Duke head coach Mike Elko watches as the Blue Devils warm up ahead of their season-opener game against Temple at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C., Friday, Sept. 2, 2022.
kmckeown@newsobserver.com
Durham
The Duke Blue Devils will seek to start 3-0 for the first time in four seasons against the NC A&T Aggies at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night.
The Blue Devils (2-0) beat Temple 30-0 and Northwestern 31-23. NC A&T (0-2) lost his opening game 28-13 to rivals NC Central in Charlotte and last week in North Dakota he took a 43-3 blowout.
Duke have won their last nine consecutive games against a Football Championship subdivision team.
News & Observer’s Steve Weisman will be at Wallace Wade Stadium to keep you up to date on all the action.
Leonard strikes again
Duke quarterback Riley Leonard, who already had two touchdown passes in the game, added a 2-yard touchdown run to put NC A&T up 28-3 with 9:41 until halftime. took the lead.
Leonard completed the first 8 passes. This included his 41-yard throw to Samir Hagans that moved the Blues Devils inside his NC A&T 3.
Aggie on board
NC A&T put together their first solid drive of the game, moving 71 yards in 14 plays to reach Duke 5. The drive stalled when Duke’s safety Darius Joyner tackled Warren after he received two yards on third on his down.
The Aggies settled on a 21-yard Andrew Brown field goal to cut Duke’s lead to 21-3 with 13:29 to play in the first half.
Duke’s Big Man TD
The Blue Devils defense joined in on the fun, adding a touchdown to put Duke up 21-0.
A blind side hit by junior defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles and a sack to NC A&T quarterback Jalen Fowler caused a fumble. Blue Devils defensive tackle Dewayne Carter scooped up the ball and ran 35 yards for a touchdown with 6:53 to play in the first quarter.
Blue Devils lead with a double
After scoring quickly on the first possession, Duke turned more methodical to extend the lead to 14-0.
The Blue Devils used a 10-play, 52-yard drive to get to the endzone with 8:12 left in the first quarter when Riley Leonard fired a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Moore.
Leonard is 4-for-4 with 71 yards and two touchdowns on Duke’s first two drives.
A big play quickly raises Duke
The Blue Devils attacked NC A&T and took the lead with an explosive play two seconds into the game.
Jalen Stinson returned 67 yards on the game’s opening kickoff, followed by a Riley Leonard touchdown pass to give Duke a 7-0 lead just 15 seconds into the game.
Leonard’s touchdown pass was 38 yards to tight end Nicky Dalmorin.
pre-match update
Duke will have a new starting linebacker on Saturday night, as Cam Dillon will start in place of injured junior Dorian Mausi.
Mauji, who started the Dukes’ first two games this season, was limited to practice this week with a lower body injury.
Dillon, who graduated from Columbia in his first season with the Blue Devils, has five tackles (three solo) in reserve action so far this season.
pre-match reading
This story was originally published September 17, 2022 at 5:40 p.m.
Steve Wiseman has covered Duke Athletics for the Durham Herald-Sun and Raleigh News & Observer since 2010. He placed second in both beat writing and breaking news in the 2019 Associated Press Sports Editors National Contest. He has worked for the Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi), Charlotte Observer, Hickory (North Carolina) Daily Record, Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints in the NFL, University of South Carolina Track and Field, SC General Assembly. He has won numerous state-level press association awards. Steve graduated from Illinois State University in 1989.
