Blue Devils dropped by Connecticut
Darian Mensah’s third turnover of the game was at the worst time. Duke’s quarterback lost a fumble with 18 seconds left and the Blue Devils on Connecticut’s side of the 50-yard line.
That was the last play of any consequence for UConn’s 37-34 victory against visiting Duke on Saturday at Rentschler Field.
Duke (5-4) and UConn (7-3) traded scores throughout the second half. UConn took a three-point lead on Skyler Bell’s 19-yard touchdown catch from Joe Fagnano with 1:58 left.
The Blue Devils converted a fourth down on the ensuing possession. They got a third-down completion to Cooper Barkate for 7 yards and another first down. But on second-and-10 from UConn’s 39, Mensah tried to spin away from pressure and was crunched for a sack-fumble.
UConn recovered and took one kneel-down to end the game.
Mensah threw as many interceptions in the first half as he had in Duke’s first eight games (two). Each of those led to a field goal by UConn and helped the Huskies lead 20-14 at halftime.
Duke scored three go-head touchdowns in the second half. Nate Sheppard scored on a 3-yard run, and Mensah threw touchdowns to Duke’s top two tight ends for the others — 1 yard to Landen King, 10 yards to Jeremiah Hasley.
After all three of those scores, UConn answered with points to regain the lead.
Duke’s defense gave up 467 yards on 70 plays, averaging out to 6.7 yards per play. That comes on the heels of giving up 560 yards and 7.8 yards per play against Clemson last weekend.
If Duke’s three giveaways weren’t going to be difficult enough to overcome, it didn’t hurt the Huskies that they never turned it over. UConn has played 10 games and only turned the ball over once this season; Fagnano threw an interception on a two-point attempt, which doesn’t get recorded in official stats.
EXTRA POINTS …
– Sheppard had 100 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. The freshman running back had a combined 110 yards in Duke’s last two games.
– Andrel Anthony had a 10-yard touchdown catch in the first half.
– DaShawn Stone was Duke’s tackles leader, with six. The Blue Devils had two sacks, by safety Caleb Weaver and defensive tackle Josiah Green.
The Blue Devils have three sacks in their last three games, and two of them were by defensive backs (Moussa Kane had one at Clemson, and Duke didn’t have a sack against Georgia Tech).
