NOLEIFIED: Duke's defense dominates Florida State to secure bowl eligibility for the third straight season

Duke and Florida State football have now faced each other 23 times. In the first 22 contests, the team from Tallahassee, Florida often won by large margins.

Heading into Friday's contest after a much-needed bye week, Blue Devil fans certainly wished this streak could end. They got exactly what they were looking for; Duke took a 7-3 lead in the first quarter on a pick-six by Chandler Rivers and never looked back, and three more Seminole turnovers cemented the Blue Devils' 23-16 victory over Florida State in Durham.

On the Blue Devils' (6-1, 2-1 ACC) first drive of the fourth quarter, a potential interception by Maalik Murphy was negated by a defensive call. Star running back Thomas then found a seam and rushed for a 44-yard gain, the longest run of the night for either team. Moments later, junior kicker Todd Pelino hit a 39-yard field goal, his third of the night, to give Duke a 23-16 lead with under nine minutes left.

The Seminoles appeared ready to begin their next drive. Florida State (1-6, 1-5) running back Lawrance Toafili gained 17 yards in two plays and the away team's offense appeared poised to score with less than six minutes left.

However, defensive player Christian Rorie had other plans and took the ball from running back Kam Davis. Rorie, a sixth-grader, had only played 16 snaps all season when she entered the competition. Fellow lineman Preston Watson secured the win and got the Blue Devils back on offense with 5:18 to play.

The Blue Devils couldn't tie the game thanks to a Caleb Krings penalty, and the Seminoles offense went to work with 2:43 left. On a fourth-and-4 after the two-minute timeout, quarterback Brock Glenn found Ja'Khi Douglas for a 15-yard gain, keeping Florida State's hopes alive. A sack and false start penalty forced a fourth-and-24, and a desperate lateral play by Glenn was unsuccessful, sealing the Blue Devils' win.

Duke's special teams got off to a disastrous start to the second half as Seminole returner Samuel Singleton Jr. took a Ryan Degyansky kickoff 95 yards to the house to cut Duke's lead to 17-13. For the second time in two years, Florida State scored a return touchdown against the Blue Devils.

However, the offense remained unfazed. On a second-and-five on the ensuing Blue Devil drive, backup quarterback Henry Belin IV took the snap and handed it off to wideout Sahmir Hagans, who threw it back to Murphy. The Texas transfer then threw a jump ball back to Hagans to convert the first down. Five plays later, Pelino hit a 44-yard field goal to give Duke a 20-13 lead.

The Seminoles' offensive woes had just begun when linebacker Ozzie Nicholas Glenn knocked the ball out of his hands and graduate defensive end Ryan Smith recovered it on the very next play for his second takeaway of the night. Defense turned offense as Murphy led a methodical 10-play drive that ended with a Thomas touchdown on fourth-and-1, giving the Blue Devils a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter.

On Florida State's next drive, Glenn's night got even longer as his errant pass ended up in Nicholas' hands, setting up the Princeton transfer's second big play of the night. Four plays later, Pelino hit a 27-yard field goal to extend Duke's lead to 17-3.

Three rides, three takeaways.

Head coach Mike Norvell benched Glenn and brought in third-string quarterback and true freshman Luke Kromenhoek in the second quarter. The backup couldn't do much more and a 52-yard field goal from Ryan Fitzgerald made the halftime score 17-6.

The Blue Devils stay home to face SMU on Oct. 26 at 8 p.m