Duke tight end Nicky Dalmolin hadn’t even come close to a game like Saturday over the previous four years.
Through the graduate student’s first four seasons and three games with the Blue Devils, he’d never finished with more than 40 yards. He actually set that mark just two weeks ago against Northwestern, breaking his previous career-high of 38 yards from a game against North Carolina A&T in 2022.
Then, on the second offensive play of the game against Middle Tennessee, he ran past the entire MTSU defense for a 71-yard touchdown. He caught a pass on the previous play, too, giving him all 75 yards on the possession and his first scoring play since November 2022.
The career day continued from there with a seven-yard scoring catch later in the first quarter, his first two-touchdown game with the Blue Devils. He tacked on an 18-yard reception in the second quarter to reach 100 yards for the first time in a Duke uniform.
On the second play of the game! There goes Nicky! pic.twitter.com/IyQVbTg1EN
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) September 21, 2024
Dalmolin didn’t catch a pass in the second half, but it didn’t make a dent in the best day of his career. No other Blue Devil finished with more than 34 receiving yards, and the fifth-year tight end now has 142 yards for the season.
His best collegiate campaign came in 2022 when he caught 21 passes for 170 yards. With eight games left on the schedule, he seems like a sure bet to break that yardage mark.