Miami continues the theme of dominant second halves beating Duke

After trailing Duke 28-17 early in the second half, Miami held Duke to 36 yards on the final five drives to pull away to a 53-31 win on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium. Miami outscored Duke 21-3 and had a 198-51 advantage in total yards in the fourth quarter on Saturday as part of a 36-3 run over the final 22:16.

This was the fourth time Miami used a dominant quarter in the second half this season to earn a victory in a game that was in doubt. After falling behind 28-17, Miami rallied to take a 32-28 lead at the end of the third quarter. A Duke field goal cut the Miami lead to 32-31 before a 21-0 run put the game away.

Miami outgained Duke 198-51 in the fourth quarter. Duke had three punts, an interception and a lost fumble on their final five possessions. Miami only needed seven plays to gain 169 yards on its final three TD drives. The Miami defense dominated after the Hurricanes extended the lead to 39-31 in the fourth quarter.

On its final five possessions, Duke ran 17 plays for 56 yards. Duke had 90 yards in the first quarter, 124 in the second and 140 in the third before Miami could take complete control of the game. Miami almost had six TDs on its seven final full drives before taking a knee but fumbled inside the Duke 10.

The stretch of a dominant quarter in the second half with the game still in doubt began with the Virginia Tech game. Trailing 24-17 at halftime Miami outgained Virginia Tech 140 to 61 and had a 7-3 advantage to close within 27-24 after three quarters. Miami had to rally from a 34-24 deficit in the fourth quarter to win 38-34.