Duke’s defense controlled most of the game and Maalik Murphy threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns in his Blue Devils debut during a 26-3 victory against Elon on Friday night at Durham, N.C.

The season opener for both teams started the tenure of Duke head coach Manny Diaz.

Duke’s defense racked up 16 tackles for loss, including eight sacks. Elon had 140 yards of total offense, only 60 in the second half — 54 of those coming on its final drive for Jack Berkowitz’s 39-yard field goal with 14 seconds left.

Murphy, a transfer from Texas, was 26-for-40 with an interception.

Diaz, a former Miami head coach and most recently Penn State’s defensive coordinator, replaced Mike Elko, who took the Texas A&M job following the 2023 regular season.

Elon starting quarterback Matthew Downing went 11-for-17 for 72 yards. Phoenix safety Caleb Curtain, the Preseason Player of the Year in the Coastal Athletic Association, picked off a pass.

Duke had only 62 rushing yards.

The Blue Devils, up 10-0 at halftime, opened a gap in the third quarter. Todd Pelino kicked a 42-yard field goal, and Jeremiah Hasley’s 1-yard reception on a pass from Murphy created a 19-0 advantage.

Duke tacked on Murphy’s 7-yard pass to Eli Pancol with 4:11 to play.

The Blue Devils’ offense struggled before halftime against the Football Championship Subdivision opponent from about 35 miles away.

Duke had four sacks and forced three Elon punts in the first quarter but led only 3-0 on Pelino’s 32-yard field goal.

The Blue Devils didn’t convert on fourth-and-6 from the Elon 28 in the second quarter.

The Phoenix responded with a 10-play drive, but Berkowitz’s 49-yard field-goal attempt bounced back off the crossbar.

Three snaps later, the Blue Devils were in the end zone on Jaquez Moore’s 7-yard touchdown run. Murphy’s 55-yard pass play to Pancol was the big gainer on the sequence.

–Field Level Media