Tag: Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

Duke true freshman Preston Watson records first career sack in Week 4

Preston Watson, a three-star true freshman and one of Duke’s top-ranked Class of 2024 signees, recorded his first career sack on Saturday.

The Duke defensive line dominated the Middle Tennessee offense on Saturday, and the future of the Blue Devils made their presence felt.

Preston Watson, a three-star defensive tackle from the Class of 2024, recorded his first career sack when he teamed with Kevin O’Connor to take down MTSU quarterback Nicholas Vattiato in the third quarter.

Watson, playing in his third straight game, also recorded his first two collegiate tackles against the Blue Raiders.

The 6-foot-1 Florida native was the No. 98 defensive tackle in his class, according to 247Sports, and the site ranked him as the fourth-best signee in Duke’s 2024 class.

With team captain Aaron Hall and Liberty transfer Kendy Charles dominating in the interior, combining for 19 total tackles and 7.5 TFLs through four games, but head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] wants to rotate in as many contributors as he can along the trenches. Whether his role expands as the season goes on or he becomes a force in 2025 and beyond, Saturday was an encouraging sign for the future.

More college football fans should be talking about Duke linebacker Alex Howard

Youngstown State transfer Alex Howard has anchored the Duke defense through the first four games, and he deserves more credit for it.

He might not get the love for it yet, but Duke linebacker Alex Howard has been one of the best defensive players in the ACC through four weeks of the 2024 college football season.

Howard led the Blue Devils with eight total tackles against Middle Tennessee, bringing himself to 36 on the season. He made 3.5 of them behind the line of scrimmage, adding to his team-leading 8.5 tackles for loss. He even tacked on 1.5 sacks to give himself 3.0 of those for the season (you’re never going to believe this, but that’s also the most on the team).

The Youngstown State transfer isn’t just the leading Blue Devil in all three categories. He’s the only ACC defensive player with 35 tackles. eight tackles for loss, and three sacks so far in 2024.

Howard put together his first great performance against Northwestern in Week 2 when he made 14 tackles and 2.5 TFLs. He didn’t just rack up tackles downfield after broken plays, either, as more than half of his stops came within five yards of the line of scrimmage.

He proved himself as an asset in run defense, fitting gaps and making tackles when he made contact, and in pass protection thanks to his ability to read a quarterback’s eyes. If the Wildcats threw a pass around the line of scrimmage, Howard was already heading in that direction by the time the ball was in the air.

The first-year Blue Devil has used his talents each week with at least seven tackles in all four games. He’s made at least two tackles for loss in three games, and he’s been an essential part of a Duke pass defense allowing fewer than 4.3 yards per attempt this season.

Howard gets his chance to earn those headlines in Week 5 when the Blue Devils host North Carolina. The Blue Devils haven’t beaten the Tar Heels since 2018, and a win would move Duke to 5-0 before a road trip to Georgia Tech. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you if he becomes a First Team All-ACC heavyweight.

Through four games, no one can throw the ball against the Duke Blue Devils

The Duke Blue Devils have held every opposing quarterback under 4.6 yards per attempt through the first four games of the year.

Through the first four weeks of the college football season, nobody has an answer for the Duke pass defense.

Middle Tennessee quarterback Nicholas Vattiato, fresh off a 456-yard performance against Western Kentucky, managed just 127 yards on 33 attempts against the Blue Devils.

He became the fourth straight quarterback that Duke has held under five yards per attempt, and no offense has thrown for more than 156 yards against first-year head coach Manny Diaz, defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke, and their experienced secondary. Through Week 4, the Blue Devils are giving up just 132.0 yards per game and 4.2 yards per attempt through the air with more interceptions (three) than passing touchdowns allowed (two).

Any nightmarish defense starts in the trenches, and it seems like Diaz and his staff assembled one of the best four-man fronts in the conference. Duke sacked Vattiato five times and backup quarterback Roman Gagliano once, boosting the team total to 15 for the year.

Edge rusher Wesley Williams notched two sacks and a forced fumble by himself on Saturday, and he’s now one of three Duke defenders with at least 2.5 sacks in 2024. Liberty transfer Kendy Charles and team captain Aaron Hall disrupted the MTSU offense constantly from the defensive interior, combining for four tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

If you factor in sack yardage, the Blue Raiders finished Saturday’s game with 87 net passing yards.

Even if an opponent reaches the second level, Youngstown State transfer linebacker Alex Howard waits for them. One of the most unheralded stars in the Power Four this season, Howard led the team with eight tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss on Saturday.

Even when that pass rush doesn’t get home, however, the vice grip of this experienced secondary doesn’t loosen. Starting defensive backs Chandler Rivers, Joshua Pickett, Jaylen Stinson, and Terry Moore are all upperclassmen with starting experience, and each one has already made multiple game-changing plays. Pickett has broken up five passes, Moore has two interceptions, and Rivers forced a fumble against Connecticut one week after a huge open-field tackle for loss in overtime against Northwestern.

Between that veteran discipline and a deep pass-rush rotation, it’s hard to find the answers for opponents even with conference play on the horizon. Five of the team’s eight ACC opponents already average fewer than 230 yards per game through the air, including the North Carolina Tar Heels. If Duke can maintain this form, it could be the difference between six wins and eight.

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.

Star Thomas looks like a lead running back for Duke football

After his second consecutive 100-yard game on the ground, Duke running back Star Thomas looks like he can carry the ground game.

Through two weeks, the biggest question about the Duke offense pertained to whether or not any Blue Devil could step forward as the lead tailback.

The offense managed just 152 yards on the ground between the first two games with one touchdown and no carries longer than 12 yards. Senior [autotag]Jaquez Moore[/autotag], who amassed 674 yards last season, left the Week 2 game against Northwestern with an injury, and the Blue Devils risked becoming completely one-dimensional without him.

Turns out, New Mexico State transfer [autotag]Star Thomas[/autotag] just needed a little more time with the team.

Thomas ran for 122 yards against Connecticut in Week 3, his first 100-yard game with the Blue Devils, and he reached triple digits again against Middle Tennessee on Saturday. He scored two touchdowns against the Blue Raiders as part of a 111-yard performance, and between the last eight quarters, he’s now rattled off five 20-yard runs.

Between Weeks 3 and 4, Thomas gained 233 yards on 39 attempts for an average of 6.0 yards per carry, and the first-year Blue Devil has 314 yards on the season through Week 4. No other player on the roster has more than 88.

Even visually, Thomas has looked much more effective over the last two games. He always had the burst for big gains and the power to stay upright through contact, but he’s choosing rushing lanes more decisively and brushing off more and more tackles with each game. He offers an excellent blend of patience and acceleration, able to wait an extra half-beat for the defensive picture to become clear while also taking off the second he finds a gap.

Combine that increased comfort with an offensive line playing more and more games together, and the arrow is pointing up for the Blue Devils rushing game.

Duke tight end Nicky Dalmolin gets first career 100-yard game against MTSU

Duke tight end Nicky Dalmolin, in his fifth season with the Blue Devils, more than doubled his previous career-high on Saturday.

Duke tight end Nicky Dalmolin hadn’t even come close to a game like Saturday over the previous four years.

Through the graduate student’s first four seasons and three games with the Blue Devils, he’d never finished with more than 40 yards. He actually set that mark just two weeks ago against Northwestern, breaking his previous career-high of 38 yards from a game against North Carolina A&T in 2022.

Then, on the second offensive play of the game against Middle Tennessee, he ran past the entire MTSU defense for a 71-yard touchdown. He caught a pass on the previous play, too, giving him all 75 yards on the possession and his first scoring play since November 2022.

The career day continued from there with a seven-yard scoring catch later in the first quarter, his first two-touchdown game with the Blue Devils. He tacked on an 18-yard reception in the second quarter to reach 100 yards for the first time in a Duke uniform.

Dalmolin didn’t catch a pass in the second half, but it didn’t make a dent in the best day of his career. No other Blue Devil finished with more than 34 receiving yards, and the fifth-year tight end now has 142 yards for the season.

His best collegiate campaign came in 2022 when he caught 21 passes for 170 yards. With eight games left on the schedule, he seems like a sure bet to break that yardage mark.

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

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.