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Stanford traveled 2,800 miles to spend a long afternoon in Durham.
Duke Blue Devils, opening ACC play, took charge early and never trailed, taking a 35-7 victory Saturday at Wallace Stadium while also setting some program history.
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Duke’s fifth consecutive win in its ACC opener was a first for the Blue Devils, the 2025 ACC champions. After wins over Tulane and Illinois, Duke’s off to a 3-0 start in 2026 with an offense built around dynamic running back Nate Sheppard and an aggressive defense that uses its depth well.
Sheppard, the nation’s leading rusher in FBS, again was the workhorse for the Blue Devils. The sophomore absorbed a few big hits and delivered a few, gaining 154 yards on 23 carries for two touchdowns and adding a third TD on a short pass from quarterback Walker Eget.
A week after a 31-27 comeback win on the road at Illinois, the Blue Devils returned for homecoming and handed Stanford its 12th straight road loss, the worst in its program history.
Eget wasn’t as sharp as he was against the Fighting Illini but tested the Cardinal long and short and used all of his receivers on a warm afternoon. The transfer from San Jose State set a career high against Stanford last year with a 473-yard passing day for SJSU, but finished with 204 yards on 14 of 22 passing Saturday.
Eget had his first turnover of the season – an interception in the first quarter. The Blue Devils opened the game by recovering an onside kick and quickly reached the Stanford 2 before Eget’s fourth-down throw was picked off by Stanford safety Darrius Davis.
That didn’t slow down the Blue Devils very long as they took a 14-0 lead, led expanded its margin to 21-7 in the third quarter and kept adding to the lead in the second half.
The Blue Devils had a little fun along the way. Wide receiver Kavon Simmons scored on a reverse, running 16 yards around right end when he could have passed to an open Eget, who wisely stayed out of the way as Simmons cruised to the end zone.
Freshman running back Jayvian Tanelus had the sideline excited with a 5-yard run for his first touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Devils emptied the bench.
Duke’s defense did a good job of keeping quarterback Davis Warren from getting into a steady rhythm. The transfer from Michigan did guide the Cardinal (1-3, 0-2 ACC) to a touchdown in the final seconds of the first half, hitting wide receiver Caden High for a 5-yard score, but Stanford mustered little offensively in the second half as Duke dominated time of possession.
Some observations from the game.:
Duke’s special teams’ chicanery is enough to add an extra layer of game preparation for opposing teams.
A year ago, the Blue Devils used a fake field-goal play to beat North Carolina – Todd Pelino with the mad dash around left end to set up the winning score. Punter Kade Reynoldson also pulled off a successful fake punt for a play as Diaz joked the Aussie kicker was tired of so much being made of Pelino’s play (and Reynoldson was the holder who set the Pelino play in motion).
A week ago, Duke used a fake punt to help shift the momentum in the game at Illinois, with Sheppard taking a direct snap and bolting 15 yards.
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The Blue Devils won the opening coin toss Saturday and elected to defer and kick off. The Devils then pulled the surprise on Cosme Salas’ onside kick that was recovered at the Duke 47.
What’s next? There likely will be something.
The Blue Devils opened up the playbook a little more and got wide receivers Jared Richardson and Jaivon Solomon some touches and more involved in the offense.
Richardson, a transfer from Penn, had a 17-yard grab in the first half that was his first reception of the season. A 16-yarder in the third quarter came in the Duke drive for a 21-7 lead.
Solomon also had a big catch in that possession: a 32-yard, over the shoulder grab of an Eget pass down the left sideline.
Eget, in his first season, has relied on tight end Jeremiah Hasley and wide receiver Jonah Burton for key throws under pressure and was in sync with those two. Sheppard entered the game as Duke’s leader in receptions with eight catches.
The Eget-to-Hasley connection did convert a fourth-and-3 play for 15 yards late in the third quarter. On second down at the Stanford 16, Simmons was looking to throw on an end-around play but kept running for the touchdown and 28-7 lead.
Just when you think you’ve seen every conceivable penalty that can be called, there’s another one.
The Blue Devils ran a first-half play Saturday that quickly had a flag flying in the offensive backfield.
Duke had both Eget and backup quarterback Dan Mahan in the game for a trick play. Mahan wound up with the ball, running right before going out of bounds.
The penalty, as announced: the Blue Devils had two players wearing coach-to-player communication equipment – Egan and Mahan. Make it an illegal substitution penalty.
Not that it derailed the Blue Devils’ drive. Sheppard quickly broke off his 32-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead.
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