Duke rode Nate Sheppard for 227 yards on the ground

Duke tops Tulane, 17-3 at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke was the steadier side of a 14-point win. Nate Sheppard ran 35 times for 227 yards and two scores and caught three passes for 19 yards.

Third down decided the possession count

Duke converted 8 of 17 third downs (47%) to Tulane's 21%, chiefly Nate Sheppard (4/6), Walker Eget (4/9) and Jonah Burton (2/3). Duke sacked Tulane's quarterback 2 times, led by Bradley Gompers (1 sack) and Bryce Davis (1 sack). That's what carried Duke.

Who carried it

Nate Sheppard ran 35 times for 227 yards and two scores and caught three passes for 19 yards — two of them from inside the 20 and four third-down conversions. Walker Eget threw for 131 yards on 26 attempts and lost 9 yards on one carries, with four third-down conversions. Jonah Burton caught three passes for 38 yards, with two third-down conversions. For Tulane, Maurice Turner ran four times for 15 yards and caught one pass for 44 yards. Cash Semonza caught one pass for 11 yards — a hand in three plays of 15 yards or more. Bredell Richardson caught two passes for 28 yards. Bradley Gompers was the disruptive one for Duke: 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 PBU, 3 tackles.

Where it swung

Strip it back and a few snaps did the work. Zeon Chriss-Gremillion's 44-yard throw to Maurice Turner on 3rd-and-3 at Q2 08:02. Then Nate Sheppard's 13-yard run that came up short on 2nd-and-2 at Q3 12:29. Later, Walker Eget's 0-yard attempt to Jake Taylor that came up short on 4th-and-4 at Q3 04:54.

The way it played out

Duke struck first through Nate Sheppard, led 10-0 at the half and Duke got the final points on a late touchdown by Nate Sheppard.

Who got home

Three names to keep, all for Duke: Bradley Gompers (1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 PBU, 3 tackles), Bryce Davis (1 sack, 2 TFLs, 4 tackles) and Luke Mergott (1 forced fumble, 3.5 tackles).

What it means

Duke was the better team and looked it; Tulane has fixable problems.