WEEK 4 STATS: 367 yards total offense (322 pass, 45 rush), 5 TD responsible for (4 pass, 1 rush)
Duke engineered Sacred Heart’s 41-point showing on the road in the NEC opener. The veteran signal caller produced 367 yards of total offense and was responsible for five touchdowns in the runaway victory over Wagner. Averaging 11.1 yards per attempt, Duke passed for 322 yards and four touchdowns. He added 45 yards and another touchdown on the ground. The Empire State product opened the game’s scoring on a four-yard run 2:00 into the first quarter. Duke doubled SHU’s lead to 14-0 when he completed a three-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-Goal with 12:33 remaining in the first half. After Wagner cut the Pioneers’ advantage to 14-7, Duke threw his first of three long touchdown passes. His 45-yard hookup with Naseim Brantley bumped SHU’s lead to 21-7 with 3:02 left before halftime. An interception gave the ball back to Duke and the offense only 1:39 later and they tacked on another touchdown before the break. Duke converted a 3rd-and-6 situation by finding Lucas Nunez for a 42-yard gain down to Wagner’s 1-yard line and Jordan Meachum ran it in on the next snap. The field general bumped the lead to 34-14 by hooking up with Troy Holland on a 62-yard pass play late in the third quarter. He found Brantley again for a 62-yard scoring strike on the Pioneers’ first possession of the fourth quarter.