What the hell happened on the shores of Lake Michigan Friday night?
This was one of the strangest games we can remember.
Duke struggled on offense for most of the game and trailed 13-10 in the fourth quarter. Todd Pelino had a chance to tie the game, but missed a 33-yard field goal attempt with 6:30 left.
With 1:46 left, he had the chance to make amends with a successful 51-yard attempt. Northwestern was unable to score another point before the end of regulation time and the game went into overtime.
In the first overtime, the Wildcats scored a touchdown on a 10-yard run by Cam Porter. Duke responded with a one-play touchdown on a pass from Maalik Murphy to Jordan Moore.
In the second overtime, Murphy found Moore again, but Duke missed the two-point conversion. Northwestern failed to score on a six-play drive and Duke won 26-20, its sixth straight victory over the Wildcats.
The game was played at Martin Stadium, which sits right on the shores of Lake Michigan, but only seats about 15,000 and was quite windy—not a normal D-1 environment.
Also unusual: In the third quarter, a rabbit came onto the field and was chased away by Willie the Wildcat, Northwestern’s mascot, which some people thought was the most entertaining part of the game, at least before overtime.
All in all, it was just a strange environment. That’s a little weird, but cool nonetheless: With the win, Duke remains ahead of Florida State (0-2) and Clemson (0-1) in the ACC standings.
