Riley Leonard threw for two touchdowns and completed his first 15 passes as Duke opened the season with a 30-0 victory over visiting Temple on Friday night in Durham, N.C.

The outcome gave Duke coach Mike Elko a successful debut. It was a dismal opener for first-year Temple coach Stan Drayton, whose team was held to 179 yards of total offense.

Duke recorded its first shutout of a FBS opponent since 1989 against North Carolina.

Leonard, a sophomore making his second career start, completed his first 15 passes. That left him one shy of the school record for consecutive completions in a game.

Leonard finished 24-for-30 for 328 yards through the air. He also was the game’s top rusher with 64 yards on 11 carries.

Duke went 75 yards in five plays on the game’s opening possession, scoring on Jaylen Coleman’s 1-yard run. Charlie Ham’s 29-yard field goal later in the first quarter made it 10-0.

Leonard threw 4 yards to Jordan Moore, who was the runner-up in the preseason quarterback competition, for a touchdown with 11:49 left in the second quarter.

Temple didn’t pick up a first down until about the 10-minute mark of the second quarter.

Duke was back on the board on Leonard’s 39-yard strike to Sahmir Hagans, making it 24-0 by halftime.

Ham, who missed two attempts on field goals in the first half and another in the fourth quarter, was good from 37 yards out for the only points of the third quarter. He added a 38-yarder in the fourth quarter.

Duke and Temple were both 3-9 last year. The only other meeting between the teams resulted in Duke’s victory at the 2018 Independence Bowl.

Elko replaced David Cutcliffe, who coached the Blue Devils for 14 seasons. Duke is coming off three consecutive losing seasons with a combined record of 10-25 during that stretch.

–Field Level Media