DURHAM, N.C. (AP) _ After a conservative first half, Northwestern's Nick Kreinbrink went for broke in overtime, hitting Sam Simmons on a 27-yard scoring pass to pull out a 15-12 victory over Duke on Saturday.

Duke (0-2) had taken a 12-9 lead in the extra period on Sims Lenhardt's fourth field goal of the game when Kreinbrink pump-faked the Duke defense and connected with Simmons on the Wildcats' second play of overtime.

Duke rolled over the Wildcats (2-1) 44-10 a season ago, piling up 575 yards. However, the Blue Devils were limited to 187 total yards in regulation this time around and have failed to score a touchdown in coach Carl Franks' first two games.

The Wildcats led 9-3 at halftime on Tim Long's field goals of 43, 37 and 26 yards, but failed to put the game away in the third quarter when Long missed a 51-yarder and had a 43-yard attempt blocked by Chris Combs.

Duke closed within three points with 7:41 left on a 22-yard field goal by Lenhardt as the Wildcats played the second half close to the vest. The Blue Devils tied it on a 37-yarder by Lenhardt with 1:14 left after fumbling at the Northwestern 20 a series earlier.

Eric Jones' interception with 47 seconds left at the Northwestern 41 set up Duke for a potential game-winning field goal, but Kevin Thompson was sacked and an illegal motion penalty pushed the Blue Devils out of scoring range.

Duke's offense went nowhere early with starting quarterback Spencer Romine sidelined by a separated shoulder in a 27-9 loss to East Carolina last week. The Blue Devils were held to minus 11 yards in the first quarter as QBs Bobby Campbell and Thompson were sacked three times and Duke couldn't find its running game.

Franks ended up rotating his two healthy quarterbacks in the second half, but nothing seemed to charge up the Duke offense. The pair combined to go 12-for-41 for 145 yards before overtime.