Duke needed to prove itself in a road ACC game and got the chance to do just that with Saturday’s trip to Raleigh.

The Blue Devils made the short trip home to Durham with a 29-19 win over the Wolfpack and plenty proven about their road moxie.

“We got off to a great start. They battled back. They tied the game,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said. “We answered with two straight touchdowns, which set up the scenario that if we could have scripted it, we really couldn't have asked for it any better. Up two scores on the road in league play. Could we close? And could we finish?”

If not obvious in the final score, Duke (7-3, 3-3 ACC) did finish.

After N.C. State (5-5, 2-4) kicked its fourth field goal to tie the game at 12-12, Duke’s answer was in the form of a 12-play, 75-yard drive that featured a 20-yard pass to Jordan Moore and 22-yarder to Que’Sean Brown, and ended with quarterback Maalik Murphy running — yes, you read that right — into the end zone for a touchdown.

“It was a long time coming, honestly,” Murphy said of his first career rushing touchdown. “It was an option look and I just pulled it. The run option was probably there honestly, but I pulled it and was lucky enough to get in the endzone. Hopefully, there are a few more of those to come.”

Murphy completed 22 of 31 passes for 245 yards and a couple of touchdowns, along with the rushing score.

The Blue Devils padded the lead after Terry Moore picked off N.C. State freshman quarterback CJ Bailey. Murphy threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Sahmir Hagans to put the Blue Devils ahead by two touchdowns.

Things tightened up late, with N.C. State answering on Bailey’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Grimes with 9:01 left.

Duke went three-and-out after that, but N.C. State also had a possession that went nowhere and punted back to the Blue Devils while down seven.

Duke pushed the game into a comfortable margin — which became the final margin — with Todd Pelino’s 49-yard field goal and 2:06 left on the clock.

“Winning away is one of the hardest things to do in college football,” Diaz said. “Winning away on a Senior Night against a team desperate to get win No. 6 is the hardest thing. The fact that our guys did it and they're winning the game by 10 points is huge.”

The first points of the game were scored by Duke’s defense, with Aaron Hall and Wesley Williams combining for a tackle in the end zone and a safety. A little later in the first quarter, after a fumble forced by Ozzie Nicholas and recovered by Cameron Bergeron, Pelino made a 50-yard field goal.

Duke’s lead grew to 12-0 the next time its offense was on the field, with Murphy throwing a 45-yard touchdown to Moore on a sensational catch in the front corner of the end zone.

EXTRA POINTS: Duke’s rushing game was stifled, as the Blue Devils only netted 31 yards on the ground. … Chandler Rivers led Duke’s defense with seven tackles. … Jaylen Stinson, Kimari Robinson and Wesley Williams each had two tackles for loss; Stinson and Robinson are defensive backs.