.6 | 0 | | KICK RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | TD | | Shaquille Powell | 5 | 101 | 20.2 | 0 | | PUNT RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | TD | | Shaquille Powell | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 0 |
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