Tag: maalik murphy

Jordan Moore makes impressive bobbling touchdown catch against Connecticut

The Blue Devils struck first against Connecticut on Saturday when star wide receiver Jordan Moore managed to haul in a bobbling catch.

The Duke football team put the first points on the board against Connecticut on Saturday night when [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] found star wideout [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] for a touchdown pass on the opening drive.

Murphy rifled the four-yard pass toward Moore in the end zone, and the hearts of Blue Devils fans in attendance skipped a beat as the ball initially ricocheted off of Moore’s chest and back into the air. The senior managed to corral the ball again, however, and the Blue Devils got their first touchdown of the day.

After back-to-back 100-yard games to start the season, Moore caught two passes for 49 yards on the opening drive against the Huskies. If he averages 112.7 yards over Duke’s final 10 games, he’ll break the school record for single-season receiving yards.

Murphy, for his part, completed all five of his passes for 59 yards on the opening drive. The connection gave him his sixth touchdown pass of the season, also putting him on pace to threaten the Duke record books. No Blue Devils quarterback has thrown more than 24 touchdown passes in a single season.

Duke Blue Devils share first look at new player’s lounge for football team

The Duke Blue Devils revealed their players lounge on Friday with a short social media video, showing a pool table and mini basketball hoop.

The Duke football team revealed its new player’s lounge on Friday with a short social media video, and the Blue Devils players sounded properly impressed.

Videos and photos shared on the team’s X account (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) showed comfortable recliner chairs, a pool table, a ping-pong table, and two arcade basketball hoops. A fridge stocked with Gatorade, water, and snacks stood ready for players to fuel up, and one television even showed EA Sports College Football 25 loaded up on a gaming console.

The best video from the reveal came when the team toured the new complex. Players loudly expressed how impressed they were with the finished product with many of them pulling out their phones to take their own photos and videos. The team even got a shot of quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] on the ping-pong table.

The new facility came just in time for Duke’s Week 3 showdown against Connecticut on Saturday night at Wallace Wade Stadium.

https://twitter.com/DukeFOOTBALL/status/1834725764035432621

Staff predictions for Week 3 matchup between Duke and Connecticut

Duke is gearing up to take on Connecticut on Saturday, check out our Duke Wire staff predictions for the game.

It took more than four quarters for the Duke football team to walk away with a win in Week 2, but the Blue Devils bring nothing but momentum back to Wallace Wade Stadium.

After a slow start, quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] completed 17 of his last 23 passes and threw touchdowns on both of Duke’s overtime possessions, leading a frantic comeback effort to keep his new team undefeated. Wide receiver [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] kept his march to 1,000 yards going with a second consecutive 100-yard game, this time corralling 11 passes for 121 yards, and linebacker Alex Howard finished with 14 total tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss.

Now, the Blue Devils play another basketball powerhouse in Connecticut. While the Huskies blew out Merrimack for a 63-17 victory last weekend, they got their doors blown off against Maryland in Week 1 and sport an 11-28 record since 2021.

Can Manny Diaz’s squad keep it rolling for a third straight win? Here are our predictions.

Ryan Haley, Duke Wire site editor

The big question for this game is whether the fourth quarter and overtime version of Maalik Murphy was him settling into the offense or just a hot streak against favorable defensive looks.

Offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer finally found a way to speed up the game on those final four drives, and Duke gained 165 of its 343 offensive yards on those four possessions. After spending the first three quarters making delayed reads and firing indecisive balls into traffic, Murphy looked sure of himself and diagnosed the right option on almost every dropback. It felt like the approach boiled down to ‘Look at Jordan Moore first on every play,’ and that should probably be the starting point moving forward.

It’s reasonable to assume that the comeback victory gives the former Texas Longhorn an injection of confidence in the pocket, but his first seven quarters were a bit too up-and-down for that to be a sure thing.

Connecticut showed a much-needed sign of life against Merrimack in Week 2, but the Huskies still don’t feel very fearsome after the 50-7 loss to Maryland. I’ll choose to be optimistic about Murphy’s development, especially against this secondary, and he keeps going downhill on Saturday.

Duke 38, UConn 13

Bryant Crews, Staff Writer

Duke’s thrilling win against Northwestern on the road is the stuff that should galvanize a team to go on a run of incredible football. Who knows if that ends up being the case, but for Saturday against a UConn team that just put up 63 points on Merrimack, Duke needs to come out a lot faster than they did in Chicago.

One would imagine a major point of emphasis this week in Durham is the run game. Duke looked putrid running the ball. Maryland ran for almost 250 yards on this same Huskies team. There are plays to be had there.

In the end, I think Duke’s just got too much talent at the skill positions to lose. Maalik Murphy tosses three more touchdown passes, Jacquez Moore adds another on the ground and we see Henry Belin IV get some action.

Duke 41, UConn 28

Can Maalik Murphy put together one of the most productive Duke passing seasons ever?

His Week 2 performance proved mercurial, but Duke QB Maalik Murphy could still compile one of the most productive seasons in school history.

Who would have thought this would be the [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] conversation after three quarters on Friday night?

The former Texas Longhorn completed seven of his first 16 passes against Northwestern, but after a brief seat on the bench, he found his target on 17 of his last 23 attempts to end Week 2 with 242 yards and three touchdown passes. Once the offense sped up, the Blue Devils had life again, and the promising transfer looked like the offensive leader who was promised. Now, the question becomes how great of a season he can have.

Through two games in a Blue Devils uniform, Murphy has thrown 79 passes. He’s completed 50 of them for 533 yards and five touchdowns, giving him a 12-game pace of 3,198 yards, and 30 passing touchdowns.

Only three different Blue Devils have thrown for 3,100 yards in a single season (Sean Renfree did so twice in 2010 and 2012). In fact, a Duke quarterback has only reached 3,000 yards six times, and it hasn’t been done since that latter Renfree season more than a decade ago. Murphy would need a pretty torrid run through conference play to catch Anthony Dilweg’s school record of 3,824 yards in 1988, but second (3,330 yards) and third place (3,131 yards) feel very much in play.

Murphy could truly leave his mark in the end zone. The current school record for single-season touchdown passes is just 24 (also Dilweg in 1988). If the first-year starter throws just 16 touchdown passes over his final 10 games (so not even including a potential bowl game), he’d be tied for third in Duke history.

Part of this record-setting pace is Murphy’s staggering volume. His 12-game pace of 474 attempts would be the second-most in program history, just 10 behind Dilweg’s 1988 season. With Duke’s offense averaging less than three yards per carry on the ground, there’s no reason to think Murphy’s numbers will decrease later in the season.

Three Connecticut football players to know ahead of their clash with the Duke Blue Devils

Duke will host Connecticut in its penultimate non-conference game of the 2024 season. Here are the most important Huskies to know.

The Duke Blue Devils and Connecticut Huskies are set to go at it on the football field this Saturday.

While it may not be the blockbuster matchup it would be if this took place on the hardwood, the game should still provide plenty of entertainment to both fanbases and serve as an appetizer of sorts before the two fanbases spend basketball season jockeying for position as one of the nation’s best teams.

We’ll see Jim Mora oppose first-year Duke coach Manny Diaz on the football field. Duke comes in on the road after winning an overtime thriller against Northwestern. The 26-20 win was made possible by an inspired performance from starting quarterback Maalik Murphy in the second half.

The Huskies, 1-1 on the season, lost to Maryland 50-7 in Week 1 but handled Merrimack 63-17 this past weekend, so they should enter Durham with some confidence.

UConn won’t be a cakewalk for Duke, but the game is more than winnable for Manny Diaz’s program. The Huskies have some talented players they’ll depend on, and we’ll look at what some offer below.

Joe Fagnano, QB

Jim Mora is set to let senior Joe Fagnano hold things down at the quarterback spot. Fagnano enters off the best performance of his Huskies career, in which he went 13/19 for 328 yards and tossed five touchdowns. He was at the controls as the offense put together a 35-point first quarter.

As a sixth-year senior, Fagnano isn’t lacking in experience. He’s less of a creator in the pocket as much as he is a distributor who gets the ball out quickly to his playmakers, allowing them to operate with the ball in their hands. Look for Duke to try to speed things up for him and force him to make plays out of structure.

Skyler Bell, WR

The Huskies’ most dangerous playmaker is Skyler Bell, a junior wideout from the Bronx, New York. He already has seven catches for 246 yards and a touchdown on the young season, and he’s led the Huskies in receiving yards for both of their first two games.

He transferred to UConn after three years with the Wisconsin Badgers. With the Huskies, he’s been able to showcase himself a little more. He is dangerous with the ball in his hands, has some burst, and is a capable route runner. Duke has the secondary options to neutralize him, but it will take a coordinated effort.

Jayden McDonald, LB

The most impactful Huskies defender is another transfer, Jayden McDonald. McDonald spent the majority of his college career at Troy and spent the spring with Indiana before ultimately landing at Connecticut.

He led Troy with 75 total tackles last season. He’s a smaller linebacker, standing just six feet tall, but he’s unfazed and uses his speed to make plays sideline to sideline. With Duke struggling to get its run game going, seeing a veteran linebacker like McDonald certainly won’t make things easier.

Duke football beats Northwestern in weird, mistaken-ridden Week 2 game

It took multiple overtimes, but the Blue Devils picked up their second win of the season over Northwestern on Friday.

In one of the weirdest college football games you will ever see, the Duke Blue Devils defeated Northwestern 26-20 in double overtime on Friday night.

After a high-flying debut from transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy last week, the cooler temperatures of Illinois seemed to chill the former Texas Longhorn early on. After the Blue Devils spent all game throwing downfield against Elon, the offense felt much more conservative against the Wildcats.

Murphy did have one standout first-half moment when he hit graduate wideout Eli Pancol on a slant route for the game’s first touchdown, but he completed seven of 13 passes for just 52 yards in the opening half.

After the Blue Devils averaged 2.2 yards per carry on the ground, those rushing struggles continued against the Wildcats. Duke’s offense gained just 42 yards on its 15 first-half rushing attempts, and senior running back Jaquez Moore left the game with an ankle injury before reappearing on the sideline with a walking boot. Without Murphy throwing the ball all over the field, the microscope focused even harder on those shortcomings.

Unfortunately, Northwestern running back Cam Porter did not share those issues. The senior rattled off a 44-yard run on the Wildcats’ second play of the game and rumbled his way into the end zone in the second quarter to put his team back ahead 10-7. He finished the game with 93 yards and a pair of scores on 16 carries.

The Blue Devils hoped to come out swinging when they received the second-half kickoff, but fans were instead treated to one of the most bizarre sequences of the year. After a quick Duke three-and-out, Northwestern blocked the ensuing punt to give their offense ideal field position and a chance to make it a two-score game.

Instead, the Wildcats offense also went three-and-out before kicker Jack Olsen clanked one off the upright from 29 yards away to keep the game 10-7. Duke seemed to have new life, but Murphy threw an interception two plays later to give the ball right back to Northwestern.

Ball game, right? Well, not if the Wildcats fumbled the ball back to the Blue Devils three plays after that.

The excitement toned down quite a bit from there with both teams trading field goals before Duke kicker Todd Pelino lined up for a game-tying effort from 33 yards with two minutes left to play. On any other night, the reliable Blue Devil would be a sure bet to knock one that short one through the uprights, but he pushed it wide to the right to keep Duke down.

The Blue Devils managed to get the ball back for one final gasp, and they tied the game against all odds. Murphy drove the team down the field, missing a potential game-winning touchdown to Jordan Moore but still driving the Blue Devils down to the doorstep of the end zone.

Pelino trotted out for a 22-yard attempt, and this time, he split the uprights.

After the two offenses traded touchdowns in the first overtime period, Murphy found Pancol yet again for this third passing touchdown of the game in the second overtime period. The Blue Devils failed their 2-point conversion, but a fourth-down stop on the other end meant they didn’t need the points anyway.

Murphy put the team on his back in the second half, leaving the early conservative playbook behind. He finished the game with 242 yards through the air, completing 24 of 39 passes. He connected on 12 of his final 15 attempts, including all three in overtime, for the improbable comeback.

Duke improves to 2-0 for the season and now gets an extra day of rest before taking on Connecticut in Week 3, the Blue Devils’ first Saturday game of the year.

Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy finds Eli Pancol for go-ahead touchdown vs. Northwestern

Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy threw his third touchdown of the season on Friday, a go-ahead score in the first quarter against Northwestern.

It’s safe to say transfer quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] will be very productive in his first season with the Duke Blue Devils.

The former Texas Longhorn found Eli Pancol for a go-ahead touchdown in the first quarter against Northwestern on Friday night. Murphy hit Pancol in stride on a slant route, and the veteran wideout dragged his defender into the end zone on his back.

The score, Murphy’s third of the season, came four plays after safety Terry Moore snagged the team’s first interception of the season. It was also Pancol’s second touchdown reception in two games. After injuries forced him to miss the entire 2023 season, he found the end zone for the first time in nearly three years against Elon in Week 1.

Murphy threw for 291 yards in that game, a career-high in his first appearance with the Blue Devils. He and offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer talked about wanting to make Duke an explosive offense in 2024, and the early returns look like they delivered.

https://twitter.com/DukeFOOTBALL/status/1832229916915491157

Duke football releases mic’d up video of quarterback Maalik Murphy in first Blue Devils game

Maalik Murphy wore a microphone for his first game as a Duke Blue Devil, and the team released a video of his best quotes on Wednesday.

Duke quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns in his Duke debut last Friday, and the former Texas Longhorn also wore a microphone as he took in a game at Wallace Wade Stadium for the first time.

The Blue Devils social media team released a video on Wednesday that compiled Murphy’s best moments on the microphone against Elon.

The video sure looks like Murphy’s getting used to his offense and his new teammates. He could be seen joking around with backup quarterback Henry Belin IV and describing Elon’s defensive gameplan to running back Al Wooten II, showcasing a command of the game that should encourage Duke football fans.

Murphy also sounds like he has a good sense of humor. At one point, Elon defensive end Ethan Grace hit Murphy right as he let go of a pass. Murphy hit the ground hard on the play, but he had a quip ready for Grace once he popped back up.

“If you wasn’t 235 (pounds), I would have felt that,” Murphy said with a smile.

https://twitter.com/DukeFOOTBALL/status/1831443267038409202

Murphy gets his second crack at the playbook this coming Friday against Northwestern.

Staff predictions for Week 2 matchup between Duke and Northwestern

Duke is gearing up to take on Northwestern on Friday, check out our Duke Wire staff predictions for the game here.

Duke football plays under the Friday night lights again in Week 2, this time on the road against Northwestern in a battle of the brainiacs.

The Wildcats came to Durham last season, and the Blue Devils chased them out of town with a 38-14 win. Running back [autotag]Jaquez Moore[/autotag] managed 61 yards on the ground in just 10 carries, and star wideout [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] amassed 56 receiving yards on five catches.

Now, one year later, those two are the focal points of the Duke offense. Moore reached triple-digits against Elon in Week 1, a 47-yard catch in the third quarter adding an exclamation point to his 112-yard game. Despite some struggles in the ground game, Moore scored the team’s first touchdown of the season.

Both teams bring a new quarterback to this year’s edition, though. [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns in his Duke debut last week. Can he up his game against a Big Ten pass defense?

Here are our staff predictions for the Week 2 contest.

Ryan Haley, Duke Wire site editor

It’s a bit early to call anything on Duke’s schedule a must-win, but this comes as close as a September game can. With Georgia Tech emerging as one of the more complete teams in the conference and Wake Forest transfer quarterback Hank Bachmeier looking exceptionally productive in his Demon Deacons debut, even the weaker games on the conference slate look like fistfights.

Manny Diaz needs all the help he can get to reach six wins, and a 4-0 start would give him great odds. This game is the biggest hurdle to clear of those four, however, and it’s a total mismatch in the trenches for Duke. The Blue Devils averaged less than three yards per carry on the ground last week, and Miami (Ohio) ran for 40 yards on 24 attempts against the Wildcats in Week 1.

So this game will come down to two things: Duke’s defensive line and Maalik Murphy. Luckily, one of those things looked exceptional in Week 1 and the other looked promising.

The Blue Devils compiled eight sacks as a team, leading the entire country, and the Wildcats already averaged less than six yards per attempt. Northwestern quarterback Mike Wright, previously from Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, is mobile enough to escape pressure but historically doesn’t perform well under it, and the Duke front seven is fast enough to keep him from reaching the second level super often.

Northwestern’s pass defense came away with two interceptions last week, raising their total to 15 in 14 games under head coach David Braun. Murphy is a confident passer, but he fired some questionable balls into double coverage against the Phoenix. If Duke loses this game, it’s because he does that again and gets punished for it multiple times, which is well within the range of outcomes. If he only turns the ball once, however, the Duke defensive line and Jordan Moore prove to be too much for the Wildcats.

Duke 17, Northwestern 13

Bryant Crews, Staff Writer

Week 2 of the Manny Diaz era is upon us, and after a relatively stress-free 26-3 win in its first game of the 2024 season, Duke turns the page and turns up the competition.

Diaz and his squad head to the Windy City to take on the Big Ten’s Northwestern Wildcats. Duke and Northwestern will face off in an out-of-conference game for the eighth time over the last ten seasons.

While the Duke offense’s performance in game one wasn’t perfect, they had some opportunities to showcase transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy and their many returning receiver options.

Northwestern is better than Elon, and stylistically, they present a different challenge. They will look to dominate the line of scrimmage and win by running the ball.

Duke’s losses on defense from the previous year will make themselves known this week, but I think Duke has enough offensive talent to overcome it.

Murphy will throw for at least two touchdowns, Jacquez Moore will rush for a touchdown, and we will see a second-half turnover or stop that helps seal the deal for the Blue Devils as they win their first road game this season and move to 2-0.

Duke 24, Northwestern 17

Duke football reaches a bowl game in latest USA TODAY Sports bowl projections

After an easy victory over Elon in Week 1, Duke football stayed within the projected bowl field for USA TODAY Sports.

The Duke Blue Devils started the [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] era with a victory last Friday, a 26-3 win over Elon that featured eight sacks and a career-high 291 passing yards for [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag]. In the eyes of USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith, that was enough to prove some level of competency.

Smith released his updated bowl projections on Tuesday, and the Blue Devils made the Gasparilla Bowl against South Florida.

Smith actually put the Blue Devils in that same exact game ahead of the season, but he pitted Duke against the Florida Gators. After a 41-17 thumping at the hands of Miami, however, there’s obviously a lot less optimism about the Gators reaching the six-win benchmark.

At the start of the season, six wins felt like the exact measuring stick for Diaz’s first season. Despite a tough conference schedule, the Blue Devils got a four-game head start that included two FCS schools and Middle Tennessee. A 3-1 record should be the expected minimum after four weeks.

However, the first week of college football has already thrown a wrench in Duke’s math. Florida State, the defending conference champion, lost its first two games of the season and looks abysmal in the trenches. Georgia Tech, one of the teams who beat the Seminoles, features one of the nation’s most potent rushing attacks. Virginia Tech, a team that seemed poised to make waves with quarterback Kyron Drones, lost to Vanderbilt on the road.

Despite new questions about which games on the schedule are actually the most realistic victories, the projected win total in Durham should remain somewhere around six. Anything less would be disappointing, and anything more would be a warm welcome for Diaz. Smith seems to have confidence in the Blue Devils reaching that benchmark.