Duke opened its season the hard way - with a 90-minute weather delay hanging over the night - and then controlled it the way a team wants to control September football. Nate Sheppard delivered the kind of breakout performance that changes a box score in a hurry, rushing for a career-high 227 yards and two touchdowns as the Blue Devils beat Tulane 17-3 Saturday evening at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium.
The win gave Duke its fifth straight season-opening victory, and the defense backed up the offense by keeping Tulane off the board in the first half. The Green Wave didn’t score until later, and Duke had already built enough cushion to stay in command.
Sheppard was the engine from the start. He piled up 139 yards before halftime and finished with the fifth-best single-game rushing total in program history. He also became the first Duke running back to go over 200 yards since Mataeo Durant set the school record with 255 against Charlotte in 2021.
Quarterback Walker Eget made his Duke debut and threw for 131 yards, but this night belonged to the ground game and the defense.
Duke set the tone immediately on its first drive of the season, marching 75 yards in 17 plays over 9:53. Sheppard finished it with a nine-yard touchdown run after ripping off 60 yards on the opening series alone.
From there, the first half turned into a field-position grind. The teams exchanged punts, then each missed a field goal, and Duke stayed in front 7-0 with 6:47 left before halftime. The Blue Devils got back inside the Tulane 25 later in the second quarter, but the drive stalled on downs with 2:30 remaining.
That’s when the defense handed Duke one more chance. The Blue Devils forced a three-and-out, and Cosme Salas connected on a 22-yard field goal as time expired to send Duke to the locker room up 10-0.
The second half started with some sloppiness on both sides, as Duke and Tulane traded fumbles on their first possessions. Duke’s defense then forced another Tulane punt at 11:19 in the third quarter, but the Blue Devils couldn’t cash in, turning it over on downs at the Tulane 18 with 4:54 left in the period.
The final blow came midway through the fourth quarter. Sheppard broke loose again, this time from 19 yards out, capping a 12-play, 75-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes and stretched the lead to 17-3.
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Dukes Opener Just Got Tougher At The Worst Possible Time
The buildup to Dukes season opener against Tulane has already taken on a different feel, with storms in the area pushing back the start and adding a little more uncertainty to a night the Blue Devils wanted to treat as a clean launch. Manny Diaz has spent the lead-up focusing on defensive improvement, trying to set a sharper tone on that side of the ball before the first snap of the season.
Offensively, though, Duke will have to make do without one of the newcomers the staff had hoped would help right away. Nicholas, the former Charlotte transfer expected to give the Blue Devils a boost, will not play in the game for unspecified reasons, leaving a little more pressure on the rest of the group to carry the opener. [Read more 🡒]
Kyrie Irving Just Put More Heat On A Huge Cooper Flagg Debate
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What makes the situation especially interesting for Duke fans following Cooper Flagg is how aggressively Dallas seems to be lining things up around him. The Mavericks have faced trade interest on Irving from contending teams, but the early plan is to keep him in place and pair him with Flagg from the start, which only adds another layer to the debate about how the rookie will be eased into the league and how much responsibility he may have right away. [Read more 🡒]
Dukes Opener Put A Worrying Spotlight On Two Key Positions
A long weather delay did not stop Duke from opening the 2026 season with a 17-3 win over Tulane, and the Blue Devils got enough from their ground game and defense to feel good about the result. Nate Sheppard led the offense with 139 yards and a touchdown, while contributors like Nick Morris Jr., Jonah Burton and Jared Richardson helped keep the night moving even as the game unfolded in stop-start fashion.
Still, the opener left a familiar kind of unease around two spots Duke needs to sort out quickly, especially with the passing game not finding much rhythm. The Blue Devils will take the victory, but the way the offense looked through the air and the uncertainty around the receiver rotation are the kinds of things that can linger once the euphoria of Week 1 fades. [Read more 🡒]