Key play breakdown: Quentin Harris hits Eli Pancol for a touchdown

An inside look at what may have been the turning point in Duke's home opener

Late in the first half of Saturday’s home opener, Duke was feeling some pressuer.

Already 0-1 on the season, the Blue Devils were letting NC A&T hang around. The Aggies were HBCU national champions last year and didn’t need any help in throwing a scare into an FBS foe, but the Blue Devils provided some.

Duke struggled with several drive-killing penalties and had a first-half fumble, as well as a defensive breakdown that led to a 66-yard touchdown run that gave A&T the lead.

The Blue Devils had a scoring burst just before half, putting three touchdowns on the board in just over two and a half minutes. The backbreaker in that stretch may have been the middle score—a 39-yard touchdown strike from Quentin Harris to true freshman Eli Pancol.

The Set-up: Duke scored on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Harris to running back Mataeo Durant to retake the lead, 14-10. On NC A&T’s next offensive snap, the Blue Devils stripped the ball and recovered a fumble on the Aggies’ 39 with a chance to go up two scores.

The Formation: Duke lined up in a one-back, three receiver set. Durant is the running back, with three freshmen out wide. Darrell Harding Jr. is alone on the left side. Pancol is in the right slot (bottom of the picture), with Dennis Smith out wide right (underneath the lower border of the picture, out of view.) A&T put eight men in the box, with five on the line showing blitz. That meant the receivers would be single covered, with a safety, Najee Reams, on Pancol.

The Snap: A lot happens here that could have scuttled the play at the outset. The snap is low, with Harris scooping the ball off the ground. The Aggies do indeed blitz, stunting to try to get a push up the middle. One of the linebackers drops back to help in coverage.

Pancol is running hard to the post, which is going to be trouble for Reams, who is backpedaling, hoping that giving a wide cushion will help him to recover. Within one second of the snap, however, Pancol cuts the 10-yard cushion to five, and Reams hasn’t begun to turn to run with him.

Meanwhile, off screen, Smith has cut left and is running a relatively short route horizontal to the line. The cornerback stays with him, joined by the linebacker.

If the corner and safety had switched, A&T might have had a chance to stay with Pancol. Instead, Pancol should be able to get a step on the safety deep, if Harris can hit him.

The blocking: The edges of the pocket are the keys to this play. On the bottom of the screen, true freshman right tackle Jacob Monk is sealing off end Tre Smalls, stopping the senior in his tracks for the length of the play.

On the left side, Durant has his work cut out for him. He’s working against the blitzing linebacker, Antoine Wilder, who was the only person on the line not in a three or four-point stance. So he’s coming in with a head of steam.

Wilder throws three different moves at Durant, going left,

then right,

then hard left. Durant drops back, slowing collapsing the pocket, but he responds to each of Wilder’s moves,

battling the entire way and giving Harris j-u-u-ust enough time.

The release: Harris is also a hero on this play. He’s already saved the play once, by retrieving the bad snap. Now, he ignores Durant’s struggles on his left, but more importantly, ignores what’s going on right in front of him.

End Kadarius Kendrick shredded a double-team,

first pushing past left tackle Casey Holman (78)

then bulling back tight end Mark Birmingham.

Kendrick then leaps into the air to land on Harris (picking up a roughing the passer penalty that would be applied on the kickoff).

Harris calmly releases, then takes the hit from both Kendrick and Durant, who is pushed into him just after the ball is free.

And Pancol has the step.

The ball hits him in stride on the six, and he takes it the rest of the way. Duke goes up 21-10, gets some breathing room, and adds another touchdown two minutes later to end any realistic hope of an Aggie upset.

Last week, we saw Duke do almost everything right, but have one glitch end up scuttling the entire play. This week, the Blue Devils had a bad snap and blown block, but still managed to execute.