Duke Forces 8 Turnovers, Rolls Past Miami 45-21

Football
October 22, 2022

By TIM REYNOLDS

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) First, Miami lost its quarterback. Then, Miami lost the ball. A lot. A whole lot.

And Duke got its easiest win ever against the Hurricanes.

Duke forced Miami into eight turnovers, the most by any team in a Power 5 conference game since 2009, and rolled past the Hurricanes 45-21 on Saturday. The 24-point margin was the biggest for Duke in the history of the series, topping the 48-30 win by the Blue Devils in 2013.

The last team with eight turnovers in a Power 5 conference game was Nebraska, which had that many in a 9-7 loss to Iowa State in 2008.

”We challenged our guys on defense,” Duke coach Mike Elko said. ”We knew this was going to be a game where field position was going to matter. We were going to have to create turnovers to be successful.

Duke created some. Miami created a few of its own, too. The Hurricanes lost five fumbles and threw three interceptions.

”Not good. Not a good performance, in every respect,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said.

Even worse for Miami, potentially, was this development: quarterback Tyler Van Dyke left in the second quarter with an apparent injury to his shoulder region and did not return. Van Dyke was hit, remained down face-first for a few moments, then walked off flanked by Hurricanes medical personnel as he held his arm to his chest – often a telltale sign of a shoulder issue.

Cristobal said Miami would know the severity of Van Dyke’s injury by Sunday.

Quarterback Riley Leonard ran for three touchdowns and threw for another for…