Duke vs Kansas - Game Notes
Duke Football (3-0) travels to Lawerence, Kansas to take on Kanas (3-0) this Saturday September 24th for a 12:00 noon kickoff. This will be a battle between 2 undefeated football teams (who are well known Blue Bloods in basketball). Looking at recent statistics, this game has the potential to be an exciting offensive game.
Game Notes below are from Duke Sports Information.
Duke heads to Lawrence, Kan., for a matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 12 noon, and the game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. Saturday's contest is one of just four this weekend that will pin two unbeaten teams against each other (Maryland vs. Michigan, Clemson vs. Wake Forest and USC vs. Oregon State). In total out of 131 FBS teams, there are just 33 squads that remain unbeaten. The Blue Devils lead the all-time series, 2-1. A year ago during the meeting, quarterback Gunnar Holmberg rushed for four touchdowns to help Duke to a 52-33 victory at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. His four rushing scores tied the program record for rushing touchdowns in a game, becoming the first Blue Devil to achieve that mark since Brandon Connette did so in 2013. Duke's 3-0 record is its best start to the season since 2018 when it started 4-0. Head coach Mike Elko is the first Duke football coach since Fred Goldsmith in 1994 to win his opening three games. Goldsmith started his Blue Devil tenure 7-0 and led Duke to the Hall of Fame Bowl. Saturday's FS1 broadcast will feature Eric Collins and Devin Gardner on the call. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.
HOW TO FOLLOW Duke (3-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. Kansas (3-0, 0-0 Big 12) Saturday, September 24, 2022 • 12 noon Lawrence, Kan. • David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium TELEVISION • FS1 RADIO • Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD GAME NOTES • Duke Notes (PDF) • Kansas Notes (PDF) LIVE STATS • KUAthletics.com TWITTER • @DukeFOOTBALL
GAME NOTES After scoring on its opening drive against North Carolina A&T, Duke is now 13-1 when scoring a touchdown on its opening possession since the start of the 2017 season. The Blue Devils currently rank fourth in the ACC with 460.33 total yards of offense per game. Duke gained 500 yards against Temple in its opener and then recorded 461 and 420 against Northwestern and North Carolina A&T, respectively. The Blue Devils also find themselves fourth in rushing (205.00) and passing (255.33) offense in the conference. After finishing the 2021 season last in the ACC in turnover margin, the Blue Devils are tied for second in the league and tied for ninth nationally in the category with +1.67 turnovers per game. Duke leads the conference and is tied for first in the country with six fumble recoveries. NEVER TRAILING The Blue Devils have yet to trail in a contest to start the 2022 season. They are also outscoring their opponent 110-43, including a 45-0 advantage in the opening frame. A 3-0 START The Blue Devils are undefeated to begin the Mike Elko era at Duke. He becomes just the fifth Duke coach to start their first year in Durham 3-0 and first since Fred Goldsmith went 7-0 to start the 1994 season. Of those five, only two have surpassed the three-plus win mark to begin their tenure -- Goldsmith and Mike McGee (four). In the last 16 years, there have only been four head coaches in the ACC who have begun their tenure at their institution with a 3-0 mark -- 2022 Elko (Duke), 2016 Mark Richt (Miami), 2011 Everett Withers (North Carolina), and 2007 Jeff Jagodzinski (Boston College). Elko, Withers, and Jagodzinski were first-time head coaches, with Withers serving in an interim role. QB1 Duke charted sophomore Riley Leonard its starting quarterback at the start of 2022, marking the fifth-straight season with a different quarterback for the Blue Devils. A native of Fairhope, Ala., Leonard has seen action in 10 career games and has completed 85-of-128 (.664) pass attempts for 1,104 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions while rushing 69 times for 320 yards (4.63) and four scores. In his first year as Duke's starter, Leonard is fourth in the ACC in total offense after compiling 723 passing and 147 rushing yards on the season. He sits behind North Carolina's Drake Maye (1,076), Syracuse's Garrett Shrader (905), and Louisville's Malik Cunningham (878). During his last outing against North Carolina A&T, Leonard accounted for four of Duke's seven touchdowns. He registered his first career multi-score game after leading the Blue Devils' rushing attack with 66 yards on five carries with two touchdowns. SCORING IN FIRST CAREER GAME During Duke's last game against North Carolina A&T, rookie Eric Weatherly found paydirt in the fourth quarter on a 14-yard run. He became Duke's first true freshman to score in his first collegiate game since AJ Reed converted seven PATs against N.C. Central in 2016. THE RUN GAME After three games in 2022, Duke is tied for fourth in the conference in rushing offense (205.00), rushing yards (615), and rushing touchdowns (eight). Leading the charge are redshirt junior RBs Jaylen Coleman and Jordan Waters and sophomore QB Riley Leonard, who have 100-plus yards rushing each on the early season. Coleman has compiled 177 yards on 29 attempts with three scores, while Waters has recorded 174 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns. During Duke's last outing against North Carolina A&T, Leonard scampered for a career-long 56 yard touchdown jaunt. He's carried the ball 22 times on the year for 147 yards with two scores. All three players are averaging over 6.0 yards per rush with Waters at 7.0, Leonard at 6.7 and Coleman at 6.1. As a team, the Blue Devils are second in the league with an 5.86 yards per rush average, trailing North Carolina's mark of 5.98. DEFENSIVE PRESSURE Duke has recorded 23 tackles for loss to just 10 for its opponents. Leading the way for the Blue Devils is redshirt senior LB Shaka Heyward and redshirt junior DT DeWayne Carter. Both have 2.5 tackles for loss on the year. Seven other Blue Devils have recorded 1.5-plus tackles for loss to help Duke's cause. Carter has also found the quarterback in the early season, as he's tied with redshirt senior DT Ja'Mion Franklin with 1.5 sacks on the season. In addition, the Blue Devils have registered 12 quarterback pressures to a mere one for its opponents. Redshirt junior R.J. Oben, junior Aeneas Peebles, and redshirt sophomore Michael Reese led the team with three. Rookie Vincent Anthony Jr., follows closely with two. RUSHING DEFENSE Duke has limited its opponents to just 119.3 rushing yards per outing this season for the seventh-best mark in the ACC. Opponents are averaging 3.44 yards per carry with just two rushing scores. FUMBLE RECOVERIES The Blue Devils as a defensive unit have recorded six fumble recoveries on the year, all by different players, to rank first in the ACC and tied for first in the nation. During Duke's last outing against North Carolina A&T, the Blue Devils compiled two caused fumbles and two fumble recoveries. One of those recoveries was by redshirt junior DT DeWayne Carter who returned a fumble 35 yards for a touchdown. It marked Duke's first defensive touchdown since 2018 when CB Leonard Johnson intercepted Baylor's QB and returned it 53 yards for the score. It was the Blue Devils' first fumble recovery for a touchdown since Nov. 13, 2010 when August Campbell scooped up the loose ball and returned it 95 yards for the touchdown against Boston College.