For the first time in nearly three years, Duke wide receiver Eli Pancol caught a touchdown pass on Friday night.
During the Blue Devils’ season-opening victory over Elon, quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] rifled a short pass to Pancol in the late fourth quarter for the team’s third touchdown of the day.
Pancol, a sixth-year senior, first took the field in a Duke uniform back in 2019. However, an injury forced him to miss the last four games of the 2022 regular season. He then missed the entire 2023 campaign after a lower-body injury in the preseason, meaning the Elon game was his first regular-season action in 22 months.
The touchdown drought extended back even farther. Despite a career-high 347 yards in 2022, Pancol never added six points to the board. His last touchdown catch came against Virginia Tech on November 13, 2021, a whopping 1,021 days.
Pancol also had a 55-yard catch over the middle of the field in the second quarter, racing all the way into the red zone and breaking multiple tackles to set up a touchdown. He finished Friday’s game with seven receptions for 81 yards.
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