Duke continues to hurt itself with penalties and mistakes as its football season spirals out of control and bowl hopes dim.
The Blue Devils lost 24-13 at Northwestern on Saturday night and fell to 1-2 overall with an 0-1 ACC record.
Duke redshirt freshman quarterback Daniel Jones committed two more turnovers — one fumble and one interception. Both came in Northwestern territory when he had the Blue Devils in position to score.
Duke now has 10 turnovers this season. Kansas, with 11, is the only one Football Bowl Subdivision team with more.
On special teams, punter Austin Parker dropped the snap on a punt attempt for the second time in three games. Though it doesn’t go down as a turnover, it’s clearly a mistake that hurt Duke as Northwestern scored on a 44-yard touchdown pass on the next play.
When it happened against N.C. Central two weeks earlier, Duke coach David Cutcliffe said it was the kind of mistake that shouldn’t happen once in a career.
“I’m definitely more concerned each week when you have an issue that can certainly beat you,” Cutcliffe said Sunday. “They aren’t small things. You have to dig in to everything we are doing and look at it in that regard.”
Also on special teams, kicker A.J. Reed missed a 33-yard field goal and has now missed all three of his field-goal attempts this season. In addition, he missed an extra-point kick in the fourth quarter against the Wildcats.
Cutcliffe didn’t like how distraught Reed looked Saturday night, saying his body language was poor.
“That’s part of the job,” Cutcliffe said. “That’s part of the territory. You can’t overreact. I‘m going to pay as close attention as I can without putting everything in his head all at one time. We have to find a place where he is mentally better. I don’t think he displayed that on the field.”
Cutcliffe said changes in personnel and scheme are always possible. He changed the offensive line starting lineup against Northwestern, inserting redshirt sophomore Zach Harmon as the starting left guard. Redshirt freshman Zach Baker started the first two games.
An injury may force a move on the first-team defensive line. Redshirt junior defensive end Dominic McDonald suffered a shoulder injury at Northwestern and is scheduled to have tests on it Monday. He didn’t return to the game after leaving with the injury Saturday night.
Look for freshmen defensive ends like Terrell Lucas, James Hornbuckle and Chidi Okonya to get extra playing time.
In the secondary, senior safety Deondre Singleton won’t start at Notre Dame on Saturday. Singleton was called for a targeting personal foul against Northwestern and was ejected. That also means he’s automatically suspended from the first half of Duke’s next game.
Redshirt freshman Jordan Hayes is a strong possibility to get the start for Singleton.