INSTANT REACTION: Duke Leads Boston College, 9-0, At Halftime

Here's some of the instant reaction with the Eagles trailing the Duke Blue Devils, 9-0, at halftime down in Durham:

-Jeff Smith clearly distanced himself from Troy Flutie early on in this game. Flutie failed to inspire and move the offense on the first couple of drives, and it was a quick hook from there. Since coming in, Smith has gained 59 yards on ten carries.

-If there's one knock against his first half performance, it's his propensity for overthrowing receivers. With the receivers run straight up vertical routes, Smith is just heaving it up and overthrowing the receivers by a solid five yards each time. That said, the receivers aren't doing a good enough job of getting open or separation and are looking back for the ball, decelerating in the process. Zero yards passing in the first half is a bad look, no matter how you try to slice it.

-The running game itself has been more or less meh (that's the scientific term) with both Tyler Rouse and Marcus Outlow getting six carries apiece. Outlow gained nine yards on his first carry but has since gained two yards on five carries. Rouse broke off a 25 yard carry but only has 11 yards on his other five carries.

-Defensively, BC is playing stout but is giving up some yardage. Still, there's very few complaints. Although Thomas Sirk was able to push into Boston College territory and complete a couple of big plays, the Eagle defense stood the task each time.

-Good credit to Steven Daniels for getting after the QB and rocking his world on more than one occasion.

-Ross Martin is the Duke kicker. He is very good. That 53-yard field goal was a thing of beauty, especially considering the less than optimal field conditions.

-The Boston College special teams hasn't been an issue through the first few games of the season. But after executing a long drive up the field, they came away with zero because the field goal unit couldn't get it done. That wasn't the kicker's fault (at least), but a bad snap was mishandled by Bobby Swigert, who never recovered.