Duke Blue Devils upset No. 1 seed Houston in Sweet 16 matchup

Story and photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved

DALLAS, TEXAS (March 29, 2024) In a stunning showdown at the American Airlines Center, the Duke Blue Devils secured a thrilling victory over the Houston Cougars, 54-51, propelling them into the Elite Eight of the NCAA men's tournament. The game, however, was clouded by an unfortunate injury to Jamal Shead, the standout player for Houston.

Despite being the No. 4 seed, Duke faced off against top-seeded Houston, a formidable opponent with a 32-5 overall record. Shead's injury early in the first half changed the course of the game, giving Duke an opportunity to showcase their offensive prowess.

Led by coach Jon Scheyer, Duke's young team rose to the occasion. Kyle Filipowski, a sophomore 7-footer, delivered a standout performance with 16 points, while senior point guard Jeremy Roach added 14 points, including several crucial shots in the second half.

Although Duke managed to maintain a lead throughout the game, Houston remained within striking distance. With just over a minute remaining, Duke's defense stepped up, securing steals and crucial baskets to maintain their lead.

Despite Houston's valiant efforts, Duke's sharpshooting from beyond the arc ultimately made the difference. Duke's 3-point shooting, going 6-of-17, outpaced Houston's 2-of-8, securing their victory and advancing them to the next round.

Now, Duke prepares to face familiar foes in NC State in the Elite Eight. Having split their previous matchups this season, the Blue Devils are gearing up for a showdown against the resilient NC State team, who is enjoying their first Final Four appearance since 1983.

QB Daniel Jones leads Duke to 56-27 win over Temple at Independence Bowl

Photo by Darla S Tamuitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA (December 27, 2019) Duke quarterback Daniel Jones (shown right and below) continued his banner year and picked up his second consecutive bowl game Most Valuable Player award in leading the Blue Devils to a 56-27 win over the Temple Owls at the 2018 Walk-On's Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana. The junior redshirt completed 30-of-41 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns,. He carried the ball six times for one touchdown. His touchdowns established  a new Independence Bowl record, breaking the record held by four others, the last being Florida State’s James Blackman in 2017. The five touchdown passes breaks the single-game Independence Bowl record set by Florida State’s James Blackman in 2017 against Southern Mississippi. His 30 completions are third-most in Independence Bowl history, trailing Oklahoma’s Josh Heupel (39, 1999 vs. Ole Miss) and Ole Miss’ Mark Young (31, 1986 vs. Texas Tech).

  

Photo by Darla S Tamuitis
La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved

   
   His 73.2 completion percentage (30-for-41) is third-best in Independence Bowl history behind Texas A&M’s Gary Kubiak (75 percent vs. Oklahoma State, 1981) and Oklahoma’s Josh Heupel (73.6 percent vs. Ole Miss, 1999) for passers with a minimum of 15 completions. 

    In addition, the 85-yard pass to T.J. Rahming in the third quarter is the longest in Duke’s bowl history (14 games). Previous long: Jones to Rahming for 62 yards in the first quarter. Prior to the game, Anthony Boone’s 59-yard pass to Jamison Crowder in the 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl was the longest. Jones spoke to the press after the win, explaining what woke up the Duke offense as the game progressed.

“We had a lot of good stuff going into the game. We were prepared. We hit on that first drive then, like you said, we hit a lull. I don’t think we lost confidence. We knew we could catch a few breaks, catch some momentum and keep it rolling. What happened toward the end of the first half and in the second half was we caught our groove and had enough good stuff to keep it going. The big thing there was not losing our confidence.”

He went on to talk about the offense's second half performance.

“They’re primarily a man team, playing a lot of many coverage. We liked our matchups was one thing. I’m not sure it was necessarily what they were doing. We knew we had enough stuff and it would work against a whole lot of looks. We prepared to use what we had against any of their looks. It worked out for us.”

He also discussed about catching his own deflected pass.

“I guess so (feeling like it was his day). It was an interesting play, kinda fell right to me. We caught some breaks in the second half. That was a product of our momentum and our confidence and us doing a lot of things right.”

Arizona State's Demario Richard scores four TDs in Sun Bowl victory over Duke

By Mike Stockman

Staff Correspondent
Copyright 2014 TexSport Publications

EL PASO, TEXAS (December 27, 2014) It was a battle of the devils at University of Texas at El Paso’s football stadium where the Arizona State Sun Devils intercepted a game winning  touchdown pass over the Duke Blue Devils with less than 45 seconds left on the clock to hold take a 36-31 win n the 81^st Sun Bowl on December 27, 2014.

What started out as a 20 – 3 lead early in the second quarter by ASU, ended in a thrilling back and forth game that went down to who ever made the last big play. 

ASU’s Freshman running back Demario Richard tied the Sun Bowl record of most touchdowns by collecting four; two on the ground and two in the air.

Sun Devil field goal kicker Zane Gonzales, of Deer Park, TX, was successful on attempts from 28, 38, and 47 yards with three extra points to complete ASU’s scoring.

Other notable performances for ASU include Kalan Ballage’s  96 yard kick-off return after Duke took the lead 31-30 in the 4^th Quarter with 5:03 left. This set up Demario Richard’s second running touchdown to put the Sun Devils ahead for good.

The final notable performance from ASU came when defensive back Kweishi Brown snatched the ball out of the air for a critical interception in the corner of the end zone with 45 seconds left on the clock. This sealed the game for the Sun Devils.

Duke’s running back Shaquille Powell had over 160 yards while wide receiver Jamison Crowder, who could have been named MVP if Duke had won, had seven catches for 102 yards, 68 yard TD punt return, and a left-handed pass for a touchdown to Isaac Blakeney late in the game to put Duke ahead  31-30.

For the third year in a row, a Duke bowl game is plucked from their grasp, leaving seniors empty-handed after setting all-time Duke performance records.

ASU finishes 2014 with second straight 10-win season, and 28^th win in three years. This bumps Arizona State's  Sun Bowl record to 3-1-1.