Blue Devils Prevail, Capture State Title Again

Saturday, November 29

Durham, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

Duke University

7-5 , 6-2

Wake Forest

8-4 , 4-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Wake Forest

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Prevail, Capture State Title Again

11/29/2025 7:24:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke used a strong second half and five total rushing touchdowns to push past Wake Forest 49-32 on Saturday afternoon inside Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. With the victory, the Blue Devils (7-5, 6-2 ACC) captured the state championship for the second consecutive season by defeating NC State, North Carolina and Wake Forest. It marks Duke's first years with back-to-back state titles since 1961 and 1962.

Duke upped its ACC win total to six, a first since 2013 and just the fourth time in program history. Over the last four years, the Blue Devils earned 20 ACC triumphs, the second most in program history, just behind 21 from 1960-63. This year's senior class also tied the record for most wins in a four-year span in program history with 33.

Quarterback Darian Mensah set the Duke single-season touchdown passing record, throwing his 27th score in the third quarter, while Anderson Castle and Nate Sheppard rushed for two scores each. Castle upped his season total to 11 rushing scores, tied for the eighth most in a year in program history while Sheppard set the Duke freshman records for rushing touchdowns, with his ninth of the season, and rushing yards, posting 75 yards against the Demon Deacons to reach 865 for the year.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke covered 75 yards on its opening drive to take a 7-0 advantage. It marked the fourth time in five games the Blue Devils had scored on their opening possession. Nate Sheppard closed the drive by tying the Duke freshman rushing touchdown record with his eighth of the campaign on a five-yard run.
Wake Forest (8-4, 4-4 ACC) answered on its first drive with a 42-yard field goal to make it a 7-3 affair with 5:59 to play in the opening quarter.
The Blue Devils extended their lead to 14-3 on the final play of the first quarter as Darian Mensah ran in from four yards away. It was Mensah's second career ground score and first as a Blue Devil.
Wake had an answer on its ensuing drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Robby Ashford to Sawyer Racanelli to cut the deficit to 14-10 with 11:56 left in the first half.
The teams traded empty possessions over their next three before Duke stopped Wake Forest on fourth down and scored. Facing fourth-and-one from its own 36-yard line, Ashford attempted a run but was stopped for a two-yard loss and Duke took over at the Demon Deacon 34-yard line.
An Anderson Castle one-yard push made it a 21-10 Duke lead with 1:39 left in the second.
Wake Forest tallied the final points of the opening half on an Ashford 20-yard touchdown pass to Karate Brenson with just 29 seconds left to cut the Duke lead to 21-17.
Both teams went three-and-out to start the second half before Mensah connected with Sahmir Hagans on a 30-yard score to extend the Blue Devil lead to 28-17 with 9:45 to play in the third.
On the final play of the third quarter, Ashford scored on a 10-yard rush and ran in for the two-point conversion to make it a 35-25 affair.
Hagans answered immediately with an 80-yard kickoff return to set up Duke at the Wake 13-yard line. Sheppard provided the exclamation point with his record-setting ninth ground score of the season for a 42-25 lead with 13:57 to play.
Two minutes later, the Demon Deacons tallied another TD with a Ty Clark one-yard plunge to cut the deficit to 42-32.
Duke's defense forced fumbles on each of the next two Wake Forest possessions and capped the 49-32 victory with a touchdown pass to Jeremiah Hasley.