The Duke football team beat the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday, a 29-19 victory that gave the Blue Devils a second 2024 win over an in-state rival, but the most satisfying part of Week 11 might stem from the performance of running back Jordan Waters.
Waters led the Blue Devils with 819 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground in 2023, but after five seasons with the program, he transferred to Raleigh to spend his last year of eligibility with the Wolfpack.
The former Duke star entered Week 11 with 375 rushing yards, 98 receiving yards, and five total touchdowns for the season, but the best defense in the ACC didn’t let him replicate that pace on Saturday.
Waters finished with 25 rushing yards on 11 attempts, averaging 2.28 yards per carry with two runs longer than five yards and a single first-down conversion. He added two receptions for 17 yards, both in the fourth quarter with the Wolfpack trailing by two scores, to finish with just 42 yards from scrimmage on 13 touches.
That final output is Waters’ third-worst of the season. He only gained 14 yards against Syracuse and lost four yards against the Tennessee Volunteers in Week 2, but he touched the ball fewer than 10 times in both of those games.