WINSTON-SALEM — Tony Jackson and Jay Hollingsworth squeezed out a total of 130 yards on the ground on Saturday against a Wake Forest defense that had been holding teams to about 91 per game. It's a good number considering Duke managed just 28 at Vanderbilt last weekend.
But the number was not as impressive as how the sophomore and true freshman got those yards. Mostly Jackson and Hollingsworth were able to pound between the tackles and go up the gut, especially during a 10-play, 70-yard scoring drive late in the third quarter that turned a 19-14 deficit into a 20-19 lead.
Duke ran eight of those plays between tackles Cameron Goldberg and Fred Roland. Senior RB Clifford Harris, who drew blood scoring blood twice on long
receptions, also had one rush on the drive where he shoved his way
backwards, turning no gain into 5-yard pickup and a first down. Hollingsworth ran the last four plays for 5, 5, 11, and 6 yards, scoring on the last one.
"The guys are just hungry," Duke QB Thaddeus Lewis said after the game. "Coach [David Cutcliffe] always says, to make a statement in the running game it's up to who's the toughest. They all wanted it real bad. They showed it."
(NOTE TO READERS: In case you're wondering, Cutcliffe doesn't let his freshmen talk to the media. For now, we'll have to make do having others comment on Hollingsworth and WRs Donovan Varner and Johnny Willilams. Varner caught the first TD pass of his career in the first quarter.)
