DURHAM- Duke heads to the road for the first time in 2022 when he travels to Northwestern for a game with the Wildcats at Ryan Field.
Kickoff is scheduled for 12 noon and the game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1.
The Blue Devils lead the all-time series 11-10 and have posted a three-game winning streak over the Wildcats heading into Saturday’s contest. During the team’s last meeting a year ago, a strong first half and strong defense led Duke to beat Northwestern, 30-23 at Brooks Field in Wallace Wade Stadium. attacking player Gunnar Holmbergwide receiver goofy jake and running backwards Mataeo Durant led the offense, becoming the 17th trio in program history to record 300+ receiving yards, 100+ receiving yards, and 100+ rushing yards, respectively, in a single game.
In Duke’s last outing against Temple, the second-year quarterback riley leonard he was 24-for-30 (.800) passing for 328 yards with two touchdowns. The Fairhope, Alabama, native began his second career start with 15 consecutive completions. That mark placed him bound with Ben Bennett Y Thaddeus Lewis for third place all-time in program history for consecutive finishes in a game.
Saturday’s FS1 broadcast will feature Eric Collins and Devin Gardner on the call. The game can also be heard on LEARFIELD’s Blue Devil Sports Network via the Varsity app or goduke.com.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Duke (1-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. Northwestern (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Saturday, September 10, 2022 • 12 noon
Evanston, Ill. • Ryan Field
TV • FS1
RADIO • LEARFIELD Blue Devils Sports Network
GAME NOTES • Duke Notes (PDF) • Northwest Notes
LIVE STATISTICS • NUSports.com
TWITTER • @DukeFOOTBALL
GAME NOTES
Duke has three assistant coaches who were previously on the Northwestern staff: offensive coordinator kevin johnsrunning game coordinator and offensive line coach Adam Cushing and special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Patrick Dougherty. Johns was on the staff from 2004-10 as an assistant running backs coach (2004-05), wide receivers/scouting coordinator (2006-07) and wide receivers/passing game coordinator (2008-10). Cushing was on the staff from 2004-2018 and held the following coaching positions: graduate assistant/offensive line (2004), tight ends/H-backs (2005-07), superbacks/recruiting coordinator (2008), offensive line/ recruiting coordinator (2009-11), and offensive line (2012-18). Dougherty spent the 2013 season as the Wildcats’ linebackers and defensive quality control coach.
Since 1924, the Blue Devils have held an all-time record of 46-50-3 in their first real road game of the year. Duke is 6-4 in its last 10.
Saturday’s game will mark the 22nd on the field of play between the two schools with the series currently in favor of Duke at 11-10. The Blue Devils are trying to make it four in a row over their Big Ten foe, having won in 2017, 2018 and most recently last season.
DUKE IN SEPTEMBER
Duke is 1-0 in the month of September with Elko and 10-5 in the last five years. On the road, the Blue Devils are 4-3 in that span.
NON-CONFERENCE WINS
Over the past 10 years, Duke is 26-7 (.788) regular season and 29-10 (.744) overall against non-conference opponents. In their last 25 non-conference games, Duke is 18-7.
LEONARDO HIGHLIGHTS
Sophomore quarterback riley leonard he’s slowly etching his name into Duke’s record book. During the Blue Devils’ last outing against Temple, Leonard began the contest going 15-for-15 for 239 yards with two touchdowns. His 15 consecutive completions tied him with Ben Bennett Y Thaddeus Lewis for third in school history for most consecutive completions in a single game. Leonard finished the contest 24 of 30 for a career-high 328 yards passing. He currently ranks 16th in the nation in passing efficiency with a mark of 193.8.
That wasn’t the first time Leonard converted on all of his pass attempts to start a game. During his rookie season, the Fairhope, Alabama, native completed 13 of 13 passes for 99 yards against Louisville. He connected with 10 passes in the third quarter to tie for fifth on the lists of freshmen with the most completions in a quarter.
FIRST IN THE RACE
RB junior red jersey jaylen coleman and red shirt freshman WR Sahmir Hagans they scored their first career touchdowns in Duke’s season opener against Temple. Sophomore quarterback Jordan Moore he scored the first receiving score of his career to also help the Blue Devils’ winning effort. Moore now has four total touchdowns after three rushing touchdowns a season ago.
HIGH POWER OFFENSE
Duke totaled 500 yards of offense during his start against Temple. This marked the second consecutive start to the season in which the Blue Devils recorded over 500 yards of offense. Over the past five years, Duke’s offense has recorded 500+ total yards on 10 different occasions, including five times with 600+ yards (607 vs. Kansas, 2021; 645 at Syracuse, 2020; 629 vs. North Carolina, 2018 ; 619 at Pittsburgh, 2018 and 629 vs. NC Central, 2018).
CLEAN SHEET
The Blue Devils were strong defensively against Temple, holding the Owls under 200 yards of total offense, including just 50 yards in the first half alone. The shutout marked Duke’s first since 2015 when they shut out NC Central 55-0 at home. The last time the Blue Devils kept an FBS opponent scoreless was 1989 against North Carolina (W, 41-0) on the road and 1978 against Wake Forest (W, 3-0) at home.
TOTAL DEFENSE
After allowing just 179 yards of total offense, just 3.09 yards per play and no points during his start, Duke ranks 14th in the country in total defense… he’s also in the top 25 in many other defensive categories.
Category Classification Value
T1st Defense Score 0.0
4th Conversion Down Pct Defense T1st 0.0
Red Zone Defense T1st 0.0
Billing Margin 3rd 3.00
Team Pass Efficiency Defense 19 81.30
First defense down T19th 12
Passing Yards Allowed 21 114.0
Hasty Defense 24 65.0
HEYWARD NOTABLES
LB Senior Red Shirt Shaka Heyward has been named a 2022 preseason All-ACC selection by Phil Steele (second team) and Athlon Sports (third team). He has also been placed on Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List and has been named a candidate for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award. In 40 career games (30 starts), Heyward has compiled 251 tackles, 27.0 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, two interceptions, three fumble recoveries, two pass breakups and 11 quarterback pressures. He is 49 tackles away from becoming the 21st player in program history to have more than 300 career tackles on his own. Heyward also has two career sacks from him and three tackles for loss before breaking into the top 15 in Duke lore.
In 2,574 career snaps, he has eight double-digit tackle games, including a career-high 16 stops against North Carolina A&T in 2021, and has 28 games with more than five tackles. He has scored more than four tackles in 29 consecutive contests and is one of two returning starters with more than 2,400 career snaps of his own (jacob monk: 2,474).
NET BOAT
Duke ranks fourth in the county in net punts after posting 98 punt yards on two punts in his second opener against Temple against minus one yard clearance for the Owls.
KICKS WITH HAM
Junior Red T-Shirt charlie ham he’s back as Duke’s primary kicker. Last year, he posted a team-high 74 points on 14-of-20 (.700) shooting from the field and 32-of-32 (1,000) PAT. He also had 55 kickoffs for 3,211 yards (58.38) with 22 touchbacks against two out-of-bounds boots. During his tenure at Blue Devil, Ham put up 155 points on 30 of 41 (.732) FG and 65 of 67 (.970) PAT. Additionally, he has started 89 times for 5,332 yards (59.91) with 33 touchbacks against three out-of-bounds boots.
In Duke’s season opener, Ham hit three FGs of 29, 37 and 38 yards for 12 points. After those points, he became the 17th player in Duke history to accumulate more than 150 career points from him and is currently ranked 15th, one point behind. Shaun Wilson (2014-17) and chris douglas (2000-03). Ham also ranks 10th on Duke’s career charts for most field goals (30), 11th in PATs (65), and has also converted 49 consecutive PATs. The 49 consecutive PAT places him tied with scott mckinney for seventh all-time in the show’s tradition.
#GoDuke
