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Game Notes: Lafayette
9/7/2023 7:11:00 PM | Football
DURHAM – Duke returns to Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday when it welcomes Lafayette.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ACC Network extra.
Saturday will mark the first meeting on the gridiron between these two programs.
The Blue Devils are coming off the program's first win over an AP top-10 team since 1989 after defeating No. 9 Clemson, 28-7, on Monday night. The win was Duke's first over a ranked team since beating No. 15 North Carolina, 28-27, in 2016 and the first win over a top-10 team since beating No. 7 Clemson, 21-17, in Durham in 1989. Additionally, Monday's 21-point win was Duke's second largest over a top-10 team in program history, trailing a 34-0 performance over No. 9 Colgate on October 17, 1942. Duke improves to 11-61-4 against top-10 opponents and 1-13 in season openers versus nationally ranked opponents.
Saturday's ACCNX broadcast will feature Lowell Galindo and Charles Arbuckle on the call. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.
HOW TO FOLLOW
[21] Duke (1-0) vs. Lafayette (1-0)
Saturday, September 9, 2023 • 6 PM
Durham, N.C. • Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium
TELEVISION • ACCNX
RADIO • Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD
GAME NOTES • Duke Notes • Lafayette Notes
LIVE STATS • GoDuke.com
TWITTER • @DukeFOOTBALL
GAME NOTES
Graduate Jeremiah Lewis earned ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors following Duke's 28-7 victory over No. 9 Clemson on Monday night. The Lewisville, Texas, native led the Blue Devils' defense with 11 tackles, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery that came with Clemson on the Duke seven-yard line midway through the third quarter. Overall, the Duke defense held the Tigers to just one score in four red zone possessions and forced three turnovers in the second half.
Duke forced Clemson into three turnovers on Monday night, while the Blue Devils relinquished two. Under head coach Mike Elko, Duke has won the turnover battle in nine of its 14 games and has scored 87 points off those turnovers (11 touchdowns and three field goals).
BREAKING INTO THE NATIONAL POLLS
For the first time since 2018, Duke football entered the national polls on Tuesday after recording its first ranked win since 2016. The Blue Devils were tabbed No. 21 in the Associated Press poll and No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
The last time Duke was ranked was Sept. 29, 2018 heading into a contest with Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils were No. 22 at the time.
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
First the first time under head coach Mike Elko, Duke came back to win after trailing at halftime against Clemson on Monday. The Blue Devils were 0-3 heading into the game when trailing at halftime and trailed 7-6 at the break on Monday but went on to outscore the Tigers 22-0 in the second half to secure the win.
DEFENDING BROOKS FIELD AT WALLACE WADE STADIUM
In non-conference regular season games held at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium, Duke is 20-2 (.909) in its last 10 seasons. The Blue Devils' last out-of-conference regular season loss at home came against No. 15 Notre Dame in 2019. Prior to that the last time Duke dropped a non-conference game at home was in 2015 in a contest with No. 23 Northwestern. Duke is undefeated (5-0) at home over the last two seasons against out-of-conference foes.
RANKED OPPONENTS
The Blue Devils are 29-146-6 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents (Associated Press poll) including ledgers of 11-61-4 versus top-10 foes after defeating No. 9 Clemson on Monday night.
SCORING FIRST
Under head coach Mike Elko, Duke is 8-0 when scoring first. In six of those eight games, the Blue Devils registered a touchdown to begin the scoring and five were on the opening drive.
RUSHING SCORES
The 31 rushing scores last season set a program record and were anchored by a quartet of players in QB Riley Leonard (13), RB Jordan Waters (8), RB Jaquez Moore (5), and RB Jaylen Coleman (480). They formed the first foursome in Blue Devil history to compile four-plus rushing touchdowns in a single-season.
Against Clemson, Leonard, Waters and Moore all found the end zone with Leonard's and Waters' scores accounting for 35-plus yards. Duke currently ranks tied for 21st nationally and tied for second in the ACC with three rushing touchdowns on the year.
LEONARD PERFORMING
In his opening game against No. 9 Clemson, quarterback Riley Leonard finished with a 77.2 Pro Football Focus grade after completing 17-of-33 pass attempts for 175 yards and rushing eight times for 98 yards with one score. Additionally, the Fairhope, Ala., native forced five missed tackles on runs.
With his rushing score against the Tigers, Leonard shifts to fourth all-time on Duke's rushing touchdown chart by a quarterback. His career rushing scores tie him with Elmore Hackney, Anthony Boone and Thomas Sirk. He is two touchdowns shy of third all-time and seven away from second place.
The junior has 970 career rushing yards to his name as well, and is 71 yards shy of matching Sirk for fifth all-time for rushing yards by a quarterback.
SACKS AND TACKLES FOR LOSS ALLOWED
Duke's offensive line finished 2022 ranked first in the ACC in tackles for loss allowed (3.92) and sacks allowed (1.31), while ranking eighth and 27th nationally in those categories, respectively.
In just one game of 2023, Duke relinquished only 4.0 tackles for loss against the Tigers. The Blue Devils allowed zero sacks on 38 pass-blocking snaps and held Clemson to zero sacks for the first time since November 2, 2019, against Wofford. Duke ranks tied for first nationally in sacks allowed and 31st in tackles for loss allowed.
CONVERTING WHEN IT'S NEEDED
Last fall, Duke ranked fifth and second in the ACC in third and fourth down conversations, respectively. The Blue Devils converted on 73-of-172 (.424) third-down attempts and 14-of-25 (.560) fourth down chances.
After going 1-of-1 on fourth-down conversions against Clemson on Monday, Duke ranks tied for first nationally.
STOUT DEFENSE
In just one game of 2023, the Blue Devil defense allowed only one score in four Clemson offensive red zone possessions, allowed seven points, marking Clemson's lowest scoring output since 2014 (Georgia Tech 28, Clemson 6) and forced three turnovers and two more changes of possession on downs in the second half en route to allowing zero points.
Additionally, Duke shut out the Tigers in the second half, marking its first second-half shutout since blanking Virginia Tech on November 12, 2022. The seven points scored by Clemson were the fewest points allowed by Duke to an AP-ranked opponent since a 9-3 win over No. 10 Stanford in 1971.
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS
Throughout Duke's 14 games under Mike Elko's tenure, it has scored 87 points off of 29 opponent turnovers. Duke scored an impressive 31 points off of eight Miami turnovers on Oct. 22, 2022.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES
Duke led the nation with 16 fumble recoveries in 2022 with 12 different Blue Devils accounting for those recoveries.
Duke secured two fumble recoveries against Clemson in its season opener with Jeremiah Lewis and Jaylen Stinson accounting for those takeaways. Stinson returned his recovery 55 yards.
#GoDuke
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ACC Network extra.
Saturday will mark the first meeting on the gridiron between these two programs.
The Blue Devils are coming off the program's first win over an AP top-10 team since 1989 after defeating No. 9 Clemson, 28-7, on Monday night. The win was Duke's first over a ranked team since beating No. 15 North Carolina, 28-27, in 2016 and the first win over a top-10 team since beating No. 7 Clemson, 21-17, in Durham in 1989. Additionally, Monday's 21-point win was Duke's second largest over a top-10 team in program history, trailing a 34-0 performance over No. 9 Colgate on October 17, 1942. Duke improves to 11-61-4 against top-10 opponents and 1-13 in season openers versus nationally ranked opponents.
Saturday's ACCNX broadcast will feature Lowell Galindo and Charles Arbuckle on the call. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.
HOW TO FOLLOW
[21] Duke (1-0) vs. Lafayette (1-0)
Saturday, September 9, 2023 • 6 PM
Durham, N.C. • Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium
TELEVISION • ACCNX
RADIO • Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD
GAME NOTES • Duke Notes • Lafayette Notes
LIVE STATS • GoDuke.com
TWITTER • @DukeFOOTBALL
GAME NOTES
Graduate Jeremiah Lewis earned ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors following Duke's 28-7 victory over No. 9 Clemson on Monday night. The Lewisville, Texas, native led the Blue Devils' defense with 11 tackles, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery that came with Clemson on the Duke seven-yard line midway through the third quarter. Overall, the Duke defense held the Tigers to just one score in four red zone possessions and forced three turnovers in the second half.
Duke forced Clemson into three turnovers on Monday night, while the Blue Devils relinquished two. Under head coach Mike Elko, Duke has won the turnover battle in nine of its 14 games and has scored 87 points off those turnovers (11 touchdowns and three field goals).
BREAKING INTO THE NATIONAL POLLS
For the first time since 2018, Duke football entered the national polls on Tuesday after recording its first ranked win since 2016. The Blue Devils were tabbed No. 21 in the Associated Press poll and No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
The last time Duke was ranked was Sept. 29, 2018 heading into a contest with Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils were No. 22 at the time.
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
First the first time under head coach Mike Elko, Duke came back to win after trailing at halftime against Clemson on Monday. The Blue Devils were 0-3 heading into the game when trailing at halftime and trailed 7-6 at the break on Monday but went on to outscore the Tigers 22-0 in the second half to secure the win.
DEFENDING BROOKS FIELD AT WALLACE WADE STADIUM
In non-conference regular season games held at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium, Duke is 20-2 (.909) in its last 10 seasons. The Blue Devils' last out-of-conference regular season loss at home came against No. 15 Notre Dame in 2019. Prior to that the last time Duke dropped a non-conference game at home was in 2015 in a contest with No. 23 Northwestern. Duke is undefeated (5-0) at home over the last two seasons against out-of-conference foes.
RANKED OPPONENTS
The Blue Devils are 29-146-6 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents (Associated Press poll) including ledgers of 11-61-4 versus top-10 foes after defeating No. 9 Clemson on Monday night.
SCORING FIRST
Under head coach Mike Elko, Duke is 8-0 when scoring first. In six of those eight games, the Blue Devils registered a touchdown to begin the scoring and five were on the opening drive.
RUSHING SCORES
The 31 rushing scores last season set a program record and were anchored by a quartet of players in QB Riley Leonard (13), RB Jordan Waters (8), RB Jaquez Moore (5), and RB Jaylen Coleman (480). They formed the first foursome in Blue Devil history to compile four-plus rushing touchdowns in a single-season.
Against Clemson, Leonard, Waters and Moore all found the end zone with Leonard's and Waters' scores accounting for 35-plus yards. Duke currently ranks tied for 21st nationally and tied for second in the ACC with three rushing touchdowns on the year.
LEONARD PERFORMING
In his opening game against No. 9 Clemson, quarterback Riley Leonard finished with a 77.2 Pro Football Focus grade after completing 17-of-33 pass attempts for 175 yards and rushing eight times for 98 yards with one score. Additionally, the Fairhope, Ala., native forced five missed tackles on runs.
With his rushing score against the Tigers, Leonard shifts to fourth all-time on Duke's rushing touchdown chart by a quarterback. His career rushing scores tie him with Elmore Hackney, Anthony Boone and Thomas Sirk. He is two touchdowns shy of third all-time and seven away from second place.
The junior has 970 career rushing yards to his name as well, and is 71 yards shy of matching Sirk for fifth all-time for rushing yards by a quarterback.
SACKS AND TACKLES FOR LOSS ALLOWED
Duke's offensive line finished 2022 ranked first in the ACC in tackles for loss allowed (3.92) and sacks allowed (1.31), while ranking eighth and 27th nationally in those categories, respectively.
In just one game of 2023, Duke relinquished only 4.0 tackles for loss against the Tigers. The Blue Devils allowed zero sacks on 38 pass-blocking snaps and held Clemson to zero sacks for the first time since November 2, 2019, against Wofford. Duke ranks tied for first nationally in sacks allowed and 31st in tackles for loss allowed.
CONVERTING WHEN IT'S NEEDED
Last fall, Duke ranked fifth and second in the ACC in third and fourth down conversations, respectively. The Blue Devils converted on 73-of-172 (.424) third-down attempts and 14-of-25 (.560) fourth down chances.
After going 1-of-1 on fourth-down conversions against Clemson on Monday, Duke ranks tied for first nationally.
STOUT DEFENSE
In just one game of 2023, the Blue Devil defense allowed only one score in four Clemson offensive red zone possessions, allowed seven points, marking Clemson's lowest scoring output since 2014 (Georgia Tech 28, Clemson 6) and forced three turnovers and two more changes of possession on downs in the second half en route to allowing zero points.
Additionally, Duke shut out the Tigers in the second half, marking its first second-half shutout since blanking Virginia Tech on November 12, 2022. The seven points scored by Clemson were the fewest points allowed by Duke to an AP-ranked opponent since a 9-3 win over No. 10 Stanford in 1971.
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS
Throughout Duke's 14 games under Mike Elko's tenure, it has scored 87 points off of 29 opponent turnovers. Duke scored an impressive 31 points off of eight Miami turnovers on Oct. 22, 2022.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES
Duke led the nation with 16 fumble recoveries in 2022 with 12 different Blue Devils accounting for those recoveries.
Duke secured two fumble recoveries against Clemson in its season opener with Jeremiah Lewis and Jaylen Stinson accounting for those takeaways. Stinson returned his recovery 55 yards.
#GoDuke
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