Duke didn’t just beat William & Mary on Saturday. It put on a full-scale scoring clinic and walked out of Wallace Wade Stadium with a 62-7 win, its highest point total in nearly 80 years.
The Blue Devils kept rolling from the opening minutes and never really let the Tribe breathe. By the time the final horn sounded, Duke had piled up 638 total yards, stayed unbeaten, and posted its biggest scoring output since 1949.
It started quickly. After a little more than four minutes, Walker Eget dropped a 24-yard pass into the hands of Jayden Moore in the left corner of the end zone. From there, Duke’s offense kept finding new gears while William & Mary struggled to stay on schedule.
The Tribe did manage a few flashes early. They forced Duke to punt after disrupting a fake punt pass attempt, then saw Max Lipinski’s 53-yard field goal try get blocked by Luke Mergott. But Duke answered with another touchdown in just three plays, this time on Nate Sheppard’s 19-yard run.
William & Mary briefly found some life on its next possession. Winston Watkins hit Khylil Johnson for 16 yards, Johnson turned that into a long burst to Duke’s 6-yard line, and Jack Reuter finished the drive with a short touchdown catch and run. For a moment, the Tribe had a pulse.
That was about as good as it got.
Duke responded with a field goal to open the second quarter, then took control after a 39-yard punt return set up another scoring chance. Backup quarterback Dan Mahan found Kavon Simmons for a touchdown, and not long after, Mahan hit Jaivon Solomon on a shotgun play that turned into an easy score and a 31-7 lead.
William & Mary tried to answer again, leaning on Josh Miller to move the ball into the red zone for a second time. But Duke’s defense slammed the door, stuffing Watkins on fourth down and forcing another empty trip.
The Blue Devils made the Tribe pay immediately. Eget returned to the field and helped spark another touchdown drive with a 36-yard Sheppard run and a 28-yard throw into the corner to Jared Richardson, sending Duke into halftime up 38-7.
The second half didn’t change the tone. William & Mary opened with another sack, this one from Bradley Gompers, and Duke kept applying pressure on both sides of the ball. Sheppard ripped off another long run to push his day to 116 yards on nine carries, and the Blue Devils added a 39-yard field goal.
Soon after, Mahan was back at it. He completed passes to Nate Kurisky and Solomon before delivering a 27-yard touchdown strike to Brody Keefe, who made a leaping catch just inside the boundary.
By then, the Tribe offense looked worn down. Duke kept rotating through its depth chart, and the points kept coming.
Third-string running back Jayvian Tanelus put together three strong carries late in the third quarter, then freshman quarterback Terry Walker III led a 10-play, 76-yard drive to open the fourth. Running back CJ Givers capped the barrage with a 28-yard touchdown.
Duke’s fifth quarterback, Kade Reynoldson, finished out the final seconds after fellow Ivy League transfers Blaine Hipa and Wilhelm Daal II got their turn late in the fourth quarter.
The defense matched the offense’s pace, too. Over the final 12 minutes, Duke didn’t allow William & Mary backup quarterback Carter Carroll a single first down.
Eget finished with 182 passing yards and two touchdowns, while Sheppard once again delivered a big rushing day. In the end, the numbers told the story of a blowout from start to finish.
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