DURHAM, N.C. - Justin Boyle rushed for 113 yards and two scores and Cedric Dargan added two more rushing touchdowns to lead Duke to a 40-14 win over visiting VMI on Saturday afternoon at Wallace Wade Stadium.
The Blue Devils (1-2) jumped on top 7-0 late in the opening quarter when sophomore Boyle capped an eight play, 65-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run. After junior cornerback John Talley's interception and subsequent 35-yard return gave Duke possession at the VMI 11 yard line, Dargan darted over the right side from one yard out to push the lead to 14-0 at the 14:31 mark of the second period.
Dargan's four-yard touchdown run with 7:16 remaining in the second quarter pushed the Blue Devil advantage to 21-0. The scoring dash concluded a 10 play, 54-yard drive that took 4:55 off the clock.
With 10:24 left in the third quarter, junior kicker Randy DeSmyter booted a 40-yard field goal as the Blue Devils claimed a 24-0 lead. Following a safety that made the score 26-0, freshman quarterback Zack Asack engineered a nine play, 76-yard drive the resulted in a six-yard scoring toss to freshman Marcus Jones.
Trailing 33-0, VMI (1-2) got on the scoreboard with 1:25 remaining in the third quarter when Nat Jackson scored on a 14-yard run. Jackson's touchdown capped a six play, 69-yard drive that eclipsed 2:36 off the clock.
A 34-yard run by Boyle keyed a five play, 67-yard drive that pushed the Blue Devils ahead, 40-7, with 14:19 left in the game. Boyle finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run, giving the Acworth, Ga., native a pair of two-touchdown games this season. The Keydets accounted for the final margin when Colby Hollingsworth plunged into the end zone from one yard out at the 9:07 mark of the final period.
Duke returns to ACC play next week at Virginia (3:30 p.m.) while VMI hosts Lehigh (1 p.m.).
VMI Quotes
VMI Head Coach Cal McCombs
Overall Comments on the Game
"Going into the ballgame, I heard Ted (Roof) say that they had to take care of business at home, get better as a football team and not turn it over as much. We wanted to come in and do the same as far as not turning the ball over. I think Duke had a little more firepower than we did overall but we killed ourselves. We had a good drive going in the first quarter and fumbled the ball. You never know what would have happened if we would have gotten back to 7-7 with those guys. I congratulate Ted and the Duke team. I hope they have a good year and I hope we have a good year as well."
On Playing Duke
"I think playing Duke today helped us become a better football team and that's what it's all about. This game helped us get better for our conference and the remainder of our season."
On VMI's Performance
"I think our team played hard. We just made too many mistakes. We had been pretty good the first two weeks not committing penalties but we had too many penalties today that hurt us and took us out of good field position. We also turned the ball over too many times. I told our team going in that it would be interesting to see what would happen in the game if we would take care of the football, not have one single turnover, have a minimum of penalties and not give up big plays. We just did not execute."
On Special Teams
"The other thing that we have to work on is our special teams. You look at the ballgame and a lot had to do with field position. Almost every time, Duke started their drives around the 50-yard line and almost every time, we started our drives around the 20-yard line. If you are going to beat a team, especially an ACC team, you need to have better field position. You can't start your drives on your own 20 and let those guys return their kickoffs to the 50 and give them a short field. I think field position and turnovers were a big part of the game today."
