Tag: maalik murphy

When was the last time the Duke Blue Devils football team started 5-0?

Beating North Carolina always matters in Durham, but the Blue Devils can get off to their first 5-0 start in decades with a Saturday win.

The Duke football team will try to beat the North Carolina Tar Heels for the first time in five years on Saturday, but there’s a larger piece of program history up for grabs as well.

After starting the year with four consecutive wins, the Blue Devils could get off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 1994.

That season, the first under head coach Fred Goldsmith, actually started with seven consecutive wins. The Blue Devils began the year with a 49-16 win over Maryland in Week 1, their first of five games with at least 40 points. Highsmith and his team beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Clemson Tigers, and Wake Forest Demon Deacons during their torrid start.

Unfortunately, the momentum reversed in a big way over the final month. Duke lost to the Florida State Seminoles and the North Carolina Tar Heels as part of a 1-4 closing stretch, ending up with only eight wins.

Running back Robert Baldwin powered a lot of that season, ending the year with 1,187 rushing yards (the third-most in school history) and 12 touchdowns (the fifth-most in a single season). Wide receiver Corey Thomas also caught eight touchdowns, the seventh-most by a Blue Devils wideout in a single year.

First-year head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] and his roster make their play at history at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday.

If Duke football wants to beat North Carolina again, it’s now or never

The Duke Blue Devils haven’t beaten North Carolina on the football field since 2018, but they’ll never have a better chance than Saturday.

The Duke football team hasn’t beaten the North Carolina Tar Heels in five years, but the Blue Devils have an ideal chance to shift the power balance in Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday.

Legendary head coach Mack Brown took over the UNC program in 2019, and Duke has lost to him in each game since.

The recent trend gets even more frustrating upon closer examination with three of those losses coming by three points or fewer. The Blue Devils took North Carolina all the way to double overtime in Chapel Hill last fall before a failed two-point conversion foiled the upset bid.

On Saturday, however, Duke looked much steadier than its in-state counterpoint. The Blue Devils walloped Middle Tennessee 45-17 thanks to three first-half fumbles while UNC gave up 53 first-half points in a stunning upset at the hands of James Madison.

Brown apparently even asked his players if he should step away from the team after the 70-50 loss, a comment he clarified did not mean he was on the brink of retirement but seems to indicate some instability in the locker room.

Even besides the general form, North Carolina looks like it’s missing something critical from the last five seasons: an NFL talent at quarterback.

Sam Howell started for the Tar Heels from 2019-21, throwing for more than 10,000 yards and 92 touchdowns in his three years at the helm. He threw for at least 220 yards with multiple touchdowns in all three games against the Blue Devils, culminating in a 321-yard, three-touchdown game in 2021.

Drake Maye followed in his footsteps and somehow looked even better. The 6-foot-4 slinger threw for 4,321 yards and 38 touchdowns in his first season as a starter, and he finished with 364 total yards and three touchdowns in last year’s overtime thriller.

Howell ended up as a fifth-round NFL draft pick, playing 18 games for the Washington Commanders between 2022-23, while Maye went to the New England Patriots with the third overall pick earlier this year. Between their five starts against Duke, the duo completed 61.4% of their passes at a staggering 9.06 yards per attempt, averaging more than 300 passing yards per game with 15 total touchdowns against just four interceptions.

UNC quarterback Jacolby Criswell threw for 475 yards and three touchdowns against the Dukes on Saturday, but he also tossed two interceptions. He seems to have won the job after sophomore Conner Harrell started against Charlotte in Week 2, but the Tar Heels split time between them against NC Central in Week 3. That’s three different approaches to the quarterback position in three weeks.

Combine that with a Duke pass defense allowing 4.2 yards per attempt with more interceptions than touchdowns allowed through four games, and the Blue Devils should have the blueprint to make UNC one-dimensional. Granted, that’s still a great dimension with running back Omarion Hampton, but it’s better than the exhausting effort of defending Maye and Howell for the last half-decade.

The passing advantage extends to the other side of the ball as well. UNC has given up at least 300 yards through the air in two of its first four games. James Madison’s 388 yards and five touchdowns were an aberration, but the Charlotte 49ers threw for 309 yards and two scores against this secondary.

Through four weeks, Duke ranks second in the ACC in pass attempts per game with 36.0. First-year starter [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] has thrown 11 touchdowns in his first 16 quarters with the team, the third-most in the conference so far this season, and senior wideout [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] is within the top five in catches (24) and yards (340) despite a quiet game against MTSU.

Between the general vibes around this UNC program after last week and a vulnerable pass defense playing into Duke’s strengths, it’s no wonder the Blue Devils opened as 3-point favorites on Monday. However, those advantages bring expectations, and there’s no reason for head coach Manny Diaz to not get off to a 5-0 start.

Duke kicks off against the Tar Heels at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, and Blue Devils fans can watch their team try to make a statement on ESPN2.

Duke football receives 14 votes in latest US LBM Coaches Poll after 4-0 start

With four wins in their first four games under Manny Diaz, the Blue Devils received more than a dozen votes in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

USA TODAY Sports released the updated US LBM Coaches Poll on Sunday, and for the first time all season, the Blue Devils appeared in the Receiving Votes category.

Duke defeated Middle Tennessee 45-17 on Saturday, forcing three fumbles in the first quarter with three more passing touchdowns from quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag]. Tight end Nicky Dalmolin more than doubled his previous career high with a 100-yard, two-touchdown game, and running back Star Thomas put together his second straight 100-yard performance.

The Miami Hurricanes moved up two more spots to ninth after a 50-15 win over South Florida, again holding fast as the top-ranked ACC team. The Clemson Tigers made a comfortable jump up to 15th after a 59-35 blowout win over NC State, their second straight win after a disappointing Week 1, and the Louisville Cardinals rose three spots to No. 17.

After a 70-50 blowout loss to James Madison, the North Carolina Tar Heels dropped out of the Receiving Votes section entirely.

Check out the full US LBM Coaches Poll for Week 4 below.

Ranking Team Record Points
1 Georgia Bulldogs 3-0 1,350 (35)
2 Texas Longhorns 4-0 1,324 (18)
3 Ohio State Buckeyes 3-0 1,279 (2)
4 Alabama Crimson Tide 3-0 1,185
5 Ole Miss Rebels 4-0 1,145
6 Tennessee Volunteers 4-0 1,094
7 Oregon Ducks 3-0 1,016
8 Penn State Nittany Lions 3-0 967
9 Miami Hurricanes 4-0 912
10 Utah Utes 4-0 904
11 Missouri Tigers 4-0 887
12 Michigan Wolverines 3-1 692
13 LSU Tigers 3-1 632
14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 3-1 553
15 Clemson Tigers 2-1 542
16 USC Trojans 2-1 520
17 Louisville Cardinals 3-0 509
18 Oklahoma Sooners 3-1 404
19 Iowa State Cyclones 3-0 386
20 Oklahoma State Cowboys 3-1 326
21 Illinois Fighting Illini 4-0 307
22 BYU Cougars 4-0 167
23 UNLV Rebels 3-0 124
24 Texas A&M Aggies 3-1 119
25 Kansas State Wildcats 3-1 116

Dropped Out

No. 22 Nebraska Cornhuskers, No. 23 Memphis Tigers

Receiving Votes

Washington State 94; Indiana 67; Pittsburgh 50; Boise State 42; UCF 35; Iowa 34; Arizona 16; Boston College 15; Duke 14; James Madison 13; Nebraska 7; Washington 6; Rutgers 5; Colorado 5; SMU 4; South Carolina 2; Navy 2; Liberty 2; Arkansas 2

Maalik Murphy remains well ahead of pace for this Duke football record

He’s only played four games with the Duke Blue Devils, but quarterback Maalik Murphy is nearly halfway to this single-season school record.

Duke quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] is going to break the school record for single-season passing touchdowns at some point this year.

The first-year starter finished with 216 yards and three touchdowns against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, his third straight game with three touchdown passes. The former Texas Longhorn has now put 11 scoring passes on the board through four games, nearly halfway to the single-season school record.

Anthony Dilweg threw 24 touchdown passes back in 1988, a total no Blue Devils quarterback has matched in the 36 years since. In fact, a Duke starting quarterback has only thrown for 20 touchdowns in a single season eight times.

As of Sunday morning, Murphy would finish the 12-game regular season with 33 passing touchdowns. He wouldn’t just break Dilweg’s record at this pace, he’d break it with three full games left to play.

Murphy has also thrown for 1,017 yards through four games, putting him on pace for 3,051 passing yards at the end of the regular season. That’d be the sixth-highest total in Duke history. The Blue Devils clearly want to live through the air, evidenced by 143 pass attempts through Week 4, and that gives the former four-star prospect plenty of room to rewrite Blue Devils history.

Murphy and his Duke teammates host a North Carolina defense that just gave up more than 600 total yards and five passing touchdowns to James Madison next Saturday to open the conference schedule.

The best photos from Duke football’s Week 4 victory over Middle Tennessee

Check out the best photos from Duke’s delayed 45-17 victory over Middle Tennessee on Saturday.

The Duke Blue Devils won yet again on Saturday, this time with their most dominant performance yet.

Duke beat Middle Tennessee 45-17 on the road thanks to a commanding game from the defense. The Blue Devils forced four turnovers on their opponent’s side of the field, including three fumbles in the first 15 minutes, and finished with six sacks and 12 tackles for loss. Once sack yardage is factored in, the Blue Raiders only managed 87 net passing yards on 41 plays.

Maalik Murphy, the former Texas Longhorn and first-year Duke starter, did not struggle in a similar fashion. He finished Week 4 with 216 passing yards and three touchdowns, his third straight game with three scoring passes. Tight end Nicky Dalmolin started the game with a 71-yard catch-and-run into the end zone, part of a 100-yard, two-touchdown game for the graduate student.

Here are the best photos of the Blue Devils from their third win of the season.

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 quarterback Maalik Murphy finds Nicky Dalmolin for longest touchdown of the season

The Duke offense needed only two plays to score against Middle Tennessee after Maalik Murphy found tight end Nicky Dalmolin for a 71-yard touchdown.

Duke football entered Saturday’s game against Middle Tennessee hoping to take advantage of the Blue Raiders’ bottom-ranked pass defense, and it didn’t take quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] long to do exactly that.

On the second play of Duke’s first drive, tight end Nicky Dalmolin found a seam to sneak behind the MTSU secondary. Murphy threw the ball over everybody’s head to the graduate student, who raced 71 yards to the end zone for Duke’s longest touchdown of the season.

Dalmolin actually caught both of Murphy’s pass attempts on the 75-yard touchdown drive, and the catch was his first trip to the end zone since 2022. He’d only racked up 42 yards between the first three games of the season.

The opening score was also Murphy’s ninth touchdown pass of the year, continuing the first-year starter’s march into the school record books. No Duke quarterback has ever thrown more than 24 touchdowns in a season, a mark Murphy looks destined to break as of Saturday.

https://twitter.com/DukeFOOTBALL/status/1837586685053325594

Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy is among the ACC leaders in this PFF advanced metric

Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy has looked inconsistent through his three games, but according to PFF, he’s one of the ACC’s best at this stat.

Duke quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] has certainly left some plays on the table through his first three games in a Blue Devils uniform. However, according to Pro Football Focus, the former Texas Longhorn has countered those slumps with some of the best throws in the ACC.

Through Week 3 of the college football season, PFF credits Murphy with eight big-time throws. Among ACC starters, only Miami quarterback Cam Ward, one of the top contenders for the Heisman Trophy, has thrown more, and even he has only managed nine.

In all fairness, part of this stems from the fact that Murphy leads the conference with 122 passing attempts so far in 2024. After all, he’s needed to lead fourth-quarter comebacks in each of the past two weeks. However, even from a percentage standpoint, his big-time throw rate of 6.2% is still sixth among ACC quarterbacks.

Even the most frustrated Duke fans have gotten a taste of Murphy’s ceiling through non-conference play. He dropped a perfect pass in the bucket to Jordan Moore on the first overtime possession against Northwestern, a 25-yard strike on the opening play of the drive. He found Moore for a 45-yard play immediately against UConn, and his back-shoulder touchdown pass to Que’Sean Brown last Saturday might be his best play of the season.

https://twitter.com/DukeFOOTBALL/status/1835122939852886036

While questions remain about the efficiency of Duke’s downfield passing attack, Blue Devils fans should be satisfied in knowing that Murphy’s arm talent looks as advertised.

Can Duke’s deep passing attack finally come together in Week 4?

The Duke offense talked all season about wanting to attack downfield in 2024, and the Blue Devils have certainly tried through three games.

First-year Duke offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer did warn everyone, to be fair.

The Blue Devils said all offseason that they wanted to move quickly and throw the ball aggressively, and that game plan always included plenty of deep passes.

According to Pro Football Focus tracking, quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] has thrown 24 passes more than 20 yards downfield through the first three games of the season. Not only is that the most in the ACC, but Wake Forest’s Hank Bachmeier is the only other quarterback with 20 such attempts.

However, despite the frequency of those shots, the Blue Devils remain on different pages. Murphy only connected six of those 24 passes for a 25% completion percentage. Of the 14 quarterbacks in the conference with 10 deep attempts, only Stanford’s Ashton Daniels (20%) has been worse.

The end result is a deep passing game averaging 8.0 yards per attempt, the third-worst mark in the ACC.

The blame doesn’t entirely lie on Murphy for that inefficiency. Most of his throws end up only missing their mark by a yard or two, which could just as easily be a tracking issue with the wide receivers. He’s bounced countless balls off of the outstretched fingers of his teammates, showing that the difference between those previous stats and some truly gaudy numbers is minuscule.

However, ACC play grows closer by the week, and the Duke offense still hasn’t made tangible progress toward precision. Murphy found Jordan Moore for a 45-yard gain on the opening possession against Connecticut, and Eli Pancol broke free for a 36-yard touchdown in the second quarter against the Huskies. But UConn erased that 17-point lead last Saturday partially because the accuracy issues reared their head again in the third quarter, slowing the Duke offense to a halt.

Moore and Murphy have looked a little disconnected at times, but part of the problem could be the lack of other deep threats on the roster. Outside of Pancol’s 36-yard score against the Huskies, Murphy has completed one of six deep attempts. Moore, conversely, has been targeted 13 times.

Duke travels to Middle Tennessee for its final non-conference tune-up of the year, and the Blue Raiders have given up more than 380 yards per game through the air. That’s such a ridiculous total that only one other FBS team sits within 50 years of MTSU right now.

If the Blue Devils look choppy again down the field, it’s time for some new approaches in practice before a home game against the North Carolina Tar Heels.

The three Duke football keys to victory against Middle Tennessee State

Before Duke’s Saturday game against Middle Tennessee, our Bryant Crews broke down three keys to a Blue Devils victory.

[autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] and his Duke Blue Devils have made the trip from Durham to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as they prepare themselves for their final non-conference test of the season against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.

Diaz and a few members of this Duke staff are no strangers to Murfreesboro. Diaz landed his first-ever defensive coordinator role there, a four-year stint from 2006-09, and he worked with multiple of his current assistants in that time.

Diaz’s tenure at MTSU catapulted him into SEC and Big 12 jobs, eventually leading to his first head coaching gig at Miami. Saturday will likely be an emotional day for Diaz, but Duke is one win away from going 4-0 before they turn their attention to their biggest rival, the North Carolina Tar Heels, next weekend.

Duke has the talent advantage, but the Blue Raiders aren’t a pushover. Duke will need to play a clean game, or they could certainly end up on upset alert.

A win is never guaranteed, but here are three key players who would help Duke put itself in position to leave Tennessee with its fourth win of the season on Saturday.

Where’s the balance?

Duke’s best method of attacking defenses in 2024 comes through the air. Partly, that’s to be expected, right? Jonathan Brewer, Duke’s offensive coordinator, has his roots firmly planted in the Air Raid system from his time at SMU under Sonny Dykes, another Air Raid disciple.

However, being an Air Raid team doesn’t mean running the ball is off the table, and Duke could and should find lanes to run the rock against an MTSU team that likely spent all week preparing for this passing attack. If Duke can use the run effectively, the Blue Devils should be able to put a team currently giving up 159 rushing yards per game on its heels.

Stay solid

Duke’s best defensive unit is its veteran secondary. It’s the most experienced position group on the defense with four starting upperclassmen and, pound-for-pond, probably the most talented group as well.

Like Duke, MTSU is looking to pass the ball. The Blue Raiders have thrown for more than 300 yards per game so far this season. The primary target for the Blue Raiders, Auburn Tigers transfer wide receiver Omari Kelly, leads his new team with 14 catches for 285 yards and three touchdowns. Tight end Holden Willis also has double-digit catches (12) and should not be taken lightly.

Duke has the corners to match up and the safeties to avoid getting beat deep, but if that unit has a bad day, there’s a real chance Duke will lose this ballgame.

Keep Maalik Murphy locked in

Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy has been a terrific transfer for the Blue Devils. He has completed 64% of his passes for 801 yards, eight touchdowns, and only three interceptions. He can still improve, and he knows that, but the talent has been showcased, and he gives Duke a chance to win every time he steps on the field.

The only downside to his performance so far has been the spurts at which the consistency of his play fluctuates. He’ll be dangerous for two drives and then wildly inaccurate for a third, which sometimes lets the whole offense stagnate and lose control of games. Then, Murphy will suddenly reel it in and look like a truly gifted talent once again.

The highs and lows are hard to deal with, but until Duke finds that consistency, Murphy may not be able to showcase how talented they are, and that could cost them a game or two. So far, they’ve managed, but they’ll need to mitigate that during their second true road game of the season.