What we learned from Duke football’s 38-3 ACC victory at Syracuse
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Duke defeated Syracuse 38-3 behind efficient offense and dominant defense.
- Freshman Nate Sheppard rushed for 110 yards and scored two touchdowns by half.
- Duke forced three turnovers and limited Syracuse's backup quarterback all game.
Duke’s Cooper Barkate made a precise cut to the left side of the end zone and Darian Mensah’s pass was on target for an easy touchdown Saturday at Syracuse.
For a few seconds, a smiling Barkate stood with hands on hips, shaking his shoulders. Doing a shimmy shake? Maybe, but it seemed to represent the mood the Blue Devils were in — playfully confident, plucky, almost defiant.
And why not? The Blue Devils blew past the Orange for a 38-3 road victory before a sellout crowd at the JMA Wireless Dome that had little to cheer this day.
Call it a complete-game ACC victory for the Blue Devils (3-2, 2-0 ACC), who had a few too many penalties but were turnover free. Barkate and freshman running back Nate Sheppard each had a pair of touchdowns for Duke, which led 24-3 at the half and continued to dominate.
Sheppard, showing off his speed and power, broke off a 49-yard run for Duke’s first TD and had 168 yards on 15 carries in a breakout game. Barkate, whose TDs came on throws of 34 and 12 yards, was one of eight players with catches as Mensah was a highly efficient 22 of 28 passing for 268 yards.
Talk about impressive offensive balance. Duke had 235 yards rushing and 503 in total offense as the Blue Devils averaged 7.7 yards a a play. Duke did not call a passing play in the fourth quarter.
The Duke defense tackled well and had a few jarring hits that sent Syracuse players flying. Syracuse had three turnovers in the game and could not run the ball. The Orange had an early field goal and were stopped at the Duke 2 with a few seconds left in the game.
“The Duke defense looked like a Duke defense today,” Blue Devils coach Manny Diaz said. “And if we’re making it hard to score on us, our offense right now is hard to stop. It just is.”
The Orange (3-2, 1-1) lost quarterback Steve Angeli to a torn Achilles tendon a week ago in Syracuse’s big win at Clemson. That took one of the nation’s top passers out of the lineup for the remainder of the 2025 season and made backup Rickie Collins the starter on Saturday.
The Blue Devils mixed things up defensively for Collins, a transfer from LSU, and kept him off balance and guessing. Collins appeared shaky at times, twice having the ball slip out of his hands.
“I’m proud of our football team and not just proud in how we played today, but proud of their belief that we had a performance like this in us,” Diaz said. “They really believe they’re a special team in that locker room, and they were awaiting that special performance.”
What did we learn about Duke?
Sheppard’s day to shine
Last week it was the Anderson Castle show. This week, take a bow Nate Sheppard.
The freshman from Mandeville, Louisiana, first showed out when the Devils played at Tulane. He had a lot of family and friends in the stands and was obviously amped for the game, rushing for 75 yards on five carries.
But the 5-foot-10, 200-pounder shined the brightest at Syracuse, starting his first game. He scored the Devils’ first touchdown on his 49-yard burst off the right side, finding his way to the end zone quickly.
“Once I see the daylight, I’m just gone,” Sheppard said.
Added Mensah: “From anywhere, he can take it to the crib. He just has that breakaway, explosive speed.”
By halftime, Sheppard had 110 yards on six carries and his first rushing TD of the season. Sheppard’s second TD, in the third quarter, was all about power as he bulldozed defensive back Cornell Perry just before the goal line for a 12-yard score. He also grabbed four passes for 33 yards in the game.
Castle? After scoring three times last week against N.C. State, the big man picked up some tough yards inside but also displayed his pass-catching versatility. In the second quarter, he took a third-down swing pass from Mensah and rumbled 17 yards to the Syracuse 12 for a first down.
Castle later scored on a 13-yard run up the middle in the fourth quarter for the 38-3 lead as no Syracuse defender seemed willing to take on the 6-foot, 215-pound back from Boone.
Sheppard and Castle both are being used as senior Jaquez Moore tries to fight through an apparent injury. Moore had one carry, in the first half.
“All three offer value,” Diaz said. “They all offer something a little bit different. But what you see with Nate is the explosive potential.”
Turnovers starting to come for Duke D
Remember the first three games when the Blue Devils’ defense was stressing over a lack of turnovers? Diaz kept telling his guys to be patient, that the turnovers would come, but everyone seemed a little on edge.
No longer. Duke forced four turnovers in beating N.C. State. The Devils added another two in the first half Saturday in taking its 24-3 lead and then a third early in the third quarter.
Safety Caleb Weaver picked off a weak Rickie Collins pass at the Duke 15 on the Orange’s first possession. The second Syracuse turnover came on a fumble that ended a weird sequence.
Collins completed a pass to wideout Johntay Cook, who lost the ball as he was being gang-tackled. Duke’s Jaiden Francois also was called for targeting on the play, even though there was no head-to-head contact. Both the call and the fumble were reviewed.
The result: no targeting on Francois, and Duke’s Bradley Gompers credited with a fumble recovery at the Duke 39.
“It was a bang, bang play and the ball came out,” Diaz said. “It gives us confidence and hurts their confidence a little bit.”
The Devils scored three plays later on Mensah’s first TD strike to Barkate, the 34-yarder.
Cook also lost the ball two minutes into the third quarter as Duke’s DaShawn Stone had the strip after a catch.
Filling in for a missing Morris
Losing middle linebacker Nick Morris Jr. for the season — again — after an injury last week against the Pack was an emotional crusher for everyone in the Duke program. Morris, a redshirt senior, tore an ACL in last season’s opener against Elon and had worked so diligently to be ready for this season.
Morris’ injury made backup Luke Mergott, a sophomore, the starter. It also bumped up freshman Elliott Schaper in the Devils’ two deep.
Duke also was missing sophomore linebacker Kendall Johnson on Saturday. That bumped up Gompers, a freshman who had the fumble recovery.
Duke got a scare early in the game when linebacker Tre Freeman, a senior and a big-play guy, went down in pain. But Freeman later walked off the field and returned to the game.
“For that to happen on the third play of the game, you’re thinking, ‘OK, here we go.’” Diaz said.
“But the whole key with an inexperienced quarterback (Collins), which is very difficult for them to play with their backup quarterback, you can’t let the run game help him out. Ultimately that was the difference today.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 3:21 PM.
