Duke’s season opener gave Manny Diaz plenty to like, but it also left one obvious area that needs to catch up fast.
The Blue Devils opened 1-0 with a 17-3 win over Tulane in Durham, and the night belonged mostly to Nate Sheppard. The running back piled up 227 yards and two touchdowns, doing nearly all of Duke’s scoring and carrying the offense when it needed him most.
The passing game, though, never really found its rhythm.
Walker Eget emerged from an offseason quarterback battle over Dan Mahan and got the first crack at the job, but his debut was uneven. He went 13 of 26 for 131 yards and, for much of the night, looked uncomfortable running the offense.
Diaz isn’t sounding the alarm. In fact, he thinks the quarterback play should improve as the season goes on.
"If you look at the turnover that we had, and not just the new faces, but the new faces and when they arrived- I mean, these are guys who've been playing together now for three and a half, four weeks basically,” the head coach said this week via Duke Wire. “So it would only stand to reason that they'll improve as the year goes on.”
That’s the bet Duke is making: let the new pieces settle in, lean on a rushing attack that already looks dangerous, and trust the passing game to come around.
The challenge is that the margin for error shrinks this week. Illinois is next, and the Blue Devils know the schedule is about to get tougher. For now, Eget remains the starter, with no indication that Mahan is about to take over unless things go sideways quickly.
Eget’s next chance comes on the road, and it’s a chance to answer plenty of questions at once. A solid performance against Illinois would go a long way toward calming the conversation around Duke’s quarterback situation and giving the Blue Devils the balanced offense they want.
In Other News...
Duke Gets Another Shot At Illinois After Last Year's Ugly Collapse
Dukes trip back to Illinois carries a little extra edge, even if the Blue Devils are trying not to dress it up as payback. Last seasons meeting turned into one of the rougher spots in a five-loss year, a game that slipped away despite Duke moving the ball well enough to keep pace in yardage before the turnovers took over.
This time, the Blue Devils arrive with at least one early win in hand after beating Tulane, and the focus around the program has been on playing cleaner football. Manny Diaz has made it clear he wants the team built on steady execution, not a revenge storyline, but this is still the kind of rematch that tests whether those lessons have actually stuck. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Heads To Illinois With One Big Question After Opening Win
Duke opened the season with a win over Tulane, and the film offered both reassurance and a clear reminder of how much still has to come together before the trip to Illinois. The offense found real traction on the ground, with Nate Sheppard turning in the kind of workload that can steady a team early in the year, while the offensive line gave the Blue Devils enough push to control stretches of the game. Walker Eget, meanwhile, had moments that suggested the passing game could grow into something more dangerous as the season unfolds.
The issue is whether Duke can get that aerial attack to match the rest of the operation soon enough to matter in a tougher road setting. Bryce Davis and the linebacker corps gave the defense a promising starting point, but the Blue Devils know the next step is making the whole picture cleaner and more complete. Against Illinois, the margin for leaning almost entirely on one part of the offense is likely to shrink fast. [Read more 🡒]
Khaman Maluach Suddenly Has A Huge Opening Former Duke Fans Will Watch
Mark Williams return to Phoenix looked like it was going to give the Suns a familiar anchor in the middle after he recently signed a three-year deal to come back. Instead, an offseason workout changed the picture quickly, leaving the center spot in a very different place than expected and creating an opening that will be watched closely by anyone who followed his Duke days.
For Khaman Maluach, it is the kind of opportunity that can reshape a rookie season in a hurry. With Williams out for a while, Maluach should see a bigger role right away, but the Suns still have not settled the starting picture, and Oso Ighodaro is also in the mix. For Duke fans, it is one more reminder that Maluachs next chapter could start faster, and under more pressure, than anyone thought. [Read more 🡒]