On the first snap of Elon’s season, quarterback Matthew Downing looked to pass and saw Duke defenders instead. With Aaron Hall bearing down on him, Downing was forced to throw the ball incomplete.
After a short pass on the second snap, the Blue Devils’ front reached its target, with two linemen sharing a sack for a loss of nine yards to end Elon’s drive.
The next time Elon got the ball, the Phoenix was called for holding on the first play as they struggled to keep Duke’s front four at bay. On the next snap, Ryan Smith brought down Downing five yards behind the line for a sack. Then Michael Reese and Kendy Charles got in on the party, sacking Downing for another seven-yard loss.
Through six snaps, Duke’s defensive front had collected three sacks, a hurry and forced a holding penalty.
“I think the story of the game was certainly our front on defense,” said Manny Diaz, who won his debut as Blue Devils head coach.
In Diaz’s long career as a defensive coordinator, he’s gained a reputation for harassing quarterbacks. His Penn State front ranked second in the nation in tackles for loss last year, and a Manny Diaz defense has been in the national top 10 in that category every season since 2016.
Duke made a case for continuing that trend, thoroughly dominating the line of scrimmage on Friday night in a 26-3 opening win over Elon.
The Blue Devils sacked the quarterback eight times on Friday, the most for a Duke defense since 2019. They also finished with 16 tackles for loss, Duke’s highest single game total since 2007
“It was tough on those guys to get the ball back to the line of scrimmage,” Diaz said. “The quarterback was under pressure all night.”
The result was a performance that throttled the outmanned Phoenix, holding Elon scoreless until the game’s final minute.
“Oh yeah, it’s fun,” said linebacker Cameron Bergeron, who finished with 2.5 tackles for loss and split a sack. “Always being on the attack with everybody is always going. You feel free out there. It’s like you’re just running around.”
The defensive performance allowed Duke’s offense to find its footing after a slow start. New quarterback Maalik Murphy finished with 264 yards passing—the most by a Duke QB in his debut since 2010—and two touchdowns.
Murphy’s receivers had a number of drops, and several deep pass attempts were just off the mark.
“For game one, we were pretty pleased,” said Diaz. “I think he’ll look at some of the near misses that really could have blown the game open. … I think it’s a good opening performance for Maalik, but I think he, like everybody else, will say there’s so much more meat on the bone.”
It’s doubtful that Elon can same the same thing about its quarterback. The Duke defense made sure to strip every scrap of meat it saw.
“We felt, watching us in training camp, that we’d have some guys who could have big performances,” Diaz said. “You just don’t ever know in that opening game with a new scheme. Is it really going to come to fruition? And it was a sight to see.”
