Walker Eget admitted that his performance against Tulane in his Duke debut didn’t go well. “Not very good,” the Blue Devils’ quarterback said.
On Saturday in Champaign, Ill., the San Jose State transfer more than made up for it, completing 15-of-21 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns as the Blue Devils walked out with a massive 31-27 win over Illinois.
For Eget, his successful day began in practice this week.
“I feel like earlier this week, it just felt like it clicked with all of us,” he said.
The day began just like Duke’s victory a week earlier against the Green Wave, as Nate Sheppard rushed for 42 yards on two carries, and a facemask penalty put the Blue Devils on the Illini’s 12-yard line. Then, Eget’s first pass of the game was a beauty,
finding Jonah Burton in the corner of the end zone to answer Illinois’ touchdown and tie the score 7-7.
Eget wasn’t nearly done. In the second quarter, he found Kavon Simmons for a 22-yard reception that set up Nate Sheppard’s first touchdown of the game. Receiving the ball to start the second half, a 35-yard pass to Jeremiah Hasley put the ball at the Illini’s 16-yard line.
Sheppard strided into the end zone a few plays later to give Duke a 28-24 lead.
“It's pretty easy to throw the ball when you have Nate Shepherd and this offensive line led by Matt Craycraft,” Eget said. “It's something to almost like you dream of to be in as a quarterback. So I can't really take any credit for myself.”
There was one scary moment in the fourth quarter as Eget took a big hit and needed help walking off the field. The quarterback laughed it off while taking a self-deprecating shot at himself.
“Don't mind me, I'm just dramatic,” Eget said. “I'm sorry. No, I mean, things happen in football, and you just got to be able to overcome it. I mean, I'm just excited that we won. That's the biggest thing, and I can't wait to get out there next week against Stanford.”
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This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Walker Eget on Duke's offense vs. Illini: 'It clicked with all of us'
