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Riley Leonard Named MVP of the Military Bowl After Duke Crushes UCF, 30-13

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Football

Sophomore quarterback Riley Leonard was named the Military Bowl MVP after rolling up 236 total yards and scoring a pair of rushing touchdowns as Duke capped a nine-win season by beating UCF, 30-13, in the Military Bowl, presented by Peraton, on Wednesday in Annapolis, Md.

ACC Coach of the Year Mike Elko finished his first season at Duke with a 9-4 record and the program's seventh bowl victory, including a current bowl winning streak of four consecutive. UCF ended its season at 9-5.

The nation's second-leading team in turnover margin, Duke was plus-two vs. UCF with a fumble recovery and a game-sealing interception in the game's final seconds by rookie Chandler Rivers.
 
Led by Leonard's two rushing scores, the Blue Devils converted three rushing touchdowns in the game to finish the season with 31, setting a new Duke standard for a single-season.
 
On defense, Duke matched its season-high in sacks with six to set a Military Bowl record for a single-game.

How It Happened

  • Duke started the scoring with a 14-yard touchdown rush by Jaquez Moore on its opening drive. Moore's fifth rushing score of the season capped a nine-play, 87-yard drive and was Duke's sixth opening-drive touchdown of the year.
  • The Knights responded with a 1-yard touchdown run to knot the score at 7-7 with two minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
  • A 13-point second quarter for the Blue Devils handed Duke a 20-7 edge at the break. Rookie kicker Todd Pelino registered a career-long 48-yard field goal just before halftime to help the Blue Devils cause.
  • Duke continued to add to its lead with a 38-yard field goal early in the third quarter to create a 23-7 gap between the teams.
  • UCF ended the Blue Devils' scoring run with a two-yard touchdown scamper with nine minutes left to play to pull within 23-13.
  • The Blue Devil defense then made two key stops in the final minutes of play on 4th-and-18 and 3rd-and-10 to ultimately secure the win. The first stop gave Duke great field position in which it converted a touchdown on the ensuing drive to extend its advantage to 30-13. The latter sealed the win for the Blue Devils as Rivers picked off UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee in the end zone with 46 ticks remaining.

Notables

  • Duke's nine wins are the most since 2014 when the Blue Devils finished 9-4. It also marked just the seventh time in program history the Blue Devils finished with nine wins in a season. 
  • Duke broke the single-season rushing touchdown record after scoring three via the ground game to finish with 30 on the year.
  • Duke concluded the year 7-0 when scoring first and registered a touchdown in six of those seven outings, including five on its opening drive.
  • Leonard finished the game 19-of-28 passing for 173 yards and added 10 carries for 63 yards with two scores.
  • Leonard tallied his fourth career multi-rushing touchdown game.
  • Senior Jalon Calhoun recorded a team-high 62 yards on six receptions to lead the Blue Devil receivers.
  • The Blue Devils recorded six sacks in the game to set the Military Bowl record. Cam Dillon (2), Tre Freeman, Darius Joiner, R.J. Oben, and Ryan Smith each recorded a sack. The Blue Devils ended the season recording two-plus sacks in six of their last seven games. Freeman's takedown was the first of his career sack.
  • Dillon led the Blue Devils with a team-high nine tackles and was followed closely by Joiner with seven.
  • Punter Porter Wilson recorded a 57-yard punt in the first quarter for his 11th 50-plus yard punt of the season. He finished with four punts for 171 yards for an average of 42.8 yards per boot.
  • Pelino converted on all three of his field goal attempts, including a career long 48-yarder. That kick was the second longest in Military Bowl history behind Virginia Tech's field goal by Joey Slye in 2014.