Duke traveled to Death Valley and beat Clemson 46-45 in a thrilling game. This was the first Duke victory in Death Valley in 45 years since a Ben Bennett quarterbacked squad won 34-17 on 10/18/1980. Nate
Sheppard ran for a 3-yards touchdown with 40 seconds remaining to go in the game to pull Duke within a single point at 45-44. Coach Manny Diaz opted to go for two and the win. Quarterback Darian Mensah rolled out and completed the conversion pass to Sahmir Hagans for a 46-45 Duke lead.
Mensah passed for 361 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Mensah has 21 touchdown passes against two interceptions for the season.
Duke’s defense struggled to stop Clemson’s offense all afternoon but they got a critical stop and forced Clemson to punt with 5:19 remaining in the game to give the ball back to the Duke offense.
Duke improves to 5-3, 4-1 in the ACC to remain in the ACC Championship Game conversation.
Play One: With five minutes and 33 seconds remaining in the 1st quarter, Darian Mensah completed a 77-yards touchdown pass to Cooper Barkate for a touchdown and a 14-7 Duke lead. Clemson had blown coverage on the play as it appeared the cornerback had Barkate one-on-one but he executed a corner blitz and no one rotated over to cover Barkate who caught the pass without a Tiger defender within 20-yards.
Play Two: Eleven seconds prior to halftime, Darian Mensah threw a 43-yards touchdown pass deep down the middle to Que’Sean Brown to tie the game at 28-28 heading to the locker rooms. Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney was livid on the sidelines because the Clemson secondary allowed Brown to get behind the defense.
Play Three: Clemson kicked off to Duke after scoring a touchdown to take a 35-28 lead with eight minutes and 13 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter, Sahmir Hagans caught the ball just behind the goal line and ran up the right side untouched for 100-yards and a touchdown to tie the game at 35.
Play Four: This was a game where every point possible would be needed to secure the victory. Todd Pelino and the much maligned field goal unit successfully executed a 37-yards field goal for three points at the 10 Minutes and 40 seconds mark of the 4th quarter to tie the game at 38.
Play Five: With four minutes and 13 seconds remaining in the game, Duke faced a 3rd down and 7-yards to go on their own nine yard line, Darian Mensah hit tight end Jeremy Hasley over the middle for 56-yards and a 1st down on the Clemson 35-yard line setting up Duke’s winning touchdown.
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