Defense leads way as Duke beats Elon 26-3 in its first game under Manny Diaz

DURHAM, N.C. -- — Jaquez Moore, Jeremiah Hasley and Eli Pancol scored short touchdowns while Duke's defense racked up eight sacks as the Blue Devils beat Elon 26-3 on Friday night in their first game under Manny Diaz.

It wasn't a big offensive day for Duke (1-0), which often had to grind its way through drives while quarterback Maalik Murphy — a touted transfer from Texas — struggled to connect deep on multiple tries and threw a fourth-quarter pick as he tried to push one ball downfield.

Still, the Blue Devils’ defense didn’t need much help, repeatedly swarming the line of scrimmage and getting to seventh-year quarterback Matthew Downing. The Blue Devils had three sacks in the first two possessions, tallied five by halftime and never let Downing — who had stops at Georgia, TCU and Louisiana Tech — get comfortable.

“They just went,” Diaz said of the defensive front. “And I know that sounds so silly. But they just attacked the way that this defense is really designed to. And then once they got the nose for it, they didn't stop. They were just relentless.”

Elon (0-1), a Championship Subdivision program chasing its first win against a Bowl Subdivision foe, finished with just 140 total yards. Jack Berkowitz kicked a 39-yard field goal with 14 seconds left to avoid the shutout.

“It wasn't our best football game, it's not the best football we can play,” Elon coach Tony Trisciani said.

“We need to execute better. We've got fight. Our guys fight. It wasn't a matter of fight. I know these guys will fight. ... We're going to be a better football team next week.”

Moore scored Duke’s first touchdown from 7 yards out around the left side with less than a minute before halftime, while Hasley had a 1-yard snag in the right flat from Murphy midway through the third quarter for a 19-0 lead.

Murphy added a clinching score, zipping a 7-yard throw to Pancol near the left pylon to make it 26-0 with 4:06 left. He finished with 291 yards on 26-for-40 passing.

THE TAKEAWAY

Elon: The Phoenix, picked to finish sixth in the 16-team Coastal Athletic Association, struggled to find much space against Duke's aggressive front. Elon had one gain of at least 20 yards and also saw Berkowitz's 49-yard field goal plunk the crossbar and bounce all the way back across the goal line for a shoulder-sagging moment shortly Moore's ground score.

Duke: It was a successful debut for Diaz, who spent the past two seasons as Penn State’s defensive coordinator and took over when Mike Elko left for Texas A&M. Diaz had previously served as Miami's head coach from 2019-21, going 21-15 with 16 Atlantic Coast Conference wins.

DEFENSIVE PUNCH

Duke's sack tally is surpassed by only one game since the school started tracking sacks in 2000: a nine-sack effort in the 2019 finale against Miami, coached by Diaz.

The Blue Devils' 16 tackles for loss were the most for the program in any game since 2007.

UP NEXT

Elon: The Phoenix play another road game close to home, returning to Durham to visit North Carolina Central on Sept. 7.

Duke: The Blue Devils visit Big Ten country with a trip to Northwestern next Friday.

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