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DURHAM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Damien Anderson rushed for 189 yards and four touchdowns and Zak Kustok passed for 318 yards and a score as 19th-ranked Northwestern used all of its weapons to hand Duke its 15th straight loss, 44-7. Anderson had a "quiet" 113 yards in a season-opening win at Nevada-Las Vegas but proved unstoppable against Duke. Despite sitting out the fourth quarter, he tied the single-game school touchdown record he shares with four others. A Heisman Trophy candidate after rushing for a school-record 2,063 yards last season, Anderson started the scoring with an 11-yard run in the first quarter and burst five yards up the middle in the final minute of the period to put the Wildcats (2-0) ahead for good, 14-7. "The coaches did a great job scheming, but we came out and played today," he said. "We had something to prove offensively in running the ball. Two weeks ago, we weren't as consistent as we normally are." Anderson also reached the end zone in the second half on runs of 16 and one yard as Northwestern scored the game's final 37 points. "I thought we started out shaky, but we played with poise and patience and it all came together for us," Wildcats coach Randy Walker said. "I liked the way we hung in and kept playing." Kustok accounted for five TDs against UNLV but did not put his name on the scoresheet until the opening minute of the fourth quarter, when he hit freshman running back Ashton Aikens for a four-yard touchdown. Ten different receivers caught passes for Northwestern and no one had more than four. "I expect Zak Kustok to make plays and to play big, but all the guys are making big catches for him," Walker said. "They're all stepping up on offense and making big plays." The Wildcats rolled up 638 total yards, more than doubling the total of the Blue Devils (0-3), who allowed just 270 two weeks ago in a 15-13 loss at Rice. Northwestern is off to its second straight 2-0 start and begins Big Ten Conference play next week against Michigan State. "It was good and definitely a reflection of our hard work. At the same time, we have a big task ahead at Michigan State," Anderson said. "Our offensive line did a great job. We were clicking on all cylinders." "We're a better football team than we showed tonight," Duke coach Carl Franks said. "We played a very, very good football team that exposed some weaknesses. Northwestern had the No. 1 offense in the Big Ten last year. They were No. 1 in scoring as well." One of few negatives for the Wildcats was the loss of receiver Sam Simons, who suffered a concussion early in the second quarter and did not return. "Sam went down, that's what we're worried about right now," Anderson said. "He's an intricate part of our offense. He really makes things click, especially for me." D. Bryant's five-yard toss to Mike Hart in the first quarter accounted for the scoring for Duke, which has lost five of the last six meetings but still owns a 7-5 lead in the series. "We got a score in the first quarter. It was a nice little pass from D," Hart said. "Emotions were high and we were ready to give them a hard game and just went kind of sour from there." Anderson had 51 yards by the end of the first quarter and his five-yard TD put Northwestern ahead for good. Hobbled by a groin injury, David Wasielewski kicked field goals of 28 and 47 yards to increase the lead to 20-7 at halftime. He added a 36-yarder in the third quarter. "We didn't know if he could go tonight, but it looks like he wasn't affected by it," Walker said of his kicker.
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