First, coach Mike Elko turned Duke’s culture completely around, giving them belief in themselves and a competitive edge, and then their confidence and swagger.
And now, a game into his second season at the helm, he has led the Blue Devils to their biggest win in years, a stunning upset of ninth-ranked and preseason Atlantic Coast Conference favorite Clemson.
Quarterback Riley Leonard broke free from a tackler and sprinted to the open for a 44-yard touchdown that highlighted Duke’s bruising and physical performance to beat the Tigers 28-7 in Monday night’s season opener for both teams.
Jaquez Moore added a 9-yard scoring run by beating multiple defenders to the near pylon on the right side in the fourth quarter for the Blue Devils (1-0, 1-0 ACC). That gave them an unexpected two-touchdown lead in a game they largely controlled from the second quarter on, in spite of a number of head-scratching mistakes, notably a muffed punt that led to Clemson’s only touchdown of the night and a fumble on a drive nearing the red zone before halftime.
“It’s important on the outside, because I think it makes people believe a little bit more what we’ve been saying since the day I got here,” Duke’s second-year coach said. “What we’ve been saying internally is this is what Duke football is capable of. We’ve never ever wavered from that at all.”
By the end of the game, Duke students, who are infamous for their rowdy “Cameron Crazies” antics at men’s basketball games were part of a group of fans running to midfield to celebrate as the final seconds ticked away. Elko was overcome with excitement, broke into a big smile and jogged toward midfield with both arms raised in the air, pointing skyward.
“I’m kind of at a loss for words right now,” Leonard said.
On this night, Duke held up three times using their bend but don’t break defense, after Clemson had pushed inside the 10-yard line, even to the 1 on two of those series, to hold the Tigers scoreless.
The Blue Devils blocked a pair of field goals and twice recovered fumbles in those crucial near-the-goal-line moments and did not give up massive chunks of big-play yardage in Clemson’s first game with new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
“We work out in the summer and train, too,” Duke defensive tackle DeWayne Carter said. “We condition, too.”
Meanwhile, the preseason ACC favorite often looked very lethargic, like they had never played together before, as the Tigers (0-1, 0-1) fell to Duke for the first time since 2004.
“We’re not entitled to win,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We’ve got to go earn it. And we had plenty of opportunity to get control of that game on multiple occasions and we just didn’t. And that’s how you get beat.”
By the final minutes, when the game was decided, there was the unusual sight of Clemson trying to keep the chains moving and build toward any type of miracle comeback. There was also the sight of the opponent celebrating with the defiant swagger Clemson has shown in so many of these moments on the way to seven of the past eight ACC championships.
When Duke’s Dorian Mausi had an interception with about 5 minutes left to play, multiple Duke defenders waved goodbye toward the Clemson bench as orange-clad fans who packed into Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium streamed for the exits.
That gave Duke’s students and fans a license to celebrate in an atmosphere growing ever more festive as the clock wound down toward zero.
Jordan Waters added a punctuating moment by breaking loose for a 36-yard scoring run with 3:15 left in the final frame, to turn the game into a blowout. And it ended Duke’s 28-game losing streak to top-10 opponents, the last win coming, ironically, against then-No. 7 Clemson in 1989.
Cade Klubnik threw for a short touchdown to running back Will Shipley in the second quarter for Clemson’s only score on a day that repeatedly left Swinney shaking his head in disbelief (after a second blocked kick) or wiping his forehead (after a fourth-quarter fumble at the goal line) in frustration on the sideline.
Clemson: Riley’s arrival after helping TCU make last year’s national-championship game was supposed to provide a jolt for the Klubnik-led offense. The Tigers finished with 422 total yards with balance of cracking 200 yards both on the ground and through the air, but they repeatedly fell short in critical moments while stumbling into massive mistakes.
Duke: Elko took over a program that had seen its winning edge fade away into the background in the final years of David Cutcliffe’s long and successful tenure. He found immediate success with nine wins, including a bowl victory, in Year 1 after Duke had won 10 games in the three previous seasons. And now, this.
The Tigers have likely sent themselves free falling, or even out of, Tuesday’s new poll with this showing. But the Blue Devils could be in line to crack the rankings for the first time since 2018.
No top-10 team has lost an opener to an unranked team by 11or more points since at least 2000. Clemson had eclipsed double figures in scoring in 72 straight ACC games before Monday.
And the Tigers fell to 58-1 when having at least 200 yards on the ground and passing under Swinney.
Clemson: The Tigers return home to host Charleston Southern from the Big South Conference on Saturday.
Duke: The Blue Devils host a nonconference game against Lafayette from the Patriot League on Saturday.
