Duke didn’t just beat William & Mary on Saturday. It put together a complete afternoon, rolling to a 62-7 win at Wallace Wade Stadium to move to 4-0 and leaving with plenty to like on offense, on special teams and in the backfield.
The headline-grabber was Dan Mahan, who needed only two throws to announce himself. His first two pass attempts both went for touchdowns - 29-yard strikes to Kavon Simmons and Jaivon Solomon - and the redshirt freshman finished 6-of-7 for 126 yards and three scores. That kind of efficiency gives head coach Manny Diaz’s team another real option behind quarterback Walker Eget.
Mahan’s third touchdown may have been the most eye-catching. On third-and-5 in the third quarter, he dropped a perfectly placed 27-yard ball down the right sideline to freshman Brody Keefe, who finished the play with a tumbling catch in the end zone.
For a quarterback whose mobility has already shown up early in his opportunities, that throw hinted at a different layer to his game. If he keeps pairing that rushing threat with this kind of passing touch, defenses will have one more problem to solve.
Nate Sheppard, meanwhile, kept doing Nate Sheppard things. The running back continues to make a loud Heisman Trophy case, and the numbers are impossible to ignore: through four games, he leads the FBS with 644 rushing yards and 178.5 all-purpose yards per game, and his nine total touchdowns are tied for second nationally. Against the Tribe, he added 116 rushing yards and a touchdown on just nine carries.
He didn’t need volume to matter. A 36-yard run on third-and-2 helped set up a scoring chance before halftime, and his 31-yard burst to start Duke’s second-half offense pushed the Blue Devils inside William & Mary’s 20. Even with a lighter workload, Sheppard kept turning touches into chunk gains, and Duke got the benefit of other backs getting involved too.
Special teams also swung the game in Duke’s favor. Safety Andrew Pellicciotta returned back-to-back second-quarter punts for 39 yards and 21 yards, giving the Blue Devils the ball at William & Mary’s 29-yard line and then the 45. Both drives ended in touchdowns, and Duke needed only four offensive plays combined to cash in.
The unit also helped erase an early mistake. A failed fake punt gave William & Mary the ball at Duke’s 26-yard line in the first quarter, but the defense pushed the Tribe backward and Luke Mergott blocked a 53-yard field goal attempt. Duke then scored on the next possession, turning a risky call into a non-factor.
The box score backed up how one-sided this was. Duke piled up 638 yards on 71 offensive snaps, good for 9.0 yards per play.
The Blue Devils threw for 352 yards and ran for 286. William & Mary averaged just 3.4 yards per play, and its offense had only one real explosion: a 63-yard completion from Winston Watkins to Khylil Johnson, which made up 37.1% of the Tribe’s 170 total yards.
On the other 49 plays, William & Mary managed just 107 yards, about 2.2 per snap.
Duke also kept extending drives when it needed to. The Blue Devils went 8-of-13 on third down, a 61.5% clip, and several of those conversions came at key moments.
On the opening touchdown drive, Eget hit Jayden Moore on third-and-6 and Jeremiah Hasley on third-and-3. Later, Mahan’s third-quarter scoring drive included a third-and-7 completion to Solomon before the touchdown throw to Keefe on third-and-5.
The schedule now gives Duke a pause before conference play resumes. The Blue Devils have a bye week before traveling to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Oct.
- After a game like this, they’ll take the confidence from Mahan’s passing, Sheppard’s efficiency and the impact of the return game into that next test.
In Other News...
Dukes Fast Start Is Fueling A Respect Debate Fans Hate
Dukes fast start has only intensified a familiar conversation around the program and its league: how much respect is enough, and who is willing to give it? After winning the ACC title a year ago, the Blue Devils have opened this season well enough to draw attention in the AFCA poll, a sign their momentum is being noticed somewhere, even if the broader national picture still feels stuck on the same old doubts about the conference.
The issue, as it so often is with ACC teams, comes down to proof. The leagues reputation has been battered by the perception of chaos at the top and inconsistency across the board, and Dukes next stretch will matter far more than its early glow. To force its way into the AP conversation, the Blue Devils likely need to do more than keep winning the games they should, with stronger conference opponents standing as the real test of whether this start turns into earned respect. [Read more 🡒]
Walker Eget Keeps Getting Overlooked As Duke Stays Unbeaten
Walker Eget has done his part to help Duke start 4-0, throwing for 721 yards with six touchdowns and just one interception through four games. Even with those numbers, he still seems to be slipping under the radar nationally, which is a little strange for a quarterback guiding an unbeaten team into the heart of ACC play.
The latest reminder came in ESPNs quarterback rankings, where Eget landed well down the list even as Duke keeps winning. The broader takeaway was familiar: the Blue Devils have leaned on a strong defense and the steady production of Nate Sheppard, and now the real question is whether Eget can show enough growth once the schedule stiffens and the pressure starts to rise. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Looks Ready Again But The ACC Wont Make This Easy
Duke enters the new ACC season with the kind of profile that usually turns preseason optimism into real pressure. The Blue Devils have the look of a program built to contend again, with a roster that blends continuity, size and enough experience to make them a clear reference point as the league sorts itself out. In a conference that still has plenty of credible challengers, that matters because every top-end game will be a test of whether Duke can turn talent into week-to-week consistency.
Virginia, Miami, Louisville and North Carolina all bring their own reasons to believe they can stay in the race, whether that means returning scorers, roster additions or changes on the sideline. But the bigger question for Duke is how much margin it can afford when the ACC schedule starts tightening. The Blue Devils may look the part of a favorite, yet the gap between preseason status and the final standings can disappear quickly once league play begins. [Read more 🡒]