Duke’s salty defense didn’t go away when Mike Elko left for Texas A&M.
The Blue Devils unleashed a smothering stopping unit on Friday night against visiting Elon and earned a 26-3 victory in Manny Diaz’s debut as the new head coach in Durham.
Duke recorded eight sacks and 16 tackles-for-loss. The Devils held the Phoenix to 30 yards rushing and 140 yards of total offense.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Maalik Murphy made his first appearance for the Blue Devils on offense, throwing for 291 yards and two touchdowns.
After a quiet first half in which Elon’s defense was equally up to the challenge and held Duke to just 10 points, the Blue Devils broke the game open. Murphy connected with Jeremiah Hasley on a 1-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter, extending Duke’s lead to 19-0. Later, he found Eli Pancol for a 7-yard score to seal the victory in the fourth quarter.
Duke wide receiver Jordan Moore was a standout, hauling in seven catches for 112 yards.
On the defensive side, Elon’s Caleb Curtain made his presence felt with a fourth-quarter interception, his second against a Power Four opponent in as many seasons. Despite Curtain’s efforts, including a team-high three pass break-ups as well as six tackles, Elon’s lack of offense kept an upset out of reach.
Elon was limited to a late 39-yard field goal by Jack Berkowitz, avoiding the shutout with just 14 seconds remaining. In a turning point moment in the first half, Berkowitz nearly hit a 50-yard field goal that would have tied the score 3-3. But the kick bounced off the bottom bar and fell short. It took Duke just two plays to advance 65 yards in the other direction for a touchdown and a 10-0 edge.
Elon did hold Duke to 59 rushing yards. Curtain and fellow defensive back Khalil Baker repeatedly turned away deep balls thrown by Murphy. But in the end, the FBS Blue Devils proved too much.
Next up: Duke (1-0) will visit Northwestern on Friday, Sept. 6, while Elon (0-1) returns to Durham on Saturday Sept. 7 to face North Carolina Central.
Duke Top Performers
Maalik Murphy (QB): 291 passing yards, 2 TDs
Jordan Moore (WR): 7 receptions, 112 yards
Todd Pelino (K): 2 FGs, long of 42 yards
Jeremiah Hasley (TE): 1-yard TD reception
Duke Defense: 16 TFL, 8 sacks
Elon Top Performers
Caleb Curtain (DB): 1 interception, 3 pass break-ups, 6 tackles
Khalil Baker (DB): 10 tackles
Jeff Yurk (P): 7 punts, 51.9 avg, 3 inside the 20, long 60 yards
Cazeem Moore (DL): 6 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 forced fumble
Information for this game recap was compiled with the help of ChatGPT. All stories are edited by real humans. Have feedback? Send us an email: eric@ncfootballnews.com.
