{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Duke 44, Indiana 41
When: 3:30 PM ET, Saturday, December 26, 2015
Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
Temperature: 52°
Head Official: Chris Coyte
Attendance: 37218

NEW YORK -- At a university noted for the success of its men's basketball program, Duke football is establishing a reputation of its own.

The Blue Devils (8-5) posted their first postseason win in 54 years, turning back Indiana 44-41 in overtime in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday before 37,218 at Yankee Stadium.

Ross Martin connected on a 36-yard field goal on Duke's first possession of overtime for the lead. Indiana's Griffin Oakes narrowly missed a 38-yard field goal attempt wide right to tie it on the next possession.

"The ball went beyond the end line over the top of the upright and when that occurs the play is not reviewable," referee Chris Coyte said of the failed attempt. "The ruling was the ball was outside of the upright and in order for a field goal to be good, the ball has to be completely inside the upright."

Duke, whose men's basketball team is the defending NCAA champion, has posted three straight seasons of eight or more victories for the first time in school history. The win over the Hoosiers (6-7) was the first bowl victory for the Blue Devils since a 7-6 decision over Arkansas in the 1961 Cotton Bowl.

The win also ended a string of three straight bowl losses for Duke, which lost to Cincinnati (48-34) in the 2012 Belk Bowl, Texas A&M (52-48) in the 2013 Chick-fil-A-Bowl and Arizona State (36-31) in the 2014 Sun Bowl.

"The expectations for Duke football continue to rise," Blue Devils coach David Cutcliffe said. "I like goals, but I like milestones better. Milestones come along during the season for different reasons and different circumstances."

Duke quarterback Thomas Sirk's 5-yard touchdown run and Martin's extra point tied the score at 41 with 41 seconds to play in regulation. Oakes' 56-yard field goal attempt as time expired fell short.

Sirk passed for 156 yards and rushed for 155 yards. He ran for two touchdowns and passed for one.

The Blue Devils also received tremendous production from running backs Jela Duncan and Shaun Powell, who rushed for 111 and 103 yards, respectively.

"That's only the second time in school history where we've had three 100-yard rushers," Cutcliffe said. "We ran the football very effectively."

Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld hit wide-open wide receiver Mitchell Paige in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown with 4:03 to play and the extra point gave Indiana a temporary 41-34 edge.

Sudfield was 28-of-51 passing for 389 yards and three touchdowns. He set the Indiana record for most passing yards in a season with 3,573, breaking Ben Chappell's mark of 3,295 yards set in 2010.

"At any point out there, our team could have become dejected, but I never saw any of that," Cutcliffe said. "Not just from our players but from our staff. We had a lot of great conversations about how we are going to win the game.

"I was really proud that our staff continued to coach believing we were going to win. That was critical."

Running back Devine Redding established an Indiana bowl record by rushing for 227 yards on 35 carries. Redding, a sophomore, broke Anthony Thompson's mark of 140 yards against South Carolina in the 1988 Liberty Bowl.

The Hoosiers were without their top running back, junior Jordan Howard, who suffered a knee injury late

in the season.

"The more (Redding) plays, he's more relaxed," Indiana coach Kevin Wilson said. "Sometimes he used to run tight. He's more relaxed, more fluid, more competent.

"The real stat is wins and we only got six. We made some strides. We want to build on it. I think we have a solid foundation to move forward."

A 98-yard kick return from Wilson and Martin's point-after tied the score at 34 for Duke with 10:55 to play.

The back-and-forth third quarter ended with Indiana leading 31-27 thanks to running back Alex Rodriguez's 10-yard touchdown run.

A 34-yard field goal from Martin provided Duke with a 20-17 lead four minutes into the third quarter.

The final stages of the first half produced three scores within 1:25. A 45-yard field goal by Oakes with three seconds left in the second quarter tied it at 17.

Duke had reclaimed the lead at 17-14 on a 73-yard scamper by Sirk with 1:00 after Redding gave Indiana a 14-10 edge with a 17-yard sprint through the middle with 1:25 left in the first half.

Indiana cut the Duke lead to 10-7 when Sudfeld hit freshman wide receiver Luke Timian for a 27-yard touchdown in the front corner of the end zone and the point after was good with 6:56 left in the first half. The touchdown was the first of Timian's career.

Wilson's 85-yard burst up the middle and Martin's extra point extended Duke's first-quarter lead to 10-0 with 1:16 left. The 85-yard jaunt tied the school record for the longest run, established by Charlie Smith in 1951 against Virginia Tech.

Martin gave Duke a 3-0 lead on a 52-yard field goal on the Blue Devils' first possession of the game.

NOTES: Indiana's 667 total yards was a Pinstripe Bowl record. ... Indiana WR Mitchell Paige set a Pinstripe Bowl mark for receptions with 11. ... Duke was playing in a bowl game for a school-record fourth straight season. ... Duke senior S Jeremy Cash, the ACC's Defensive Player of the Year, underwent wrist surgery on Wednesday and was out for the game. He had a team-high 101 tackles, including 18 for a loss. ... Duke offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery was named East Carolina's head coach on Dec. 13. ... Indiana lost to Big Ten opponents Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa by a combined 22 points. ... The Hoosiers led the Big Ten in total offense, averaging 490.8 yards per game and were last in the conference in yards allowed per game (507.3). ... The original Yankee Stadium hosted 185 college football games during its 85-year history. ... Duke WR Max McCaffrey is the brother of Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey, runner-up for the Heisman Trophy this season.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Indiana   Duke
Devine Redding Player Thomas Sirk
35 Attempts 20
227 Yards 155
6.5 Avg Yards 7.8
1 Touchdowns 2
0 Long 0
Receiving
Indiana   Duke
Simmie Cobbs Jr. Player T.J. Rahming
6 Receptions 3
121 Yards 49
20.2 Avg Yards 16.3
0 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Indiana 667 278 389 5 2 3 1.0 0
Duke 536 373 163 5 3 2 0.0 1