Nate Sheppard rushed for 217 yards and three touchdowns, and visiting Duke beat North Carolina State 41-3 on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.
Walker Eget threw for a touchdown, Andrew Pellicciotta scored on a 100-yard missed field goal return and the Blue Devils defense didn’t allow a point after the first quarter.
Duke (7-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored 17 points in the final three-plus minutes of the first half en route to winning its third game in a row.
Sheppard, whose first touchdown gave him the team’s single-season TD record with 15, gained his yards on just 18 carries. He rushed for 168 yards in the first half.
Eget finished 22-for-31 for 208 yards.
NC State quarterback CJ Bailey threw for 123 yards as the Wolfpack (4-5, 2-4) were held to 217 yards of total offense and 12 first downs (to Duke’s 26). They lost for the first time in two games under interim coach Todd Goebbel, who took over after Dave Doeren was fired.
The Blue Devils’ burst late in the opening half was capped by a wild play as time expired. The Wolfpack’s Kanoah Vinesett attempted a 50-yard field goal that was short. Pellicciotta fielded the ball in the back of the end zone and raced the length of the field to put Duke up 31-3 at halftime.
Duke scored less than one minute into the game when Sheppard ran 69 yards on the fourth play from scrimmage.
NC State also scored on its first possession, on Vinesett’s 39-yard field goal.
Duke’s second touchdown came at the end of a 12-play, 77-yard drive that bridged the first and second quarters. Sheppard rushed 8 yards for the score.
Gavin Strange’s 25-yard field goal capped an 82-yard march and extended the Blue Devils’ lead to 17-3 with 3:14 left in the half.
After forcing a Wolfpack punt, the Blue Devils needed only 77 seconds to go 70 yards, with Eget’s 18-yard scoring pass to Jaivon Solomon making the score 24-3.
