By The Tobacco Road Scribe
Durham, NC – Duke did not unveil its new season with an offensive spectacle Saturday evening. It offered something more elemental and, perhaps, more revealing.
The Blue Devils handed the football to Nate Sheppard, controlled the line of scrimmage and challenged Tulane to stop a running game that became more imposing as the afternoon stretched into evening. Tulane never found an answer.
Sheppard rushed for a career-high 227 yards and two touchdowns on 35 carries, and Duke’s defense kept Tulane out of the end zone in a 17-3 victory at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. The performance gave the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion a methodical, physical season-opening win after severe weather delayed kickoff by 90 minutes.
“It’s an identity win in terms of how we play to our strengths,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said afterward. “We knew who we were. We were able to impose our will on a football team, with them on both lines of scrimmage.”
That identity was visible from Duke’s first possession. The Blue Devils drove 75 yards in 17 plays, consumed 9 minutes, 53 seconds and scored on Sheppard’s 9-yard run. They closed the game in much the same fashion, answering Tulane’s only points with another 75-yard drive that lasted nearly seven minutes and ended with Sheppard crossing the goal line from 14 yards.
Between those two drives, Duke relied on defense, patience and the knowledge that its most reliable offensive player could continue carrying an extraordinary workload.
The Blue Devils finished with 250 rushing yards, limited Tulane to 54 on the ground and possessed the ball for 36:35. They recorded 20 first downs to Tulane’s 10 and ran 77 offensive plays, 21 more than the Green Wave.
It was not flawless football. Duke struggled to throw the ball consistently, converted only one of four fourth-down attempts and lost a fumble in the third quarter. But the Blue Devils never trailed, did not surrender a touchdown and answered decisively when Tulane reduced the lead to seven points early in the fourth quarter.
For a team opening the season with a new starting quarterback and the expectations that accompany a conference championship, that was enough.
A delayed beginning, then a punishing opening drive
The season was scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m., but lightning and severe weather in the Durham area forced spectators and both teams to wait. Kickoff finally arrived at 5 p.m., with the temperature listed at 93 degrees and an announced crowd of 16,113 inside Wallace Wade Stadium.
Once play began, Duke established its intentions without ambiguity.
Tulane received the opening kickoff and moved from its 25-yard line to the Duke 45 before the Blue Devils forced a punt. Duke then took possession at its own 25 and began a drive that served as both an opening statement and an early test of Tulane’s endurance.
The Blue Devils kept the ball for nearly 10 minutes, repeatedly leaning on Sheppard. The sophomore accounted for 60 rushing yards on the series and capped it by working through the right side for a 9-yard touchdown with 5:07 left in the first quarter.
The drive was neither hurried nor dependent on one explosive play. Its force came from repetition. Duke continued to gain manageable yardage, extend the possession and prevent Tulane’s offense from returning to the field.
In an era in which season openers frequently become showcases for transfer quarterbacks and expansive passing attacks, Duke began its schedule with an old-fashioned assertion of control.
The message was simple: The Blue Devils had a proven running back, and they intended to use him.
Sheppard credited the players in front of him.
“It’s credit to the offensive line and the tight ends,” he said. “They were working their butts off today. They made it happen, they were opening up the holes. And then it’s me at the second and third level just making dudes miss and breaking tackles.”
The formula worked throughout the evening. Sheppard averaged 6.5 yards per carry and produced a long run of 47 yards. He also caught three passes for 19 yards, giving him 246 yards from scrimmage.
His 227 rushing yards represented the fifth-highest single-game total in Duke history. He became the first Blue Devil to surpass 200 yards on the ground since Mataeo Durant set the school record with 255 against Charlotte in 2021.
Sheppard had already established himself as Duke’s leading offensive figure in 2025, when he rushed for 1,132 yards and 11 touchdowns and earned second-team All-ACC honors. Against Tulane, he moved beyond reliability and into dominance.
He had 139 rushing yards by halftime.
Defense keeps Tulane searching
While Sheppard supplied the defining individual performance, Duke’s defense ensured that seven early points carried unusual weight.
Tulane generated 204 passing yards but could not sustain drives with any consistency. The Green Wave finished 3-for-14 on third down, failed on both of their fourth-down attempts and punted seven times. Four of their first 10 possessions ended after three plays.
Most damaging was Tulane’s inability to establish a running game. The Green Wave averaged 2.1 yards on 26 rushing attempts, with no player gaining more than 31 yards.
Johnnie Daniels led Tulane with 31 yards on eight carries. Maurice Turner added 15 yards, and starting quarterback Zeon Chriss-Gremillion gained 15. Kadin Semonza, who rotated with Chriss-Gremillion, finished with minus-10 rushing yards after absorbing three sacks.
Duke defenders consistently won early downs, leaving Tulane in obvious passing situations and allowing the Blue Devils’ pressure package to become more effective.
Bryce Davis led that effort with six tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. Bradley Gompers recorded Duke’s other sack, while veteran linebacker Luke Mergott added six tackles, two quarterback pressures and a forced fumble.
Nick Morris Jr. made six tackles and recovered the fumble Mergott forced, producing one of the most important defensive plays of the game.
Tulane’s quarterback rotation occasionally created opportunities. Chriss-Gremillion completed 6 of 9 passes for 64 yards, including a 44-yard completion. Semonza went 11-for-21 for 140 yards. Neither threw an interception, but neither led a touchdown drive.
The Green Wave’s best chance came at the beginning of the third quarter.
Semonza connected with Destyn Hill for 39 yards, moving Tulane to the Duke 17. It was the first time the visitors had penetrated the red zone and an opportunity to turn a 10-point halftime deficit into a three-point game.
Mergott erased it.
As Hill finished the catch and advanced, Mergott forced the ball loose. Morris recovered at the Duke 17, ending Tulane’s most dangerous drive without a point.
The sequence demonstrated why raw yardage did not fully explain Duke’s defensive success. Tulane completed a few significant passes and finished with more passing yards than the Blue Devils, but Duke controlled the areas that determined the outcome: the line of scrimmage, third down, the red zone and the closing minutes.
Tulane never ran a play inside Duke’s 17-yard line.
The Green Wave also hurt themselves repeatedly with penalties. They were flagged 15 times for 104 yards, disrupting an offense already trying to blend new personnel, two quarterbacks and an inexperienced line.
Tulane’s offense entered the opener without starting running back Jamauri McClure, who was sidelined by a foot injury. The Green Wave returned only one starter on the offensive line, and that lack of continuity became apparent against Duke’s front.
Tulane’s 258 total yards came at a rate of 4.6 per play. The Green Wave did not score a touchdown for the first time since a 24-6 loss to Auburn on Sept. 7, 2019.
Duke leaves points on the field
The final score suggested control, but Duke had opportunities to create separation earlier.
After Sheppard’s first touchdown, the teams exchanged punts and missed field-goal attempts during a scoreless stretch in the second quarter. Tulane drove 55 yards to the Duke 25, but Jackson Courville missed his attempt after Duke defensive lineman David Anderson deflected passes on consecutive plays.
Duke later advanced to the Tulane 25 before turning the ball over on downs with 2:30 left in the half. The Blue Devils’ defense responded immediately, pushing Tulane backward and forcing a three-and-out that consumed only 45 seconds.
That stop gave Duke one final opportunity.
Starting at the Tulane 48, the Blue Devils covered 43 yards in nine plays. Cosme Salas made a 22-yard field goal as time expired, sending Duke into halftime with a 10-0 lead.
The Blue Devils had controlled possession, produced 139 rushing yards from Sheppard and shut out Tulane for two quarters. Yet the margin remained close enough for one turnover or explosive play to change the game.
That possibility became more pronounced during a disjointed third quarter.
After Duke recovered Hill’s fumble, the Blue Devils moved from their 17 to the Tulane 42. Then Duke lost a fumble of its own, returning possession to the Green Wave. Tulane failed to capitalize, gaining only four yards before punting.
The quarter continued in that uneven pattern. Duke’s offense lacked the efficiency of its opening possession, while Tulane could not generate enough momentum to exploit the stalled drives.
The Blue Devils reached Tulane territory again but came away without points after another failed fourth-down attempt. Still, Duke’s defense prevented the Green Wave from converting those openings into a meaningful change in the game.
Through three quarters, Duke remained ahead 10-0.
Eget’s quiet debut leaves room for growth
Saturday marked Walker Eget’s first start for Duke after transferring from San Jose State. His assignment was made easier by Sheppard’s performance, but the passing game never developed a sustained rhythm.
Eget completed 13 of 26 attempts for 131 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. His longest completion covered 26 yards. Duke attempted 28 passes as a team, compared with 49 rushing attempts.
The Blue Devils protected Eget well enough to avoid a sack, and he did not commit a turnover. Those were meaningful positives for a quarterback debuting in a new system and replacing Darian Mensah, the leader of Duke’s 2025 championship offense.
But the limited passing production represented the most obvious area for improvement.
Duke averaged 4.7 yards per pass attempt and completed fewer than half of its team attempts. Tulane’s secondary kept the Blue Devils from consistently attacking downfield, allowing the Green Wave to remain within striking distance despite losing possession and field position.
That imbalance did not cost Duke on Saturday because Sheppard was so effective and the defense was so firm. It could become more significant as the schedule strengthens and opponents devote additional defenders to stopping the run.
The context matters. Duke was not required to take unnecessary chances through the air. With Tulane failing to reach the end zone, Diaz and his staff could continue emphasizing the matchup they were winning.
Eget avoided the catastrophic mistake and managed the game around Duke’s best player. For an opener, that constituted a workable starting point, though not a finished product.
Tulane, meanwhile, left Durham without a settled answer at quarterback.
Chriss-Gremillion started, providing a mobility component and completing two-thirds of his passes. Semonza supplied more yardage through the air but faced greater pressure. Tulane coach Will Hall alternated between them while searching for an offensive combination capable of sustaining a drive.
The rotation produced 204 passing yards but no touchdowns. Destyn Hill led the Green Wave with five receptions for 67 yards, while the offense managed only 10 first downs.
“Most of it can be fixed, but it’s got to be fixed,” Hall said. “It’s got to be fixed on Monday, and it’s going to be fixed on Monday.”
Tulane closes the gap – and Duke answers
Tulane finally scored early in the fourth quarter.
Starting at its 42-yard line, the Green Wave advanced 39 yards in seven plays. Courville converted a 37-yard field goal with 13:37 remaining, reducing Duke’s lead to 10-3.
For the first time since the opening quarter, the result was genuinely unsettled.
Duke had gone scoreless throughout the third period. Its passing game had not found traction, and its earlier fourth-down failures had prevented the Blue Devils from building a more comfortable margin. Tulane needed one touchdown to tie the game.
The response that followed was Duke’s most important offensive possession.
Beginning at its own 25, Duke embarked on a 12-play drive. It covered 75 yards and drained 6:53 from the clock, steadily reducing Tulane’s opportunities to mount a comeback.
As he had on the opening series, Sheppard became the organizing force. Duke trusted its line, its tight ends and its featured back to finish the work.
Sheppard scored from 14 yards with 6:44 remaining, and Salas’ extra point restored a two-touchdown lead at 17-3.
The drive was important for more than the points it produced. Duke had reached the stage of the game when Tulane knew the run was coming. The Green Wave understood that the Blue Devils wanted to shorten the contest and keep the ball in Sheppard’s hands.
They still could not stop it.
That is what Diaz meant by an identity win. Duke did not disguise its intentions, and it did not need to.
The Blue Devils’ defense completed the job. Tulane lost 15 yards on its next possession and punted after a three-and-out. Its final two possessions ended on downs.
There was no late collapse, no dramatic recovery and no need for Duke’s offense to chase an insurance score through the air. The Blue Devils defended the lead by continuing to win at the line of scrimmage.
Sheppard’s workload carries both promise and questions
A 35-carry performance in the opener underscored Sheppard’s value, but it also illustrated how heavily Duke depended on him.
Sheppard accounted for 227 of Duke’s 250 rushing yards. C.J. Campbell Jr. added 25 yards on 10 attempts, while Dan Mahan gained eight yards on two carries. No other Duke runner emerged as a consistent complement.
That distribution was understandable during a close game in which Sheppard averaged more than six yards per attempt. Coaches rarely move away from a matchup working that well. Yet a full season, especially one involving ACC play and postseason ambitions, will require careful management of his workload.
Sheppard ran with patience behind his blockers, accelerated through openings and proved capable of gaining additional yardage after first contact. His 47-yard run supplied the kind of explosive play that can transform a methodical possession.
His two touchdown runs showed another dimension. On the first, he navigated traffic from nine yards. On the second, he completed a long, pressure-filled drive when Duke needed to answer Tulane’s field goal.
The numbers placed the afternoon among the finest rushing performances in program history. The timing made it even more valuable.
Duke entered 2026 attempting to show that last season’s championship was the foundation of a sustainable program rather than the product of one roster or one remarkable run. The Blue Devils lost important offensive personnel, including Mensah, but returned Sheppard and preserved continuity on Diaz’s coaching staff.
That continuity mattered against a Tulane team beginning a new era under Hall.
The Green Wave had defeated Duke 34-27 in New Orleans a year earlier, a result that ultimately helped shape the College Football Playoff race. Duke went on to win its first outright ACC football championship since 1962 but missed the playoff. Tulane reached the postseason after winning a fourth consecutive conference championship game appearance.
Saturday’s rematch did not carry those immediate stakes, but it offered Duke an opportunity to reverse the outcome and begin its title defense with substance.
The Blue Devils did both.
A defense built to travel
Duke’s next test will require more than a dominant running back.
The Blue Devils travel to Illinois on Sept. 12 for their first road game. The matchup will test whether Duke’s defensive performance against Tulane can transfer to a more demanding environment and whether the passing game can become a larger part of the offense.
Still, defense remains the aspect of Duke’s performance most likely to provide stability.
The Blue Devils recorded three sacks and six tackles for loss against Tulane. They allowed only two rushing first downs, did not surrender a rushing attempt longer than seven yards and limited the Green Wave to three points despite permitting two pass completions of at least 39 yards.
Morris, Davis and Mergott each recorded six tackles. Davis repeatedly disrupted Tulane’s backfield, while Mergott again demonstrated a knack for consequential plays.
His forced fumble at the Duke 17 may have been the defensive turning point. Tulane had opened the second half with its most explosive possession and appeared ready to reduce the deficit. Instead, the Green Wave left the field empty-handed, and Duke’s lead remained 10 points.
Duke also avoided surrendering the interception or special-teams mistake that could have allowed Tulane to score without sustaining a conventional drive. Neither team threw an interception, but each lost one fumble.
The Blue Devils’ discipline was not perfect. They committed eight penalties for 53 yards. Yet Tulane’s 15 penalties were far more damaging, repeatedly turning manageable situations into long-yardage problems.
Duke’s defense capitalized.
Tulane finished with seven punts, two failed fourth downs, a lost fumble and a missed field goal. Only one of its possessions produced points.
That is a reliable winning formula regardless of opponent.
A season begins with substance, not spectacle
Season openers can be deceptive. Teams are integrating transfers, replacing veterans and discovering which preseason assumptions will survive actual competition.
Duke’s victory offered encouraging answers in some areas and obvious questions in others.
Sheppard appears capable of remaining one of the ACC’s leading running backs. Duke’s offensive line, despite losing Roman Fina to a preseason injury, created enough space for a historic individual rushing performance. The defense was physical, opportunistic and composed when Tulane threatened.
The unanswered questions center largely on offensive balance.
Eget and Duke’s receivers must develop greater consistency if the Blue Devils are to navigate a schedule that will inevitably present stronger run defenses. Duke also must improve its execution on fourth down and convert a higher percentage of its red-zone opportunities. The Blue Devils scored on three of five trips inside Tulane’s 20, but two of those scores were a field goal and an extra point following the two touchdowns; missed opportunities kept the game unnecessarily close.
Yet opening games are judged first by whether a team wins and then by what the performance reveals.
Duke won because it could identify its advantage and remain committed to it. The Blue Devils did not panic when the passing game sputtered. They did not abandon the run after Tulane cut the margin to seven. They did not allow a third-quarter exchange of fumbles to undermine their defensive focus.
They gave the ball to Sheppard, trusted their front and played the kind of football Diaz wants attached to the program.
The result was Duke’s fifth consecutive season-opening victory and its first win of a season carrying expectations created by an ACC championship.
There will be more dynamic offensive afternoons. There will have to be.
But on a hot evening that began 90 minutes late, Duke demonstrated that it could win without flash. It controlled the ball, controlled the trenches and controlled the final quarter.
Sheppard supplied the yards. The defense supplied the resistance. Together, they gave the Blue Devils something every defending champion needs at the start of a new season: evidence that the identity responsible for past success remains intact.