Rey and Ayanga Okpokowuruk rushed Northwestern's C.J. Bacher into an incomplete pass on the final play and Duke snapped its 22-game skid with a 20-14 win Saturday night.

"I came to the quarterback and got knocked to the ground as he threw," said Rey, who had eight tackles. "I got up and looked, but I didn't see anything. All I did was see out of the corner of my eye all our guys jumping up and down."

Thaddeus Lewis threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns for the Blue Devils, whose last win came on Sept. 17, 2005, against Virginia Military Institute. Duke (1-2) had not beaten a major college team since Nov. 13, 2004, against Clemson, a span of 27 games.

Lewis entered the game 0-13 as a starter.

"To see the clock go to 0:00 and you are the winner is a great feeling," he said. "I'm going to enjoy the moment, but I want there to be many more so I'm going to get ready and focused on Navy."

Jomar Wright, Ronnie Drummer and Brandon King caught TD passes for the Blue Devils, who led 20-7 after three quarters and never trailed.

Bacher opened the fourth quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run to pull Northwestern (2-1) within 20-14. He later ran 35 yards to give the Wildcats a first-and-goal from the 7 with 38 seconds to go. But Duke put heavy pressure on Bacher, forcing him to throw four consecutive incompletions in the end zone to prevent another Northwestern comeback.

The Wildcats came back from a 24-10 halftime deficit on Sept. 8 to beat Nevada 36-31.

"We did it last week, so it shouldn't have been anything this week," said Ross Lane, who caught nine passes for 128 yards. "We felt like we could go out there [after halftime] and win just as easily."

Not this time. When Bacher's final pass missed Jones, Duke players and coaches swarmed the field and embraced on top of Northwestern's purple and white "N" at the 50-yard line.

"I hope this will be a springboard for us and we will understand what it feels like to win and the reward that goes along with hard work," Duke coach Ted Roof said. "This is one football game, just like when we lost it was one football game. But I hope it puts a little extra bounce in our step."

Lewis, who entered the game with a 48.3 completion percentage, was 14-of-15 for 186 yards and three scores in the first half, with his lone incompletion coming on a heave to the end zone.