North Carolina
BACK IN BULL CITY: Duke football races past North Carolina A&T at home for third-straight win
Three video games in, the Blue Devils are but to falter.
Duke bolted previous visiting North Carolina A&T in Saturday night’s matchup at Wallace Wade Stadium, utilizing a first-quarter onslaught to construct a 28-6 halftime lead en path to a 49-20 win. Sophomore quarterback Riley Leonard paced the Blue Devils with 4 complete touchdowns as head coach Mike Elko’s squad maintained its excellent document with a decisive win in entrance of 32,802 followers—essentially the most at Wallace Wade since 2019—on its dwelling area.
On the drive straight following Duke’s second rating of the evening, junior defensive deal with Aeneas Peebles broke by way of the Aggie offensive line, taking down redshirt senior quarterback Jalen Fowler and knocking the ball unfastened. Junior captain DeWayne Carter was proper there to choose up the pigskin and returned the fumble 35 yards for the landing, giving Duke (3-0) a 21-0 lead lower than 9 minutes into the sport.
As Carter and the remainder of the Duke protection celebrated ultimately zone, one factor was clear: The Blue Devils had already damaged Saturday’s recreation open, as soon as and for all.
For the third straight recreation, the Blue Devils wasted no time in getting the scoring began. Junior security Jaylen Stinson, the reigning ACC Defensive Again of the Week, returned the opening kickoff to the North Carolina A&T 33-yard line. One play later, after a delay of recreation name price the Blue Devils 5 yards, sophomore quarterback Riley Leonard linked with tight finish Nicky Dalmolin over the center for a 38-yard landing, the longest seize and second rating of the junior’s profession.
In scoring on its first play from scrimmage and gathering a defensive landing, Duke achieved two feats for the primary time because the 2018 season.
The opening drive took simply 15 seconds. Earlier than the top of the primary quarter, the Blue Devils would stretch their lightning-fast result in 21-0 with Carter’s return.
After flirting with program historical past along with his 15-for-15 begin in Duke’s season-opening win in opposition to Temple, Leonard was equally wonderful Saturday. The 6-foot-4 sign caller linked on his first 11 makes an attempt, tallying 155 yards and two touchdowns earlier than unceremoniously ending his pursuit of perfection with an interception over the center on the Blue Devils’ closing drive of the primary half.
On Duke’s second snap of the third quarter, Leonard put the ending touches on an enormous win, faking a handoff earlier than racing into house for the 56-yard rating, placing the Blue Devils up 35-6 in opposition to the Aggies (0-3). It marked the second dashing rating of the evening for the sophomore, who led Duke in dashing with 66 yards and accounted for 4 complete touchdowns in lower than three quarters of motion.
For as explosive as Duke appeared on its opening drive, its second scoring effort was much more methodical. The Blue Devils used greater than 5 minutes and 10 performs to take a 14-0 lead with sophomore broad receiver Jordan Moore’s landing catch coming from 5 yards out.
Initially, that second Duke drive seemed lifeless within the water. Going through fourth-and-3 on the Aggie 45-yard line, Leonard surveyed the sector earlier than taking off for the marker, getting simply far sufficient to maintain the Blue Devils on the sector for a recent set of downs.
Large performs performed a big position in Duke’s first-half domination, not the least of which got here on the Blue Devils’ fourth and closing landing drive of the primary half-hour. On first down close to midfield, Leonard stepped up into the oncoming move rush and located redshirt freshman receiver Sahmir Hagans deep down the suitable sideline. If not for the hit Leonard took on the play, his move—which set Duke up with a goal-to-go state of affairs—may need discovered Hagans in stride for a protracted rating.
North Carolina A&T lastly punched in a couple of scores within the fourth quarter, with standout working again Bhayshul Tuten’s 133-yard evening fueling the Aggie offense. The groups additionally inserted freshmen quarterbacks Henry Belin IV (Duke) and Eli Brickhandler (North Carolina A&T) late for the primary recreation motion of their careers.
Redshirt junior working backs Jaylen Coleman and Jordan Waters each discovered success in Saturday’s recreation, tallying 51 yards on 10 carries every. Coleman discovered paydirt within the third quarter, whereas Waters offered a spotlight within the first half by hurdling an Aggie defender for the primary down. Youthful working backs entered the scene late, as Jaquez Moore burst up the sideline for a 42-yard acquire and freshman Eric Weatherly completed the job with a 14-yard scoring run.
Past the field rating, Duke’s win Saturday offers Elko his third-straight win to begin off his tenure as head coach. The previous Texas A&M defensive coordinator turns into the primary Duke head coach to begin 3-0 in his first season since Fred Goldsmith rattled off seven straight victories in his debut season in 1994.
Duke moved to 3-0 in its all-time collection with North Carolina A&T. The Blue Devils hosted the Aggies in 45-13 and 45-17 victories in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
The Blue Devils shut nonconference play Sept. 24 in Lawrence, Kan., for a 12 p.m. matchup in opposition to Kansas. The 2 groups confronted off in Durham a season in the past, with Duke prevailing 52-33.
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| Sports activities Editor
Jonathan Levitan is a Trinity junior and sports activities editor of The Chronicle’s 118th quantity.