Throughout fall camp, Duke coaches and players talked about the offense taking on a new identity, with starting center Matt Craycraft assuring everyone the Blue Devils would be a run-first team.
It only took one drive in the season-opening win against Tulane to show they were serious.
Behind the legs and hard running of sophomore running back Nate Sheppard, the Blue Devils marched 75 yards on 17 plays, 11 of them Sheppard rushes, taking 9:53 off the clock before Sheppard ran it into the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown.
“It's an identity win in terms of how we play to our strengths,” head coach Manny Diaz said following the 17-3 victory. “We knew who we were… We played to our identity, and our identity was enough.”
As Diaz pointed out, it wasn’t
like the Green Wave didn’t know who the best offensive player on the field was for Duke. It was Sheppard, who set personal records in both carries (35) and rushing yards (227) while scoring both of the Blue Devils’ touchdowns.
“I mean, it wasn't a secret,” Diaz said. “Our identity, it's not a secret in terms of what was important for them to do. And for them, the game plan to stop him and then to be unable to stop him is really the sign of a great player when everyone knows that they're going to go to you and they still can't stop that.”
Sheppard ran for 51 yards, including the touchdown on that opening drive, and kept chewing up yards and the clock as the two defenses traded blows, keeping the offenses from getting into any rhythm. It was everything that was expected from the Louisiana native when he announced he would return for his second year after breaking so many freshman program records in 2025.
But as Diaz noted, it wasn’t Sheppard alone who helped create the running game for the Blue Devils.
“If you're going to credit Nate, you've got to credit the offensive line,” he said. “It felt like the offensive line, the tight ends, playing with three tight ends for a large portion of the game is something we really had not done. But again, we felt like that was playing to our strengths and the way those guys blocked, the way our wide receivers blocked.”
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This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Duke wasted no time showcasing its offensive identity
