DURHAM — Gunnar Holmberg tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns and threw for a fifth as Duke overcame Kansas 52-33 on Saturday, its third straight win.
The Blue Devils (3-1) struck for 21 points during a six-minute span of the third quarter, taking the lead on the way to eclipsing their 2020 win total.
Holmberg’s scoring runs came from 4, 1, 3 and 13 yards. He threw for 328 yards, completing 22 of 29 passes.
“It’s part of the game plan,” Holmberg said of his 17 carries for 88 yards. “The O-line did their part. The receivers on the perimeter.”
Duke’s Mataeo Durant ran for 124 yards on 21 carries, including a 57-yard touchdown for the game’s first points. Jake Bobo made seven catches for 105 yards.
“We’ve got a lot of weapons and we’ve got to continue to grow and get better,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. “I think our offense is playing at an extremely high level.”
Jason Bean went 19-for-32 for 323 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for Kansas. Trevor Wilson had 122 receiving yards on five catches and Devin Neal ran for 107 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
Kansas (1-3) led 24-21 at halftime courtesy of Neal’s 1-yard run on fourth down with 1:04 left. The Jayhawks boosted the margin on Jacob Borcila’s 29-yard field goal on the first possession of the second half.
“You go out every drive knowing you’ve got to respond,” Holmberg said.
Duke posted the next 24 points, aided by linebacker Shaka Heyward’s interception of Bean, setting up Holmberg’s 3-yard run two plays later.
“They run a lot of explosive plays,” Kansas coach Lance Leipold said. “We didn’t tackle as well as we need. That continues to be a spot we need to work on.”
Kansas had three possessions inside the Duke 25 in the first quarter. The second time, Borcila booted a 50-yard field goal for the Jayhawks’ first points. Bean’s swing pass to Torry Locklin resulted in a 20-yard touchdown.
The Blue Devils have won three in a row for the first time since September 2019. Since then, six of the team’s seven victories have come in home games.
Duke plays three of four October games on the road, starting Saturday at Carolina. Kansas goes to Iowa State to begin Big 12 action.