Duke starts Diaz era with a win: Three takeaways from Blue Devils’ victory over Elon

Duke’s defense, so strong during back-to-back winning seasons, remained stout in its first game under the direction of new coach Manny Diaz on Friday night.

Diaz saw his first game coaching the Blue Devils end with a 26-3 win over Elon at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Elon (0-1) gained just 140 yards of total offense as the Blue Devils, who led the ACC in scoring defense (19 points per game) last season, overwhelmed the Phoenix. The Blue Devils recorded eight sacks, the most since they had nine in a 2019 victory over Miami.

“They just attacked,” Diaz said of his defense. “That’s the way this defense is designed. Then once they got the nose for it, they didn’t stop. They were relentless. We never felt a lull. It always felt like their quarterback was under duress.”

Duke (1-0) amassed 353 total yards, with redshirt sophomore quarterback Maalik Murphy throwing for 291 yards and two touchdowns in his Blue Devils debut.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Duke’s defensive front looked strong

One of the major questionable areas for the Blue Devils this season is their defensive front — after losing DeWayne Carter, Aeneas Peebles and Ja’Mion Franklin from last year’s team.

Even though Duke played a Football Championship Subdivision team in Elon, the group’s strong performance was notable.

The Blue Devils routinely won their battles up front, holding Elon to 30 rushing yards on 36 attempts — an average of 0.8 yards per carry.

When Elon resorted to passing, Duke sacked Phoenix quarterback Matthew Downing eight times. That helped the Blue Devils record 16 tackles for losses.

“It was tough on those guys to get the ball back to the line of scrimmage,” Diaz said. “Their quarterback was under pressure all night. We did a really good job of limiting explosive plays on defense.”

Defensive end Vincent Anthony, the lone returning starter from last season, had two sacks, while Ryan Smith, Alex Howard, Michael Reese and Aaron Hall each had one. Four Duke players — Cameron Bergeron, Wesley Williams, Tre Freeman and Kendy Charles — each were credited with a half-sack.

Murphy’s big arm

The Blue Devils showed an affinity for a deep ball, taking advantage of the 6-5, 230-pound Maalik Murphy’s strong right arm. Duke completed a low percentage as Murphy connected on 3 of 14 passes that traveled more than 15 yards.

But, it’s a big risk, big reward kind of play.

Murphy’s 55-yard pass to Eli Pancol set up Jaquez Moore’s 7-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds left until halftime.

In the third quarter, Murphy lofted a 47-yard pass to Jordan Moore that moved Duke to the Elon 1. The Blue Devils scored on the next play, a 1-yard scoring strike from Murphy to Jeremiah Hasley.

Diaz said the Blue Devils saw how close they were to many more big plays as some of Murphy’s passes were just barely incomplete. In-game video review on the sideline, and deeper film work between now and the Sept. 6 game at Northwestern, will make Duke even hungrier, Diaz said.

“You are inches away and I think our guys will see that,” Diaz said. “We could see that on the sidelines as well. It will make our guys more hungry to see what this thing could be.”

Overall, Murphy’s debut at Duke, following his transfer from Texas, was a success. Murphy completed 26 of 40 passes for 291 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while not being sacked.

Jordan Moore breaks out

A senior who led Duke in receptions and receiving yards last season, Jordan Moore quickly established himself as Murphy’s favorite target.

The wide receiver caught seven passes for 112 yards as Murphy threw 13 passes his way.

Last season, Moore finished with 62 catches for 835 yards with eight touchdowns.

But Duke has more than Moore this season.

Eli Pancol caught seven passes against Elon in his first game since 2022. Pancol missed last season with a leg injury. He was targeted with seven of Murphy’s passes, catching all of them to gain 81 yards.