Duke’s offense is heading in a clear direction, and the message is coming straight from the middle of the line.
Starting center Matt Craycraft said the Blue Devils want to put the ball on the ground much more this season, spelling out the approach Duke is planning to build around as it tries to defend its Atlantic Coast Conference title.
"I think, at the end of the day, we want to run the ball a lot more this year," Craycraft said via DukeWire.
That plan comes at an important moment for Manny Diaz’s team. Duke is coming off a 2025 ACC championship, but repeating will be no easy task. Last season, the Blue Devils got into the title game through a tiebreaker that pushed them ahead of Miami, then edged Virginia in overtime for the crown before finishing the year with a bowl win over Arizona State.
The offseason brought a major setback, though, when Darian Mensah transferred to Miami at the last minute. That leaves Duke with a quarterback competition still waiting to be settled, and the early answer may be to make life easier on whoever wins the job by leaning into the run.
The numbers from last season help explain why that shift makes sense. With Mensah, Duke ranked 11th nationally in passing at 285.4 yards per game, but the ground game lagged behind at 88th with 138.14 rushing yards per game.
Now the Blue Devils are counting on Nate Sheppard to be a central piece of the offense. He’s back after rushing for 1,132 yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging 5.7 yards per carry, and Craycraft made it clear he’s a big fan of what Sheppard brings.
"What doesn't impress you?" Craycraft said about Sheppard.
"He's a really fast kid. Obviously, he can hit the long ball, but he's a physical player.
He runs really hard."
Duke doesn’t want to become one-dimensional over the course of the season, but a stronger run game could give the offense some needed balance and take pressure off the quarterback battle. Early on, that kind of identity might be exactly what the Blue Devils need.
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