Duke streaks past N. Illinois
Similar to the path its season took, Duke dominated early, stumbled then collected itself to finish strong Tuesday in Quick Lane Bowl atFord Field in Detroit.
The Blue Devils scored the game’s first two touchdowns and saw Northern Illinois tie the score with a series of big plays. But just as it showed resolve in surviving a sixgame losing streak to make a bowl game, Duke came back to score the game’s final 22 points in a 36-14 victory.
The victory means the Blue Devils (7-6) of the ACC have a winning season for the fourth time in the past five years. Before this streak of success, Duke had just five winning seasons from 19752012.
The route to finishing above the .500 mark this season was rocky. Duke won its first four games before slumping to a six-game losing streak. With bowl hopes fading, Duke rallied to beat Georgia Tech and Wake Forest in the final two games of the regular season to qualify forthe bowl.
Against Northern Illinois (8-5), Duke returned to its September form. Quarterback Daniel Jones fired two touchdown passes and ran for a third. He gained 86 rushing yards on 16 carries and completed 27 of 40 passes for 272 yards with no interceptions.
Duke’s defense shut out Northern Illinois of the MidAmerican Conference after halftime, meaning that unit allowed just six second-half points over the season’s final threewins.
Missouri
The Tigers are on a sixgame winning streak after starting the season 1-5. A win against Texas Wednesday night in the Texas Bowl would make the Tigers (7-5) only the second team from a power 5 conference to finish with eight wins after opening the year 1-5 and the first since Rutgers in 2008. Such a remarkable turnaround has many asking second-year coach Barry Odom what he did to get the team on track. “I’m going to sell it for $19.99 and if you call now, you can buy one, get one free. We’ll see how that goes in the offseason,” Odom joked.
Central Florida
Former Baylor assistant Jeff Lebby was hired as an offensive assistant at Central Florida, one of eight new additions the school announced. Lebby, son-in-law of Art Briles, spent this past season as offensive coordinator at NAIA school Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla. Before joining that staff, he worked with Briles at Baylor for nine seasons and was part of the football program when a wide-ranging sexual assault scandal eventually led to Briles’ termination, along with the departures of athletic director Ian McCaw and president Ken Starr.