Central Connecticut State Blue Devils

Mistakes Lead to Second Straight Loss for Duke Football

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Duke Football falls to 1-2 after losing to Northwestern 24-13 in the first away game of the season.

The Blue Devils lost their second game in a row after falling 24-13 at Northwestern. Our takeaway from the game can pretty much be summed up into one key:

Consistency

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One of the things Coach Cutcliffe was hoping to improve on this season was the team’s consistency. Unfortunately that has not panned out so far this season, with the head coach recently noting that the Blue Devils have been “consistently inconsistent“. The defense excelled on some occasions forcing two turnovers and five sacks, but they were unable to prevent the big plays and allowed Wildcat quarterback Clayton Thorson to pass for a career-high 320 passing yards and three long touchdowns.

The offense and special teams were extremely inconsistent, moving the ball well but not being able to finish drives. Duke struggled to protect the ball which played a major role in the loss. A drive early in the second half to take the lead ended in a fumble, a fumbled punt led to a Northwestern score, the team missed a field goal while trying to get back in the game, etc.

Duke won’t have much time to reflect on this loss with a huge matchup at Notre Dame next week. Hopefully the Blue Devils can be prepared and work on their consistency on all aspects of the game before heading to take on a ranked Fighting Irish team.