Tag: jordan moore

Watch Maalik Murphy and Jordan Moore connect for walkoff touchdown against Wake Forest

Duke’s Maalik Murphy and Jordan Moore authored the best moment of an incredible Duke football season on Saturday’s final play.

Would any other ending to the 2024 Duke football season have felt appropriate?

As they’ve done so often this season, the Blue Devils fell behind by multiple scores against Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Saturday. And as they’ve done so often this season, quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] and star receiver [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] saved the day with second-half heroics.

With eight seconds left on the clock and a timeout still on the board, Duke sat at the edge of field goal range at the Demon Deacons’ 39-yard line. Head coach Manny Diaz opted to let Murphy throw one last time in hopes of creating an easier chance for kicker Todd Pelino. However, the first-year starter lingered in the pocket rather than immediately getting the ball out, letting precious seconds dwindle.

Instead of throwing it away or trying for a short completion over the middle, however, Murphy heaved the ball down the right sideline to Moore, who somehow found a seam behind the coverage. The ball hit Moore perfectly in stride, and the star receiver evaded both defensive backs in his vicinity to reach the end zone. Ball game.

The win clinched Duke’s second nine-win season in three years and gave the Blue Devils an in-season sweep of the Demon Deacons, NC State Wolfpack, and North Carolina Tar Heels for the first time since 2013.

Duke football scores three late touchdowns to win cold, windy game over Wake Forest

Maalik Murphy and Jordan Moore connected for a 39-yard touchdown on Duke’s last play of the regular season, clinching a win over Wake Forest.

Every Duke football fan, and likely everybody on the Blue Devils sideline, wanted a field goal. [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] and [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] wanted a touchdown.

With eight seconds left in a tie game in Winston-Salem, Murphy bounced on the balls of his feet in the pocket for two seconds too long. With the clock winding down and head coach Manny Diaz still holding a timeout in his pocket, Duke wanted to push for a shorter field goal attempt at the buzzer, but the chances of completing a pass in time dwindled with each beat that Murphy held the ball.

With just a few seconds left, Murphy’s eyes flitted back to the right, and he wound up and threw the ball over the top of the Demon Deacons defense. It looked for a moment like the first-year Duke quarterback was simply throwing it away in an effort to preserve a second, but Wake Forest’s defense noticed Moore slip behind them just seconds too late.

Moore snagged the pass just a few yards from the goal line, and a quick spin move ensured the closing safety wouldn’t stop him short of the painted grass. Touchdown, Blue Devils.

Despite a slow start from the Duke offense, the Blue Devils left Winston-Salem with a 23-17 victory on Saturday afternoon to clinch a nine-win season and sweep their in-state conference rivals.

Despite the Demon Deacons already losing their chance at a bowl appearance with seven losses in their first 11 games, Wake Forest still came out steadier than the Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon. The home team picked up 93 yards of offense in the opening quarter thanks to a drive deep within Duke territory, only remaining scoreless thanks to a missed 43-yard field goal attempt, but the Demon Deacons’ five first downs boded poorly for the remainder of the game.

While Todd Pelino put Duke in front with a 45-yard field goal through the cold wind, Wake Forest answered within minutes. Quarterback Hank Bachmeier and running back Tate Carney combined to pick up 67 yards on just four plays, most notably with Bachmeier’s 30-yard over-the-shoulder strike to wideout Horatio Fields that set up the Demon Deacons in the red zone.

Carney bruised the remaining eight yards into the end zone on the following snap, and after a quick interception from Murphy, Wake Forest rumbled back across midfield on the ensuing possession. The Blue Devils managed to hold them to a field goal, preventing star wideout Taylor Morin from converting a third-and-7 in the red zone to keep it a one-score game, but the first-half results were stunning given each team’s form.

Through the first two quarters, Wake Forest outgained Duke 236-122 despite bringing the most porous defense in the ACC into Week 14. The Demon Deacons converted 14 first downs to the Blue Devils’ six, and they held the ball for 19:48 of the opening 30 minutes.

With the Blue Devils hoping to clamber back into the game early in the third quarter, disaster struck. Running back Jaquez Moore, in his second appearance since Week 2, fumbled a third-down screen pass within 15 yards of his own end zone to give Wake Forest an easy path to a two-score lead.

The Duke defense forced a third-and-5 on the ensuing possession, but Bachmeier hit Fields in stride over the middle to let his wideout walk into the end zone and build a 17-3 advantage.

As he’s done over and over again in 2024, however, Murphy gave his team new life with one great throw at the right time. With the Blue Devils 42 yards from the end zone with less than 18 minutes left in the game, he dropped a 30-yard sideline pass in the bucket to redshirt freshman Que’Sean Brown for a lightning strike into the red zone.

Running back Star Thomas galloped into the end zone from three yards out just a few plays later, and when Wake Forest star Demond Claiborne fumbled the ensuing kickoff back to the Blue Devils, Duke officially retook command of the game. Moore, the running back, redeemed himself with an 18-yard carry into the red zone, bouncing off multiple potential tacklers, and Murphy put the go-ahead score on the board himself with a read-option run that fooled the entire Demon Deacons defense.

Duke’s final drive to victory started with 82 seconds left on the board, and the 39-yard last-second touchdown helped Murphy lead the team 76 yards while using just a single timeout. The former Texas Longhorn ended the game with 235 yards and a score, completing 26 of his 34 attempts, and the Blue Devils outgained Wake Forest 211-82 in the second half.

Duke football ‘couldn’t have asked for’ a better script in NC State win, Manny Diaz says

After a blown lead against Miami in Week 10, Manny Diaz and Duke found a way to right their wrongs against NC State on Saturday.

Duke football fans would be forgiven for experiencing a wave of déjà vu in the second half of Saturday’s game against NC State.

Seven days after the Blue Devils built a 28-17 lead in Miami only to watch the Hurricanes score five second-half touchdowns, Duke scored the first 12 points of the game in Raleigh.

“It set up the scenario that, if we could have scripted it, we really couldn’t have asked for it any better,” head coach Manny Diaz said after the game. “Up two scores on the road again in league play and could we close? And could we finish?”

When the Wolfpack tied the game at 12 points apiece with a fourth field goal midway through the third quarter, any Duke fans watching at home might have felt a pit in their stomach.

Instead, the offense and defense made the plays they needed on Saturday. [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] and [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] converted a second-and-20, Murphy ran for a 3-yard touchdown, and safety Terry Moore intercepted a pass.

When Murphy and Sahmir Hagans connected for a 9-yard touchdown after Moore’s pick, the Blue Devils had a 14-point cushion with 14 minutes to play. Kicker Todd Pelino even expunged some demons with a 49-yard field goal with 2:06 to play, making it a two-score game and effectively icing the Wolfpack on their own senior night.

They could close and finish indeed.

Maalik Murphy and the Duke defense spoils NC State’s senior night with 29-19 victory

Duke football ruined NC State’s senior day on Saturday thanks to some big plays from quarterback Maalik Murphy and the Blue Devils defense.

Duke desperately needed to move the chains late in the third quarter.

After racing out to a 12-0 lead in Raleigh against the NC State Wolfpack, four field goals from the in-state rivals left the Blue Devils locked in a tie game. With the offense nearing 30 consecutive scoreless minutes, quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] faced a second-and-20 from well within his own territory.

The redshirt sophomore hit the back of his drop, but with the edges of the pocket constricting around him, he pushed back toward the line of scrimmage and let the ball fly toward senior wideout [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag].

Moore caught the pass a few yards short of the sticks, creating a manageable third down, but he didn’t stop there. He brushed off a tackle and beat the Wolfpack defense to the sideline, somehow getting all 20 yards the Blue Devils needed.

Six plays later, Murphy pushed his way forward for a three-yard rushing touchdown to take a 19-12 lead, and Duke never gave up the advantage again en route to a 29-19 victory.

After allowing 497.5 yards per game to the two best offenses in the conference (SMU and Miami) over the last two weeks, the Blue Devils’ defense bounced back in a big way against the Wolfpack.

After Duke punter Kade Reynoldson pinned NC State within its own 5-yard line for their first possession, defensive linemen Wesley Williams and Aaron Hall wrecked a read-option run on second down and pulled down freshman quarterback CJ Bailey for a safety to give the Blue Devils the lead.

On the second play of NC State’s next drive, Bailey scrambled past the sticks before linebacker Ozzie Nicholas punched the ball out for a fumble, creating Duke’s FBS-leading 12th recovery of the season and giving the offense the ball in enemy territory.

That ensuing drive tacked on three more points thanks to a 50-yard field goal from Todd Pelino, and after two more three-and-outs, NC State finished the first quarter with 41 yards and one first down in 13 plays.

The two biggest plays of the night came from veteran safeties Jaylen Stinson and Terry Moore. NC State star receiver Kevin Concepcion snuck behind the Blue Devils’ secondary on third and goal in the second quarter and made a leaping grab, but Stinson tackled him toward the back line to make sure he couldn’t bring his feet down in bounds.

In the fourth quarter, with the Blue Devils leading by seven, Moore corraled a tipped ball for an interception on the positive side of the field. He made it all the way to the NC State 20-yard line before getting tackled, setting up the touchdown that made it a two-score game.

Duke’s defense finished the game with eight tackles for loss, upping their total to 85 for the season, and the Wolfpack only managed 263 yards of offense for the day.

Murphy eventually won the day by extending his strong recent form. One week after his first career 300-yard game against Miami, the former Texas Longhorn completed (six of his first seven) passes for 102 yards, highlighted by a 45-yard scoring strike to Moore in the middle of the first quarter that made it a 12-0 ballgame.

Moore, who spent the first half of ACC play recovering from an injury, also found the end zone against the Mustangs and Hurricanes. He finished Saturday’s game with three catches for 76 yards, including that critical 20-yard conversion, as he looks like a prominent feature of the offense once again.

After his 245 passing yards and two touchdowns against NC State (even without including the go-ahead rushing touchdown), Murphy is now up to 2,366 yards and 22 passing touchdowns for the season, bringing him within two scores of the single-season school record with two games left to play.

Now 7-3 for the season and back to .500 in conference play, the Blue Devils get a bye week before hosting Virginia Tech on November 23.

Duke football drops from top 30 in USA TODAY Sports re-rank after third loss in four games

After three losses in the last four games, the Duke football team finally dropped from the top 30 of the USA TODAY Sports re-rank.

In another world, the Duke Blue Devils are 8-1 with back-to-back ranked wins on their resume, but after failing to close out SMU and Miami in consecutive weeks, USA TODAY Sports writer Paul Myerberg finally dropped the Blue Devils from his top 30 on Monday.

Myerberg updated his ranking of all 134 FBS college football teams after Week 10, and in light of their 53-31 loss to the Hurricanes, the Blue Devils slipped down four spots to 32nd.

Seven days after losing to the Mustangs in overtime after a blocked kick on the final play of regulation, Duke built a 28-17 lead over the conference favorites with a short touchdown pass from [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] to [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] on the first possession of the second half. Miami quarterback Cam Ward couldn’t be held down forever, though, and he finished with 400 yards and five touchdowns as the Hurricanes scored 35 points in the final 23 minutes for the three-score win.

After five straight victories to open the season, head coach Manny Diaz has now lost three of his last four games. Duke also fell to Georgia Tech on the road in Week 6.

The Blue Devils remain among Myerberg’s top ACC teams. The Hurricanes shifted up one spot to fourth, and the Mustangs (11th), Clemson Tigers (19th), Pittsburgh Panthers (22nd), Louisville Cardinals (26th), and Syracuse Orange (28th) are the only other members of the conference above Duke.

Jordan Moore becomes 12th Duke wide receiver with 2,000 career yards

During Saturday’s loss to Miami, Jordan Moore joined an esteemed list of Duke receivers with 2,000 career yards.

Despite falling to the undefeated Miami Hurricanes by a score of 53-31, the Duke offense exploded for its most productive game of the season. Wide receiver [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] was a big reason why, and during the course of his strong performance, he surpassed a major milestone with 2,000 career receiving yards.

Against Miami, Moore caught five passes for 75 yards and one touchdown. That brought his season total to 39 receptions for 556 yards and five scores, and in his career as a whole, Moore has caught 161 passes for 2,047 yards and 18 touchdowns since making the switch to receiver in 2022.

Moore currently sits 12th on Duke’s career receiving leaderboard, just 35 yards behind Doug Green for 11th and 250 yards behind Corey Thomas’s spot in the top 10. He will have three more regular-season games (and potentially a bowl game) to move farther up that list.

One of Moore’s catches against Miami came in electric fashion just before the end of the third quarter. He went up and reeled in a one-handed grab in a similar style to Odell Beckham Jr.’s infamous catch for a third-down conversion.

Jordan Moore enters Catch of the Year conversation with one-handed snag against Miami

Duke wide receiver Jordan Moore reminded Blue Devils fans of his talent with a spinning one-handed catch against Miami on Saturday.

Duke football fans have been pretty desperate for highlights from star wide receiver [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag], and he delivered in a big way on Saturday.

The senior paced the team with 835 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023 and started his 2024 season with 18 catches for 233 yards through two games, but he’d only caught 11 passes for 175 yards over the past five contests as he battled back from an injury. He hauled in a one-handed touchdown against SMU in Week 9, part of a three-reception game, but he one-upped himself against the Miami Hurricanes.

On a short third down in the final seconds of the third quarter, Duke quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] rolled to his right and lofted a pass to Moore downfield. The redshirt sophomore’s throw was a little behind his star wideout, but even with one defender in front of him and another behind, Moore made sure he came down with the football.

He jumped up and stuck his right hand in the air, snagging the ball and spinning to the ground for the secure catch and a first down in one of the most impressive plays of the season.

Moore made another impressive catch in the first half, a beautiful back-shoulder grab for a 27-yard gain, and he caught a short touchdown on a fourth-and-1 attempt in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

Injury update for Duke WR Jordan Moore from head coach Manny Diaz

Duke football coach Manny Diaz gave a positive update on star wide receiver Jordan Moore on Monday as he works his way back to full health.

The Duke football team has found success through the first eight games of the season, but the Blue Devils have done so despite star wide receiver Jordan Moore playing limited snaps.

The senior led Duke with 835 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 2023, a feat he looked well on his way to replicating after back-to-back 100-yard performances against Elon and Northwestern. Pro Football Focus credited him with 193 snaps through the first three games, but he landed hard after a jump ball late against the Connecticut Huskies.

Whether his health concerns stem from that play or not, he’s played 206 snaps in the five games since, including 12 reps against the Florida State Seminoles in Week 8. He took a step forward against SMU on Saturday, however, taking the field for 50 plays and catching a one-handed touchdown in the third quarter.

Ahead of the team’s matchup with the Miami Hurricanes, head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] gave an update on Moore’s status during his Monday press conference.

Jordan Moore injury update

While Moore has not missed a game so far this season, his work load has lightened heavily. He hasn’t finished a game with more than four receptions since Week 3. According to Diaz, though, the improvement is there.

“Getting better,” the head coach said. “Even yesterday, checked in, he felt better than he had a week ago.”

The numbers on the field back that sentiment up as well. The aforementioned touchdown was his first since Week 4, and his three receptions were the most he had in October.

Duke wide receiver depth chart

In Moore’s absence, the Blue Devils have looked to fellow starters Eli Pancol, Que’Sean Brown, and Sahmir Hagans to pick up the slack.

Pancol leads the team with 36 receptions and six touchdowns this season, culminating with a 138-yard performance against the Mustangs. Brown has 24 receptions for 209 yards, most notably from his 11-catch game against Connecticut, and Hagans has caught 23 passes for 206 yards,

Even with that production, the coaching staff thinks Moore maximizes the other three.

“He (Moore) just transforms us when he plays,” Diaz said. “To have him on one side and Eli on the other with Sahmir and Que’Sean in the slot is more of what we envisioned and part of why we really truly didn’t look like ourselves the week or so prior.”

Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy, who threw 11 touchdowns over the first four games, has only thrown six in the four games since. He completed 12 of 24 attempts for 70 yards against FSU, the game in which Moore was most absent.

If Moore is limited once again, though, the Blue Devils need someone to break out. Javon Harvey and Jontavis Robertson are the primary backups, combining for 17 receptions and 135 yards this season.

Duke football loses a heartbreaker to SMU despite forcing six turnovers

Duke forced six SMU turnovers at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night but failed to capitalize on them in a 28-27 overtime loss.

Three seconds and a 30-yard field goal stood between the Duke Blue Devils and the ACC championship picture.

Despite six wins in their first seven games, first-year head coach Manny Diaz and his team couldn’t break into the top 25 thanks to some questions about their strength of schedule. Yet on Saturday night, there the Blue Devils stood with a chip shot to beat No. 22 SMU despite a handful of self-inflicted mistakes. After he missed a 42-yard attempt one drive earlier, it seemed like kicker Todd Pelino would redeem himself.

The snap, the hold, Pelino strode forward and booted the ball…straight into the waiting hand of SMU’s Jahfari Harvey, who’d broken through for the deflection. The ball dropped harmlessly to the ground at Wallace Wade Stadium, and another chance to put the game away wriggled out of Duke’s hands.

The Blue Devils wouldn’t get another.

Duke (6-2, 2-2) lost to SMU (7-1, 4-0) 28-27 in overtime in Week 9, opting for a 2-point conversion attempt in extra time that came up empty when quarterback Maalik Murphy couldn’t connect with wideout Eli Pancol.

Through the first two quarters and change, it seemed like more of the same for the Duke Blue Devils. The offense gained just 180 yards of total offense against the Florida State Seminoles, by far their worst showing of the year, and despite an early 43-yard touchdown pass from Murphy to Que’Sean Brown, the offense finished the first half with 181 yards to SMU’s 232.

The Mustangs scored two touchdowns and outgained the Blue Devils 116-49 in the second quarter, seemingly taking control of the battle, but the vaunted Duke defense refused to let the game get out of reach.

The SMU offense got within four yards of a touchdown on its opening drive, but quarterback Kevin Jennings let the ball hit the turf for a fumble before Duke’s Ryan Smith fell on it. Jennings threw an interception to Cameron Bergeron at midfield in the final minute of the half when it seemed like the Mustangs could add some points at the buzzer, and the Blue Devils stopped SMU on four straight rushing plays from the 1-yard line for a turnover on downs early in the third quarter.

While all those heroics went on, the Duke offense seemed stuck in neutral. The Blue Devils’ five full drives after the initial touchdown resulted in four punts and a turnover on downs, and an 81-yard scoring pass from Jennings to Roderick Daniels Jr. gave SMU a 21-7 lead with five minutes left in the third frame.

As he’s done over and over again, Murphy found a way to dust off the cobwebs when he absolutely needed to. The former Texas Longhorn led a 75-yard touchdown drive in just nine plays, culminating in a one-handed catch from Jordan Moore at the goal line to make it a 21-13 game.

The defense forced another punt, and Murphy again marched the team down into SMU territory. He and Pancol, who finished the game with 11 receptions for 138 yards, for a beautiful 22-yard over-the-shoulder catch down the left sideline to move the Blue Devils deep into enemy territory.

Six plays later, running back Star Thomas punched the ball in from the 1-yard line to cap off a 64-yard touchdown drive. Murphy connected with Pancol for a leaping grab on the 2-point conversion, a pass that didn’t count toward his career-high 295 passing yards. Somehow, the game was tied at 21 points apiece.

Jennings made three crushing mistakes on the next three SMU drives, however. He tossed a pick to Duke linebacker Tre Freeman when he tried to throw back across his body on a third down attempt, and he threw another interception on the next third down when he rifled a ball straight into the hands of Chandler Rivers for his third interception.

Despite starting in enemy territory each time, the Blue Devils somehow didn’t take advantage of either possession. They only made it to scoring range once: the aforementioned Pelino miss from 42 yards.

It looked like Jennings gave the Blue Devils one last answered prayer when he fumbled in the final two minutes, letting reigning ACC Linebacker of the Week Ozzie Nicholas scoop up the ball and run all the way back to the 14-yard line for what looked like the final dagger. Instead, the blocked kick on the final play of regulation sent the proceedings to overtime as the SMU defense held Duke scoreless on all six possessions after turnovers.

SMU running back Brashard Smith rumbled free for a 24-yard touchdown on the second play of free football, and despite Murphy finding Pancol for a 25-yard score one play later, the failed 2-point conversion gave Duke its second loss of the year.

Instead of heading to Coral Gables for a chance to throw their weight around against the undefeated Miami Hurricanes in Week 10, the Blue Devils fall two games behind the pace in the battle for a spot in Charlotte, completely removing their ability to control their destiny. The first year of the Diaz era remains an overachievement, but for a brief moment as Pelino lined up that kick, it looked like so much more.

Duke wideout Jordan Moore makes spectacular one-handed touchdown catch vs SMU

Watch Jordan Moore’s spectacular one-handed touchdown grab from Duke’s Saturday game against the SMU Mustangs.

Duke star wide receiver [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] might still be working his way back to full health, but he sure looked impressive in his brief appearances against the SMU Mustangs on Saturday.

In the third quarter of the Week 9 battle at Wallace Wade Stadium, the senior made one of the best plays of his collegiate career.

Quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] dropped back on a second-and-10 from the 12-yard line and looked Moore’s way for a one-on-one contested catch. SMU corner Brandon Crossley blanketed Moore well, but the Blue Devil simply turned around and snagged the ball with his left hand before falling into the end zone for six points.

The catch, Moore’s second of the game and fourth scoring grab of the season, pulled Duke within eight points of the Mustangs. The senior hadn’t caught a touchdown pass since his 34-yard score against Middle Tennessee in Week 4. He’s been on a limited snap count for the past month as he tries to battle through some injuries.

After the touchdown, Moore now has 483 receiving yards for the season. He’s finished each of the last two seasons with at least 600 yards.