Both Duke touchdowns left cornerback Julian Whigham on his hands and knees on the Carrier Dome turf while his assignment, Duke wide receiver Issac Blakeney, ran away with a score.

They were the only two touchdowns for the No. 22 Blue Devils (8-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) on Saturday and the only major lapses by Syracuse’s (3-7, 1-5) secondary. The unit held Duke to more than 50 yards below its average passing output per game this season in a 27-10 loss.

Whigham was in position to make both plays, but ultimately didn’t.

The first was on third-and-5 at SU’s 22. Blakeney ran out toward the left sideline and as he turned back to look over his left shoulder, a pass from Duke quarterback Anthony Boone arrived.

Whigham, a couple steps behind, reached out to wrap Blakeney up at the hips, but when Whigham leapt forward to wrap him up, Blakeney stepped back. Whigham whiffed and Blakeney ran into the end zone to give Duke a 10-3 lead with 5:16 left in the second quarter.

“I don’t think it was really a matchup problem,” freshman middle linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “I thought Whigham was really in great defense both times.”

The second was on first-and-10 when Boone lofted a pass to Blakeney at the SU 27-yard line in the fourth quarter. Whigham, with his back to the end zone, got out-jumped by Blakeney, who ran over the Orange defensive back in stride before jogging into the end zone.

“There’s nothing you can really defend,” Franklin said. “Balls like that, 50-50 balls, you’re either going to come down with them or you’re not. And unfortunately for us, Whigham didn’t come down with it this time. But we still got faith in Whig and everything he does for us.”

After the extra point, Duke had a 17-point lead with just more than seven minutes to play. Blakeney’s touchdown catches were the Blue Devils’ only offensive plays for more than 20 yards, but they were more than enough to beat the Orange.

“I thought we did a pretty good job for the most part and then we got beat on the one,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said of the second touchdown. “Just got to do a better job playing football, not being afraid to look up and play the football.”

Published on November 10, 2014 at 12:13 am

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