The Duke football program got back on track at home this past weekend.
Just a few weeks ago, it looked like the Blue Devils' early-season magic may have been short-lived. Head coach Manny Diaz and his club dropped two straight to Georgia Tech and North Carolina, and were all of a sudden 1-2 in league play.
Duke then hit the road and snapped the two-game skid against Virginia, showing some improvement. However, this past Saturday looked like vintage Duke football.
Oct 31, 2026; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils running back Nate Sheppard (20) blocks Boston College Eagles defensive back Carter Davis (7) Duke Blue Devils saftey Patrick Smith-Young (2) at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Blue Devils hosted Boston College, which was coming off two straight wins, at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke gained momentum quickly and never looked back, defeating the Eagles 47-2.
Boston College's only points all day came on a blocked PAT attempt from Duke, which it returned to the end zone for two points. Aside from that, Duke shut down any rhythm the Eagles tried to create. Against Georgia Tech a game prior, the Eagles ran for 399 yards, and quarterback Mason McKenzie had totaled over 600 rushing yards on the year. The Blue Devils held BC to 78 rushing yards on 33 carries (2.4 yards per attempt), and McKenzie only tallied 24 yards on 13 attempts.
Duke notched six sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and held Boston College to 2-of-13 on third down and 0-of-4 on fourth down. It was utter domination from Diaz and Co., and it looked like vintage Duke football from early this year. Superstar Nate Sheppard led the charge offensively, going for 97 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 20 carries. Walker Eget also looked sharp for the most part, completing 11 of his 18 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown.
This was potentially the best complete game the Blue Devils have played all season, and they seem to have found a boost as the latter part of the regular season gets underway. After the game, Diaz said what one of his biggest takeaways was.
"The biggest thing to me is that the team got better from last week," Diaz said. "And what happens is when you have a big win, you can start to feel good...On one hand, we can be proud of what we did and what we accomplished, but if we think we've arrived and we've done it all, we're not going to have the outcome going forward that we want."
Next up, Duke will head to Raleigh to meet NC State (4-4, 2-3 ACC) before traveling to Coral Gables to take on No. 1 Miami (8-0, 6-0 ACC).
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/duke as What Stood Out to Manny Diaz in Duke Football's Dominant Win .
