Duke's renaissance under second-year coach Mike Elko has been borderline shocking.
Duke went 0-8 in the ACC in 2021 and it wasn't pretty in coach David Cutcliffe's last year. Elko turned things around in record time last year, going 9-4 overall and 5-3 in the ACC, and a win over Central Florida in a bowl game.
Duke could get a major test to the maturity of the program if junior star quarterback Riley Leonard can't go due to injury. Winning with the backup quarterback is never easy.
NC State (4-2) travels to play at Duke (4-1) at 8 p.m. Saturday on the ACC Network.
Five Duke players to watch
Senior left tackle Graham Barton
The 6-5, 314-pound Barton started the first four games, but missed the Notre Dame contest with an injury. He is back on the depth chart and expected to tangle with NC State junior defensive end Davin Vann this week. Pro Football Focus has Barton with a 71.6 grade, including 80.3 as a pass blocker, and project him as a NFL first-round draft pick. The Brentwood, Tenn., native was first-team All-ACC in 2022. Rivals.com had him as a three-star prospect in the class of 2020.
Senior defensive tackle DeWayne Carter
The 6-3, 305 fifth-year senior is a disrupter in the middle. He has 15 tackles, one tackle for loss and one fumble recovery this season. The Pickerington, Ohio, native had 36 tackles, 5.5 sacks, three forced fumbles last year. The three-time team captain was second-team All-ACC for his efforts in 2022, and third-team all-league in 2021. Pro Football Focus has Carter with a 73.9 grade, including 74.2 for his pass rush. Rivals.com had him as a three-star prospect.
Redshirt sophomore weakside linebacker Anthony “Tre” Freeman
The former Northern Durham (N.C.) High three-star prospect by Rivals.com leads the Blue Devils in tackles with 34 tackles this season. The 6-0, 231-pounder has 56 career tackles and 1.5 sacks. Freeman had 13 tackles against Notre Dame in a 21-14 loss Sept. 30.
Junior wide receiver Jordan Moore
Moore arrived as a Rivals.com three-star quarterback out of Towson (Md.) Loyola Blakefield. He was used in running packages before becoming a wide receiver fulltime. The 6-0, 195-pounder rushed for 221 yards and three touchdowns in 2021, and then he caught 60 passes for 656 yards and five touchdowns last year. Moore has caught 24 catches for 313 yards and three touchdowns this season.
Quarterback position
Junior quarterback Riley Leonard injured his ankle late in the loss to Notre Dame. He hasn’t been ruled out yet, but it’s a difficult injury to come back from in a short period of time. Leonard has thrown for 912 yards and three touchdowns, and one interception, plus a team-high 326 rushing yards and four scores. Backup Henry Belin, a redshirt freshman, has thrown for 118 yards and one touchdown this season. The 6-3, 210-pounder from New York City was a Rivals.com three-star prospect in the class of 2022.
What to watch for from Duke
1. Balanced offense. Duke’s offense performs best when the running backs provide balance.
For instance, the balance was off in the first half of the Notre Dame loss, and Duke trailed 10-0 at halftime. Running backs Jordan Waters and Jaquez Moore provided a running spark in the second half and that made it easier for the passing game.
The 6-0, 219-pound Waters has rushed 52 times for 303 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Waters is cousins to Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard and former Clemson and NFL linebacker Anthony Waters.
The 5-10 , 201-pound Moore has a nice burst to get upfield and has 42 carries for 235 yards and two scores this season. He had seven carries for 51 yards against the Fighting Irish, and four of the carries came after halftime. He had a nice 34-yard run and a 12-yard run that eventually helped Waters plunge in for a one-yard touchdown for Duke’s first points.
2. Strong defensive line. Duke’s defensive success this season starts with a strong defensive line.
Duke hasn’t allowed more than three touchdowns in a game, including three games of just seven points. That is due to the efforts of senior defensive tackles DeWayne Carter and Notre Dame transfer Ja’Mion Franklin, and defensive ends R.J. Oben and Anthony Nelson, both seniors.
Add in backups like prized redshirt freshman Wesley Williams and sophomore Vincent Anthony at defensive end, along with senior defensive tackles Aeneas Peebles and redshirt sophomore Aaron Hall.
Peebles, who went to Knightdale (N.C.) High, actually leads the defensive line with 16 tackles and two sacks. Carter is behind him with 15 and Franklin is a load at 6-2 and 309 pounds and has 10 stops.
3. Whoever is quarterback can run. Junior quarterback Riley Leonard is definitely a quality runner, and his backup might have potential in that area as well.
Leonard leads Duke with 47 carries for 326 yard and four touchdowns, so his presence will definitely be missed if he can’t play Saturday in that regard.
Redshirt freshman Henry Belin attended Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx, N.Y., and is the son of a former Vanderbilt football player of the same name. Belin threw for around 6,000 yards and 55 touchdowns in high school, but the 6-3, 210-pounder also rushed 90 times for 593 yard and 13 scores in his prep career.
NC State will likely blitz both quarterbacks at a good rate, but Belin probably a little bit more.
Three keys to the game for NC State football
1. The Wolfpack offense brought out a few new wrinkles with sophomore MJ Morris at quarterback.
NC State freshman wide receiver Kevin Concepcion and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Julian Gray both had several plays called for them that some would call “pop passes.” Essentially, it was like getting a handoff on a jet sweep or reverse, but counted as passes. It helped inflate Morris’ passing statistics, but it also showed renewed hope for the Wolfpack’s run game as the offensive line did the work on the pop passes.
Concepcion had eight catches for 102 yards and two scores, and Gray had three catches for seven yards.
The other wrinkle that worked for whatever reasons is that senior tight end Trent Pennix got loose on two huge plays for touchdowns. Pennix ran a nice route to get free for a 39-yard touchdown and then found himself wide open against a blown coverage for a 62-yard score.
Duke will surely look to defend the pop passes and concentrate on Pennix a little bit more. That doesn’t mean NC State still can’t succeed incorporating both wrinkles, and perhaps add some new things from the playbook.
2. NC State was able to get a semblance of a running game going against Marshall, which could be due in part to having a healthier offensive line.
NC State had redshirt junior center Dylan McMahon return from injury and that helped settle the line. Both sophomore Michael Allen and redshirt junior Delbert Mimms had some nice runs, including Allen going for a season-best 37-yard touchdown. They combined for 24 carries for 135 yards and two scores against Marshall.
Allen is averaging 5.5 yards per carry on 38 rushing attempts, and Mimms, who has been the short-yardage back this season for NC State, is averaging 3.4 yards on 46 carries.
Opposing teams are averaging 4.0 yards per carry and 138.2 rushing yards per game against Duke this season. Clemson rushed 40 times for 213 yards in the 28-7 season-opening loss. Notre Dame tallied 32 carries for 159 yards and two scores in the Fighting Irish’s win.
3. Duke showed some signs of weakness on special teams against Notre Dame with kicker Todd Pelino missing a 38-yard and a 25-yard field goal.
Combine that with ND freshman running back Jeremiyah Love succeeding on a fake punt. Notre Dame went for it on fourth and four at the Duke 47-yard line, and Love rushed 34 yards. Two plays later, the Fighting Irish scored a touchdown.
Pelino not adding six points in the first half made things difficult in Duke’s 21-14 loss. Pelino has gone 5 of 9 on field goals with a long of 50, and went 8 of 9 on field goals in 2022.
NC State had a few kicking issues against Marshall — two poor kickoffs and a shanked punt — but that is out of character for the Wolfpack. NC State should win this matchup thanks to redshirt sophomore kick returner Julian Gray averaging 30.2 yards per return, and redshirt sophomore punt returner Jalen Coit is averaging 15.1 yards on punts.
NCSU senior kicker Brayden Narveson has gone 7 of 9 on field goals, and redshirt sophomore punter Caden Noonkester is averaging 42.5 yards on 33 punts with a long of 67.
Three numbers of note
12 Duke has won the turnover battle in 12 of its 18 games under coach Mike Elko and has scored 115 points off those turnovers — 15 touchdowns, three field goals and one two-point conversion.
19 Starters returning from last year for the Blue Devils — nine on offense, eight on defense and two on special teams.
162 Career starts for Duke's projected staring lineup on the offensive line. They have played in 200 career games.
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