RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Maalik Murphy threw two touchdown passes and scored the go-ahead TD on a short keeper to help Duke grind past NC State 29-19 on Saturday night.
The Blue Devils (7-3, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) allowed just one touchdown and forced a pair of takeaways, while Todd Pelino had two long field goals in spoiling the Wolfpack's home finale.
“It was a complete performance in all three phases, which it needed to be to win in an environment like this,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said.
Jordan Moore had a leaping 45-yard touchdown grab late in the first quarter to give Duke a 12-0 lead, while Sahmir Hagans had a 9-yard scoring catch early in the fourth to put Duke up 26-12. There was also Murphy using his 6-foot-5, 230-pound frame to push through a goal-line collision for a 3-yard score — his first career rushing TD — to make it 19-12 with 4:37 left in the third.
And Pelino hit from 50 yards out in the first quarter and knocked through a critical 49-yarder with 2:12 left in the fourth to make it a two-possession game.
Otherwise, the game largely belonged to Duke's defense, which set an early tone by smothering Wolfpack freshman quarterback CJ Bailey in the end zone for a safety on NC State's second offensive snap.
Duke also forced a fumble by Bailey on the ensuing possession, then got Terry Moore's interception in the fourth when Bailey's off-target pass for Justin Joly bounced off Joly's hands to Moore to set up Hagans' score.
Bailey threw for 184 yards and a 16-yard touchdown catch to a sliding Wesley Grimes, who got his knees down inbounds on the left side for the fourth-down score that brought the Wolfpack (5-5, 2-4) within 26-19 with 9:01 left.
But the Wolfpack otherwise had to settle for four field goals from Kanoah Vinesett and finished with 268 total yards.
“We were able to get down there (in the red zone) quite a bit,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. “But you've got to finish.”
Duke: The resilient Blue Devils had already secured bowl eligibility in their first season under Diaz, then ended a two-game losing streak despite finishing with just 276 total yards — 31 on the ground — and going 0 for 9 on third downs.
NC State: The Wolfpack had won at California and then scored 59 points at home in last week's rout of Stanford for the program's biggest-ever output in any ACC game. But nothing came easily Saturday, with NC State converting just 3 of 15 third-down tries while star big-play receiver KC Concepcion had one carry for 4 yards and zero catches.
Wolfpack nickelback Tamarcus Cooley had a huge play by stripping the ball loose from Eli Pancol after Duke had pushed to the 10-yard line in the final minute before halftime, then raced 70 yards the other direction.
Yet reserve tight end Jake Taylor stayed with the play to drag down a tiring Cooley and save a possible touchdown with 6 seconds left. The Wolfpack cashed in with Vinesett's 37-yard field goal to make it 12-9, but Taylor's relentless effort gave Duke its own pre-halftime boost.
Duke: The Blue Devils have an open date before their home finale against Virginia Tech on Nov. 23.
NC State: The Wolfpack's open week awaits, followed by a trip to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Nov. 21 for a Thursday matchup.
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Duke's Jordan Moore (8) makes a catch for a touchdown over North Carolina State's Aydan White (3) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
PHOENIX (AP) — A judge recused himself Tuesday from presiding over Arizona’s fake electors case after an email surfaced in which he told fellow judges to speak out against attacks on Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for the presidency.
In the Aug. 29 email, Maricopa County Judge Bruce Cohen lamented that he didn’t speak out when Harris was called a “DEI hire,” believes that white men must speak out against unfair treatment of women, and raised a historical lesson from the Holocaust about the need to speak up when people are attacked. Cohen didn’t specify who made the comment regarding Harris.
“We cannot allow our colleagues who identify as being a ‘person of color’ to stand alone when there are those (who) may claim that their ascension was an ‘equity hire’ rather than based solely upon exceptionalism,” the judge told his colleagues in the email.
Cohen later wrote another email telling his fellow judges that he let his passion cloud his views and apologized to anyone affected by his lapse in judgment in using an email forum for judges that was not appropriate for unsolicited comments.
Lawyers for Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who faces nine felony charges in the case, sought the judge’s removal, arguing Cohen “bears a deep-seated personal political bias that overcame his professional judgment” and that their client has lost confidence in the judge’s impartiality.
Hoffman is one of 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that then-President Donald Trump won Arizona in the 2020 election. They include the former state party chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers. Two former Trump aides and five lawyers connected to Trump, including Rudy Giuliani, also were charged in the case. All 18 people were charged with charged with forgery, fraud and conspiracy.
“Given the statements the judge made, I think it’s appropriate that he recuse himself,” Arizona attorney Mark L. Williams, who is representing Giuliani, said after Cohen’s decision. “The way I see it, the case against Mr. Giuliani and the other defendants is falling apart and I think the attorney general should just wind down the case and dismiss it.”
A spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to comment on the judge’s recusal.
In a court record, Cohen said the original email was a stand for decency and didn’t reflect a personal bias, but he recognized that others may view it differently than he intended.
Cohen, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano in 2005, was scheduled to retire in January.
Most of the defendants had asked Cohen to throw out the charges under an Arizona law that bars using baseless legal actions in a bid to silence critics. The law had long offered protections in civil cases but was amended in 2022 by the Republican-led Legislature to cover people facing most criminal charges.
Cohen recused himself before deciding whether to dismiss the case, which will be assigned to another judge.
The defendants argued that Mayes tried to use the charges to silence them for their constitutionally protected speech about the 2020 election and actions taken in response to the race’s outcome. They say Mayes campaigned on investigating the fake elector case and had shown a bias against Trump and his supporters.
Prosecutors said the defendants didn’t have evidence to back up their retaliation claim and that they had crossed the line from protected speech to fraud. Mayes’ office also has said the grand jury that brought the indictment wanted to consider charging Trump, but prosecutors urged them not to.
Two defendants have already resolved their cases.
Former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, who worked closely with Giuliani, signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors that led to the dismissal of her charges. Republican activist Loraine Pellegrino also became the first person to be convicted in the Arizona case when she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to probation.
The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Trump wasn’t charged in Arizona, but the indictment refers to him as an unindicted coconspirator.
Prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme.
Associated Press writer Anita Snow contributed to this report.
Judge Bruce Cohen speaks during a pre-trial hearing Aug. 28, 2024, during the fake electors case in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix.(Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool)
Judge Bruce Cohen speaks during a pre-trial hearing Aug. 27, 2024, during the fake electors case in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. (Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic, Pool via AP)
FILE - Arizona Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, left, and his attorney Timothy La Sota appear virtually for Hoffman's arraignment in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, June 6, 2024. (Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool, File)
