Duke took down Troy 17-10 in a Birmingham Bowl contested by schools with interim coaches.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 17-3 lead before Troy scored in the fourth quarter to give Duke a scare. But Troy didn’t get any closer than that after QB Gunnar Watson was picked off with 1:22 to go.
Duke (8-5) was coached by Trooper Taylor on Saturday as Mike Elko is now the coach at Texas A&M. The Blue Devils led 14-0 at halftime thanks to a TD run by Jaylen Coleman and two field goals.
Troy (11-3) entered the game without coach Jon Sumrall as he’s now Tulane’s new head coach. The Trojans were 0-of-3 on fourth downs and 3-of-12 on third downs.
The victory is the fifth consecutive bowl win for the Blue Devils. Duke hasn’t lost a bowl game since the 2014 Sun Bowl.