Duke’s Cameron Bergeron named ACC Linebacker of the Week after Wake Forest win

Duke linebacker Cameron Bergeron racked up an ACC award after his strong showing against Wake Forest on Saturday.

Duke linebacker Cameron Bergeron has played a key role in the Blue Devils’ defensive success in 2024, and the Georgia native earned some recognition for his work on Monday.

Bergeron was named the ACC Linebacker of the Week after he finished Saturday’s game against Wake Forest with nine tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. The Blue Devils fell behind 17-3 early in the third quarter, but Bergeron and his teammates held the Demon Deacons scoreless over the final quarter-and-a-half to let the offense claw back into the game.

After only recording 17 total tackles over the previous three seasons, Bergeron racked up 75 during the 2024 regular season with 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He forced two fumbles and even intercepted a pass against SMU in Week 9.

Saturday was Bergeron’s fifth game of the season with at least eight total tackles, including a season-high 10 against Virginia Tech in Week 13, and recorded multiple tackles for loss in three of the team’s first four games this year.

Watch Duke linebacker Cameron Bergeron’s first career interception in Week 9 vs SMU

Duke linebacker Cameron Bergeron made yet another big play on Saturday night, this time in the form of his first career interception.

Duke linebacker Cameron Bergeron continues to one-up himself on the defensive side of the ball every week, and he made his best play yet during the final minute of the first half on Saturday.

With the SMU Mustangs moving the ball down the field in hopes of adding some last-second points to their 14-7 lead, quarterback Kevin Jennings aired a ball out for Roderick Daniels Jr. into Duke territory. The pass never stood a chance, however, with Bergeron picking up the perfect inside leverage and leaping in the way for an interception.

While Duke didn’t capitalize on the extra possession for any points of its own, Bergeron still ensured SMU only led by one score at the midway point.

While the senior hadn’t intercepted a pass before in his career, he’s been a breakout star for the 2024 season. After he only made 17 total tackles over the past three years, he entered Saturday’s game with 41 through seven games. He added 6.5 tackles for loss, the third-most on the team, and 1.5 sacks.

SMU maintained its 14-7 lead after two quarters.

Duke football blows out Middle Tennessee after forcing three first-quarter fumbles

The Duke Blue Devils improved to 3-0 on Saturday afternoon behind a dominant defense during a blowout 45-17 victory over Middle Tennessee.

Even the fury of the skies couldn’t slow down Duke’s defense on Saturday afternoon as the Blue Devils (4-0) persevered past a lengthy weather delay to take down Middle Tennessee (1-3)  45-17 on the road.

The Duke defense punished the Blue Raiders over and over in the first two quarters. Excluding a 66-yard rushing touchdown from MTSU’s Jaiden Credle (partially assisted by an accidental block by a referee) on the first drive, the Blue Devils held their opponents to 101 yards before halftime.

MTSU quarterback Nicholas Vattiato threw for 456 yards and three touchdowns against Western Kentucky last week, but he finished the first 30 minutes on Saturday with nine completions for 58 yards. If you include Duke’s four first-half sacks, the Blue Raiders averaged 1.6 yards per dropback in the first two quarters.

Despite those struggles through the air, Middle Tennessee’s first-quarter fumbles did more damage than anything else. The Blue Raiders coughed up the ball three times before the break, each time within 25 yards of their own end zone. Linebacker Alex Howard nearly scooped one of them up for a defensive touchdown but ended up falling on the ball at the 1-yard line. Duke’s offense finished off all three drives with a touchdown.

Defensive end Wesley Williams forced that fumble near the end zone, part of a statement performance from the junior. In addition to the turnover, he racked up two sacks for the game, giving him 2.5 on the season. As a whole, Duke finished with six sacks and 12 tackles for loss.

The story coming into the game actually revolved around Middle Tennessee’s defense, or more accurately, how poor it had been through three games. The Blue Raiders averaged more than 380 yards allowed through the air before Saturday, the worst mark in the FBS, and Duke quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] immediately went to work capitalizing on that vulnerable secondary. He threw a 71-yard touchdown to Nicky Dalmolin on the second offensive play of the game, his first of three scores.

Dalmolin, who’d previously never finished with more than 40 yards in a single game, surpassed 100 yards and caught a second touchdown before the end of the first half against MTSU. The two early scores helped build a 35-10 lead at the midway point, and the game felt over before Middle Tennessee even made it back to the locker room.

A lengthy weather delay kept the Blue Devils off the field for more than 100 minutes near the end of the third quarter, but even that couldn’t change MTSU’s destiny. After a sleepy final few minutes, the Blue Devils walked away with a 28-point victory.

Murphy finished the game with 14 completions on 21 attempts, throwing for 216 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Star Thomas put together his second straight 100-yard game on the ground, this time with 111 yards on 17 attempts along with his first two scores of the year.

The Blue Devils now return to Durham, where they’ll host the North Carolina Tar Heels next week. With UNC allowing 70 points in an upset to James Madison on Saturday, a 5-0 start and a rivalry win seem to be within Duke’s grasp.

Duke football still leads Power Four defenses in tackles for loss through Week 3

The Duke Blue Devils added seven tackles for loss against Connecticut in Week 3, maintaining their lead over all Power Four defenses.

The Duke Blue Devils maintained their lead over the Power Four conferences with seven more tackles for loss against Connecticut in Week 3, giving them 34 for the season.

East Carolina took the FBS lead after the Pirates reached 36 TFLs through three games, but no other team in the country has more than 30.

Linebacker Cameron Bergeron finished with two tackles for loss against the Huskies, his second straight home game with multiple TFLs. Alex Howard, a transfer linebacker from Youngstown State, leads the team with five tackles for loss on the season, and eight different Blue Devils already have multiple TFLs.

Even the defensive backs are getting in on the action in the backfield. Chandler Rivers, whose third-down tackle for loss in overtime against Northwestern helped the Blue Devils win the game, forced a fumble on a similar play on Saturday. He now has three tackles behind the line of scrimmage this season, and fellow cornerback Joshua Pickett already has two.

Duke looks to keep the momentum rolling against Middle Tennessee in Week 4 as they try to get head coach Manny Diaz off to a 4-0 start.