Issue date: 7/31/08 Section: Sports

From the bumpy landing at Raleigh-Durham International Airport to a roller coaster of a game, Northwestern's trip to Duke Saturday was tumultuous.

With Hurricane Hanna poised to strike the Eastern seaboard, the Wildcats were poised to avenge last season's heartbreaking 20-14 loss to the Blue Devils.

But the storm passed through with anything but a vengeance, and the Cats were anything but overpowering.

Conditions and expectations aside, NU left with what it needed most, a 24-20 victory over Duke for its second win of the season.

"There were definitely a lot of ups and downs," quarterback C.J. Bachér said. "We need to focus on being consistent. Good teams respond when they are up and when they are down."

In a reverse of the game played in Evanston last season, the Blue Devils won the game on paper but lost it on the field. Duke (1-1) doubled NU's first down total, 28-14, and time of possession, 39:15-20:45. The Blue Devils out-gained the Cats by nearly 150 yards.

While the Cats lost the offensive and defensive battles in terms of yardage, they played smart football and did not beat themselves.

"We had a couple of objectives coming into the game," Fitzgerald said. "Number one, we had to make sure that we took care of the football and won the turnover battle. Number two, we had to win the special teams battle."

Much like the 2007 meeting, when NU had two fourth-quarter drives stall in Duke territory, the Blue Devils failed to score the go-ahead touchdown twice in the game's final nine minutes.

With Duke trailing 24-20, quarterback Thaddeus Lewis led a 13-play, 61-yard drive all the way to the NU 13. After short gains on first through third downs, the Blue Devils faced a fourth-and-five. Lewis dropped back, rolled right, and fired toward wide receiver Johnny Williams. Cats cornerback Jordan Mabin read the curl route all the way, broke on the ball and deflected the pass to regain possession for NU.

Continued...

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