Stanford suffers through another rough one in blowout loss to Duke

DURHAM, N.C. — Stanford surrendered too many big plays, and Duke took advantage of its opportunities to help prolong the road-game misery for the Cardinal.

Nate Sheppard inflicted much of the pain, running for 154 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-7 victory which extended Stanford’s road losing streak to a program-high 12 games.

Big plays are defined as gains of 15 yards or more, and Duke (3-0, 1-0 ACC) had 17 of them and turned two of them into touchdowns. None of Stanford’s six big gainers led to what turned out to be its lone score.

The two schools were meeting for the first time as Atlantic Coast Conference rivals, although the teams have met before. Stanford had won its last two games at Wallace Wade Stadium as well as the last three meetings between the two schools, dating back to 1972.

Stanford (1-2, 0-2 ACC) went into its bag of tricks right away. When it lost the coin toss, the Cardinal attempted an onside kick which the Blue Devils recovered at their own 47. Duke drove to the Stanford 3, and just when it looked like the kickoff strategy would backfire, quarterback Walker Eget’s fourth-down pass was intercepted in the end zone by safety Darrius Davis, averting an early disaster.

The teams spent the rest of the first quarter playing between the 20s, and despite a number of good runs, neither offense gained an upper hand in the opening 15 minutes. Five minutes into the second quarter, Duke broke the scoreless draw on Sheppard’s 32-yard touchdown run at the 10:42 mark. By that point, the Stanford defense had surrendered 119 rushing yards. Miami ran for 121 yards for the entire game at Stanford two weeks ago.

The offense had a hand in Duke increasing its lead to 14-0 in the second quarter. Davis Warren fumbled while attempting to pass from his own 40. Kendall Johnson recovered the ball, setting up Eget’s 2-yard scoring pass to Sheppard with 5:29 left before halftime. But atonement was moments away.

A mishandled snap on a punt from the Duke end zone put Stanford in good position. From its own 45 and operating in the no-huddle mode, Warren completed all four passes he threw, capping the scoring drive with a 5-yard pass to Caden High with 16 seconds left in the half.

Warren spent much of the late afternoon under pressure as Duke hurried and harried him. He finished 18 of 32 for 151 yards.

Stanford watched the game slip away in the third quarter thanks to more big plays by Duke. Passes of 16, 32 and 26 yards helped set up Sheppard’s 1-yard scoring run in the third quarter, and Cavon Simmons ran 16 yards on a reverse that pushed the Blue Devils’ advantage to 28-7 with 2:58 left in the third quarter.

Duke added Jayian Tanelus’ 5-yard score in the fourth quarter.

Stanford hosts Georgia Tech next weekend. The Blue Devils host William & Mary next weekend.