Looking Back at Football's 2025

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke football capped one of its finest seasons, and closed out the winningest stretch in program history, with a 42-39 victory in the 92nd Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

The Blue Devils finished at 9-5 overall, 6-2 in ACC play and claimed their first outright ACC Championship since 1962 with a thrilling 27-20 overtime victory against No. 16 Virginia in Charlotte on December 6.

GoDuke.com takes a look back at the highlights from a record-setting 2025 campaign.

ACC CHAMPIONS AGAIN
Duke captured its eighth ACC championship and first outright title since 1962. The Blue Devils have won ACC crowns in 1953, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1989 and 2025. Duke was named co-champion in 1953, 1955 and 1989.

The Blue Devils tallied six regular season ACC wins for the first time since 2013 and just the fourth time in program history (1962, 1989, 2013 and 2025).

Duke became the first ACC school to capture league titles in men's basketball, women's basketball and football in the same calendar year.

ACC AND BOWL CHAMPIONS
Duke finished as ACC Champion and bowl champion in the same season for just the third time in program history, joining the 1954 (Orange Bowl) and 1960 (Cotton Bowl) squads.

Manny Diaz joined Eddie Cameron, Bill Murray and David Cutcliffe as Duke football head coaches to capture bowl wins.

Duke head football coach Manny Diaz tosses Frosted Flakes in the air following the Blue Devils' 42-39 victory against Arizona State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.

DIAZ UP THE RECORD CHARTS
Diaz enters the offseason with an 18-9 record in his first 27 games as Duke's head coach, good for the third-best winning percentage by a Blue Devil head coach through 27 games (.667), trailing only Wallace Wade (.741; 1931-33) and Murray (.722; 1951-53).

Diaz's 18-9 record through 27 games is good for the second best by an ACC head coach at his current institution, trailing only Jeff Brohm's 19-8 mark at Louisville.

Diaz's 18 wins are the ninth most by a Duke football head coach in program history and trail Steve Spurrier by two for eighth place.

WHAT A SENIOR CLASS
In addition to capturing the 2025 ACC Championship, Duke's seniors helped a program turnaround during the last four seasons. Since the beginning of the 2022 season, the core helped the Blue Devils to:

35 victories, the most in a four-year stretch in program history
20 ACC wins, the second most in the league during the stretch
Four bowl trips
Four consecutive winning seasons, a first for the program since 1960-63
Three bowl championships

Pretty good four years ?? pic.twitter.com/9TNWeKgU5g
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) January 8, 2026

STATE CHAMPIONS AGAIN
The Blue Devils captured their second consecutive state title by beating NC State, North Carolina and Wake Forest this fall. Duke had not claimed consecutive state titles since 1961-62 and has done so just five times in program history.

Prior to last fall, Duke had not claimed a state championship since 2013.

It marks the 19th time in program history Duke has defeated its three in-state ACC foes in the same season, and only the fourth time since 1963 – 1933, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1945, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1989, 2013, 2024 and 2025.

Diaz is the first Duke football head coach to win the state title in each of his first two seasons at the helm.

VICTORY BELL STAYS
With Duke trailing 25-24 with 2:26 remaining at North Carolina and facing fourth-and-three, Todd Pelino ran a fake field goal 26 yards to the North Carolina one-yard line. From there, Anderson Castle punched in his third rushing touchdown of the game with Nate Sheppard catching a two-point conversion to account for the final points in a 32-25 comeback victory.

The fake marked the first time Pelino had run the ball during his Duke career.

Gallery: (11-22-2025) Blue Devils Rally, Keep Victory Bell

NINE WINS IN CONSECUTIVE YEARS
Duke has nine triumphs in each of the past two seasons, joining the 2013 (10) and 2014 (nine) campaigns as the only ones in program history with nine or more wins in consecutive years.

Nationally, Duke joins Alabama, BYU, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Louisville, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, SMU and TCU as Power Four schools to have nine or more wins in each of the last two years.

SUN BOWL RECORDS
With Duke and Arizona State lighting up the scoreboard in El Paso, the two combined for 52 first-half points to set a Sun Bowl record. The two teams also combined for a Sun Bowl record with 1,158 total yards of offense.

Gallery: (12-31-2025) 2025 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl

A HIGH-SCORING OFFENSE
Even before the Sun Bowl explosion, Duke's offense was potent. The Blue Devils set single-season records for touchdowns scored (64) and points scored (484) and finishing second in yards of total offense (5,929).

3,000, 1,000 AND 1,000
Duke turned in the first 3,000, 1,000, 1,000 season in program history as Darian Mensah threw for more than 3,000 yards, Cooper Barkate had more than 1,000 receiving yards and Nate Sheppard crossed the 1,000-yard mark on the ground.

In 2025, Duke joined Miami, Ohio State, Rutgers and Tennessee as Power Four programs to have a 3,000, 1,000, 1,000 season.

SHEPPARD'S BREAKTHROUGH ROOKIE YEAR
Freshman running back Sheppard established Duke rookie marks for rushing yards (1,132) and rushing touchdowns (11).

Sheppard turned in the first 1,000-yard campaign since Mataeo Durant set the program single-season record with 1,241 in 2021. Sheppard is one of just six Blue Devils to register a 1,000-yard season.

During the ACC Championship Game, Sheppard ran for a touchdown and caught five passes to become just the second individual to accomplish both in the league's title tilt, joining Florida State's Dalvin Cook in the 2014 game versus Georgia Tech.

In the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, Sheppard set the Duke bowl records for most rushing yards in a game (170) and rushing yards in a half (130/2nd). His 170 ground yards are the third most by an ACC freshman in a bowl game since 1996, trailing only James Conner (229; Little Caesars Pizza Bowl; 2013) and Lamar Jackson (226; Music City Bowl; 2015).

ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Duke offensive tackle Brian Parker II earned Second Team All-America accolades from the Walter Camp Foundation and ESPN.com in addition to Third Team All-America honors from the Associated Press. He is Duke's first Walter Camp selection since Noah Gray in 2019.

FOURTH QUARTER WINS
After tying the program record with four fourth quarter or overtime wins in 2024, Duke earned its fourth of the season against Arizona State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. With Duke leading 35-24 in the third quarter, Arizona State stormed back with consecutive touchdowns and the Blue Devils found themselves behind 39-35 with less than three minutes to play.

After a failed fourth-down try from the ASU eight-yard line with 2:56 to play, Duke's defense forced a fumble on the Sun Devils' first play and the Blue Devils scored the go-ahead touchdown two snaps later. Luke Mergott sealed the victory with an interception with 1:47 to play as Duke ran out the clock.

Under Diaz, Duke now owns eight fourth-quarter wins for its most in a two-year stretch in program history.

MERGOTT MAGIC
Not only did Mergott ice the bowl game, but he also ended the ACC Championship Game with an interception. Tied at 20-20 and heading into the extra session against No. 16 Virginia in Charlotte, Duke scored on a fourth-and-one pass from the one-yard line with its possession. On Virginia's first play with the ball, Mergott intercepted a pass to seal the championship.

The interception versus the Cavaliers was the first of Mergott's career. He had four takeaways in Duke's last three contests of the season after recovering two fumbles against Wake Forest in the Blue Devils' final regular season game.

Duke linebacker Luke Mergott, wearing a white helmet, white jersey and white pants, lays on the field with the ball in his arms following his game-winning interception versus No. 16 Virginia in the 2025 ACC Championship Game.

Duke linebacker Luke Mergott, wearing a white helmet, white jersey and white pants, lays on the field with the ball in his arms following his game-winning interception versus No. 16 Virginia in the 2025 ACC Championship Game.

Duke linebacker Luke Mergott, wearing a white helmet, blue jersey and blue pants, lifts one arm in celebration while holding the football in the other arm following his game-sealing interception against Arizona State in the 2025 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

WAFFLE HOUSE IS ALWAYS OPEN
Duke was selected as the recipient of the Cheez-It Crunch Time Play of the Week for Week 10 as Sahmir Hagans hauled in a two-point conversion pass on a play called Waffle House to lift the Blue Devils to a 46-45 win at Clemson.

Duke had the final tally in a contest full of offensive fireworks in Death Valley. With the teams tied 28-28 at the half, 35-35 with eight minutes left in the third and 38-38 with 10:40 to play, the Blue Devils got the final march of the day on a 94-yard touchdown drive and Hagans' two-point conversion reception for the victory.

The win was Duke's first in Death Valley since 1980 and the first time the Blue Devils had consecutive victories against Clemson since 1969 and 1970.

Gallery: (11-1-2025) Blue Devils Top Tigers in Final Minute

With the final points at Clemson coming with only 40 seconds left in the game, Duke picked up a win in the final minute for a third consecutive season. Duke topped Wake Forest as time expired in 2023 on a Pelino field goal and in 2024 on a Jordan Moore 39-yard touchdown catch.

MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS

With Castle (12) and Sheppard (11), Duke has two Blue Devils with 10 or more ground touchdowns in the same season for the first time in program history.
Castle ran for three touchdowns at North Carolina, each from one yard out, to give him his second three-TD performance of the year after registering three against NC State. In three games against in-state rivals NC State, North Carolina and Wake Forest, Castle combined for eight rushing touchdowns.
Castle became just the fifth Blue Devil, and second running back, since 1996 to rush for three or more scores in an ACC game. He is the only one with two, three-TD games in the same season.
Duke captain Wesley Williams (9.5 & 7.0) joined Wake Forest LB Dylan Hazen (7.0 & 8.5), Clemson LB Sammy Brown (9.0 & 9.5) and Pitt LB Rasheem Biles (8.0 & 7.0) as the ACC's lone individuals with 7.0+ TFL in league play in each of the last two seasons.
Williams ranked seventh in program history with his 16 quarterback pressures this season.
After having a -6 turnover margin through the first three games, Duke flipped it around in ACC play and was a nation-best +16 in league action.
Duke finished as the only team nationally without an interception during league play. Among teams with more than two conference games in a full season (excluding 2020 campaign), Duke is the first without an INT since Georgia Southern in 2019.
Blue Devil tight end Jeremiah Hasley became the ninth player to record two or more receiving scores in an ACC Championship Game. He is just the third Blue Devil since 1996 to have multiple receiving touchdowns in a game versus a ranked foe, joining Andrel Anthony (2; vs. No. 11 Illinois; Sept. 6, 2025) and Jordan Moore (3; vs. No. 24 North Carolina; Nov. 11, 2023).
Defensive end Vincent Anthony Jr. was named the ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week on September 8 following a 3.0-sack performance versus No. 11 Illinois. Of the Fighting Illini's first 10 offensive plays, two were Anthony Jr. sacks. He had booked all 3.0 sacks within the first 16 minutes of action. Anthony Jr.'s 3.0 sacks are tied for the fourth most in a single game in program history and tied Phillip Alexander (3.0; No. 6 Florida State; Sept. 27, 2003) for the most by a Blue Devil against a ranked opponent.

For more information on Duke Football, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "DukeFOOTBALL".

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Looking Back at Football's 2025

Players Mentioned

Andrel Anthony

Vincent Anthony Jr.

Cooper Barkate

Anderson Castle

Sahmir Hagans

Jeremiah Hasley

Darian Mensah

Luke Mergott

Brian Parker II

Todd Pelino

Nate Sheppard

Wesley Williams

Duke information

Looking Back at Football's 2025

Related News

Players Mentioned

Andrel Anthony

Vincent Anthony Jr.

Cooper Barkate

Anderson Castle

Sahmir Hagans

Jeremiah Hasley

Darian Mensah

Luke Mergott

Brian Parker II

Todd Pelino

Nate Sheppard

Wesley Williams

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Duke information