Cam Ward passed for 400 yards and five touchdowns as the fifth-ranked Miami Hurricanes remained undefeated, rallying to beat the visiting Duke Blue Devils 53-31 in an ACC matchup on Saturday afternoon in Miami Gardens, Fla.
The Hurricanes, who entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring average (46.8), exceeded that total as they rallied from an 11-point third-quarter deficit.
Hurricanes wide receiver Xavier Restrepo had eight catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns. On his third TD, he broke Miami’s career record for catches and yards.
Miami (9-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) got the best of Duke coach Manny Diaz, who spent six years with the Hurricanes, including three as their head coach. This was Diaz’s first game against Miami.
The Hurricanes, who are off to their best start since going 10-0 to begin 2017, intercepted Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy three times. Murphy also lost one fumble.
Duke (6-3, 2-3) was led by running back Peyton Jones, who scored one rushing touchdown and one receiving TD in totaling 132 yards from scrimmage (71 rushing, 61 receiving).
The Hurricanes led 14-7 after one quarter, but Duke surged ahead in the second period.
In fact, the Blue Devils tied the score 14-14 on Murphy’s 27-yard pass to Sahmir Hagans, who used a legal pick to get wide open.
Miami grabbed a 17-14 lead on Andres Borregales’ 29-yard field goal with 4:51 left in the second quarter.
Duke went ahead for the first time, 21-17, on Murphy’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Jones.
The Blue Devils took the second-half kickoff and scored on a fourth-and-1 play as Murphy threw an 8-yard TD pass to Jordan Moore, who was left open on a Miami blitz. It was Duke’s fourth TD drive — all of them at least 75 yards – in five possessions.
Miami scored on its next possession as Restrepo beat double coverage for a 3-yard TD pass. Ward ran in a two-point conversion to cut Miami’s deficit to 28-25.
Then, after Murphy was intercepted, Miami took a 32-28 lead on tight end Elija Lofton’s 2-yard run up the middle. That capped a 38-yard short-field drive helped by that interception by OJ Frederique.
Duke cut its deficit to 32-31 on Todd Pelino’s 24-yard field goal with 13:51 remaining in regulation.
However, Miami scored on its next possession to take 39-31 lead with 12:56 left in the fourth. On that play, Ward lobbed a 49-yard TD pass to Jacolby George.
With 7:36 left, Restepo then broke both of those records with a catch-and-run TD of 66 yards, giving Miami a 46-31 lead with 7:36 to go, and the Hurricanes cruised from there.
