Duke left its Week 1 opener with the result it wanted and a whole lot to clean up.
The Blue Devils beat Tulane 17-3 on Saturday, giving Manny Diaz a 3-0 record in season openers at the helm in Durham. But the scoreboard did a much better job of flattering Duke than the offense did. For long stretches, the unit never really found its footing.
What it did find, though, was Nate Sheppard.
The sophomore running back was the clear centerpiece from the opening series, and Duke leaned on him in a way that made the plan impossible to miss. On the Blue Devils’ first offensive possession alone, Sheppard carried the ball 11 times during a 17-play drive. By halftime, he had already piled up 19 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown.
He didn’t slow down from there. Sheppard finished with 35 carries for 227 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 6.5 yards per rush against Tulane.
Based on how Saturday unfolded, it’s hard to argue against the idea that he was the best player on the field. Duke’s ceiling may end up tracking directly with how far he can carry it.
The problem was everything around him.
Walker Eget, the San Jose State transfer who won the starting quarterback job over redshirt freshman Dan Mahan, had a rough Duke debut. The sixth-year transfer completed 13 of 26 passes for 131 yards, and he never looked comfortable in the pocket. The first half in particular was shaky, with Eget missing at least two or three open receivers for touchdowns.
The passing game as a whole never gave Duke much help. Jared Richardson, the Penn transfer who seemed set up to lead the receiving corps, did not record a catch against the Green Wave. As a team, the Blue Devils finished with 13 receptions for 131 yards.
That imbalance left Duke relying almost entirely on Sheppard to move the offense. Even with the win in hand, the Blue Devils’ attack looked stuck in neutral outside of the star back’s work.
There’s no mystery about the takeaway from Week 1: Duke has its bell cow, but Diaz and his staff have plenty to sort out on offense.
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Dukes reach did not stop there. Four more former Blue Devils opened the year on reserve/injured lists with a designation to return, while four others stayed in the league on practice squads. Add in a 2026 NFL Draft and free-agent period that sent three players off the board and brought eight more into pro camps, and the picture is clear enough for anyone around the program: Duke has turned NFL presence into another recruiting point, even if the full payoff of this years class is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
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There was offense to build around, too, and it came mostly through sophomore running back Nate Sheppard, who looked like the kind of back who can carry more than just a workload. For Manny Diaz, the bigger takeaway was the mentality after an offseason defined by losses, with the coach pointing to the way his players have responded and expressing confidence in the belief inside the program. The early results do not fix everything, but they do give Duke something it has lacked for a while: a reason to think this can be more than a temporary spark. [Read more 🡒]