Duke receiver Eli Pancol needed less than two seconds to get open in overtime against the SMU Mustangs.
The Blue Devils started their first overtime possession in need of a touchdown, and quarterback Maalik Murphy never looked like he debated where to go with the football. For the 14th time on Saturday, he hit the back of his drop and tossed the ball in Pancol’s general direction.
The fifth-year wideout blew right past SMU defensive back Jaelyn Davis-Robinson on a go route, and thanks to the air Murphy put under the throw, he jumped over the Mustangs corner to come down with the needed score.
While Murphy and Pancol couldn’t connect on the potential game-winning 2-point conversion, the receiver’s monster game against SMU highlighted something Duke football fans knew the team needed: a go-to outside target.
Entering the 2024 season, everyone in Durham knew the passing offense would run through senior Jordan Moore. The former quarterback led the team with 62 catches, 835 yards, and eight touchdowns in 2023, and he earned some ACC Preseason Player of the Year votes. Everyone presumed he’d become the school’s first 1,000-yard receiver in a decade.
After Moore started the season with back-to-back 100-yard performances, everything seemed to be proceeding as scheduled. Pancol caught four touchdowns in the first three games, but Moore was among the ACC leaders in every category.
In Week 3, however, Moore briefly left the game after a hard landing on a jump ball against Connecticut. While Moore returned to the field that night and has still caught a pass in every game this season, the star wideout has clearly been on some snap limitations. He’s caught 11 passes over the past five games after 23 receptions through Week 3, and he only played 12 snaps against the Florida State Seminoles in Week 8.
The passing offense, through a combination of increased competition and Moore’s absence, took a noticeable dip as it tried to replace his role. Other names stepped forward, from redshirt freshman Que’Sean Brown’s 11 catches against Connecticut to tight end Nicky Dalmolin’s first 100-yard game against Middle Tennessee, but Murphy’s aerial stats felt Moore’s absence.
| Weeks 1-4 | Weeks 5-8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Pass Yards/Attempt | 7.11 | 5.44 |
| Comp. Pct | 64.6% | 50.6% |
| Pass Yards/Game | 256.0 | 161.3 |
| Touchdowns/Game | 2.75 | 1.00 |
On Saturday, however, the Murphy from September flickered back into the picture. The former Texas Longhorn threw three touchdowns for the first time since Week 4 en route to a career-high 295 yards, nearly half of which came from Pancol.
The 6-foot-3 Pancol looked dominant in multiple different ways against SMU. Eight of his 11 catches went for a first down, including a few passes he caught short of the sticks before breaking tackles to move the chains. He won downfield as well, bringing in a 22-yard over-the-shoulder shot on the game-tying touchdown drive before his overtime score.
He finished the game with 138 yards, and for the first time since Week 3, the Blue Devils felt like they had a reliable three-level threat on the perimeter.
Between a late-season injury in 2022 and a season-ending injury while preparing for the 2023 campaign, Pancol had missed 17 of Duke’s previous 18 games before the opener against Elon. He hadn’t played football since December 28, 2022, and he hadn’t caught a touchdown since November 13, 2021.
Offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer doesn’t think it’s an accident that the veteran Blue Devil looked better after he spent more time on the field.
“Eli’s such a strong football player,” Brewer said during his Monday press conference. “He has such confidence in what he’s doing right now. It’s probably him coming back from all the injuries and then now he’s starting to get his legs into playing.”
Through eight games this season, Pancol leads the team with 36 receptions, and his six touchdowns are second among ACC wideouts. Both of those numbers are already career highs, as are his 446 receiving yards. If he plays a potential bowl game, his pace sets him up for 58 receptions and more than 700 yards.
When Pancol spoke after the game himself, however, he focused more on the team’s overall offensive success. The Blue Devils finished with 393 yards of offense, their third-most in a game this season, and bounced back in a strong way after a difficult 180-yard showing against Florida State.
“That’s the team that I knew we had,” Pancol said after Saturday’s game against SMU. “In practice, that’s how we play, so I’m glad we got to put that out there for everybody to see.”
With the undefeated Miami Hurricanes next on the schedule, Pancol and his fellow receivers will need to step up again. The Miami secondary has allowed 6.0 yards per pass attempt, second only to the Blue Devils among ACC teams, and even with a positive Moore update on Monday, Duke will need reliable people to target.
No matter how many snaps Moore plays, however, Murphy will have at least one safe option on Saturday.
“There’s a little bit of security that Eli’s going to get open,” Brewer said.