Sept. 6, 2003

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke quarterback Adam Smith came off the bench to throw for two touchdowns and rush for one in leading the Duke Blue Devils to a 29-3 victory over Western Carolina Saturday night at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Smith, who lost his starting role after the first game of the season, entered the game midway through the second quarter after Mike Schneider had been knocked out of the game and Duke facing a fourth and three on the WCU 30. Smith proceeded to complete a 24-yard pass to Khary Sharpe to get the first down and, one play later, hit Reggie Love on a six-yard touchdown pass, giving Duke a 13-0 lead. Smith would end the game by completing 13-of-20 passes for 120 yards and two TDs.

Duke got on the board early, taking the opening kickoff and driving 80 yards on 14 plays for the 6-0 lead. Chris Douglas, who rushed nine times for 38 yards on the opening series, capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown run. Douglas finished with 22 rushes for 106 yards. Late in the first quarter, Smith entered and led Duke to its second TD in the game. On their next series, the Blue Devils made the score 16-0 thanks to a 44-yard field goal by Matt Brooks.

On Western's first possession of the second half, Gaither was sacked and fumbled, giving Duke the ball on the one yard line. One play later, Smith scored on a quarterback sneak.

The Catamount offense began to click on the ensuiing possession as Gaither completed 4-of-6 passes for 46 yards, moving WCu to the Duke 23. However, a penalty, a sack and another penalty moved the Cats out of field goal range. After a Stanton Horne punt backed Duke up to its own seven, Western's defense forced a Duke punt. Gaither would complete nine straight passes on the Cats' next drive, setting up a 26-yard Chris Vought field goal and making the score 22-3.

Duke capped the scoring midway through the fourth quarter. For the second time in the game, Smith threw a fade pass to Love for a TD, this time from four-yards out, providing the final 29-3 margin.

For Western, Brian Gaither finished the game completing 18-of-33 passes for 181 yards with three interceptions. Lamont Seward and Michael Reeder each caught six passes for 70 and 47 yards, respectively. For the second straight week, Horne was solid, averaging 44.7 yards on six punts.

Defensively for the Catamounts, Jada Sullivan and Rod Dunlap led the way, each collecting 12 tackles. Dunlap added a sack and a pass break. With the sack, Dunlap moves to 10th on the WCU all-time tackles for loss list, now with 28. Michale Spicer, who played sparingly in the opener at NC State, tallied five stops, including four tackles for loss with a sack. Spicer now has 46 career TFLs, which is only one shy of second and two shy of the record on the WCU all-time list. (Former NFL veterans Louis Cooper and Clyde Simmons occupy the WCU TFL list with 48 and 47, respectively.)