There were plenty of positives to take away from Duke's 17-3 season-opening win over defending AAC champion Tulane. QB play wasn't among them.
Duke's offense mustered just two touchdowns on the afternoon in large part because they were not a consistent threat to throw the football. Star RB Nate Sheppard had a career day with 227 rushing yards, but it's clear that the Blue Devils are going to need more at QB going forward to be a serious threat in the ACC.
San Jose State transfer Walker Eget struggled, completing just 13-of-26 passes for 131 yards. Sophomore Dan Mahan got in the game for some fourth-quarter snaps, mostly as a change of pace in the running game with Tulane's defense keying on Sheppard.
But while it's fair to already question whether Manny Diaz should consider a QB change, it doesn't sound like that's in the cards. At least not yet.
"I think Walker, it's easy to forget what he's coming back from," Diaz said, via Duke Wire. "And I thought he, number one, managed well. We didn't have procedural issues in terms of calling the plays and whatever. So I was proud of him for that. We're going to get better in the passing game. We're going to get more in sync. Obviously, we had a couple off the fingertips that really could have created a lot of separation in the scoreboard.
"We had a plan to get Dan in the entire time, and where the game was and how they were starting to defend and really sell out versus the run. We felt like Dan's legs could provide us a spark. And I'm really proud of the way he played when he was in there. He played fast. And so I think that's something that we're going to be able to utilize as time goes on."
Dan Mahan will have a role, but expect Walker Eget to continue starting for Duke
Mahan's legs can be a real weapon for Duke. He got in the game and played fast, as Diaz said. It allowed the defense to open up a little for Sheppard again because they had to respect Mahan's ability to pull the ball on the zone read concepts and get around the corner.
That's something that Duke can use going forward, especially as a change-of-pace to a QB in Eget who isn't all that mobile to begin with and especially isn't right now as he continues to get more comfortable following his knee issues.
Diaz was optimistic that things are going to improve in the passing game with Eget. He's not going to have a quick trigger with the guy who won the job this offseason. He side-stepped a direct question from the media after Saturday's game. He was asked directly if there was a QB competition going forward:
"To me, like I said, it's an identity game. We know what our identity is, and then we grow from that," Diaz responded.
It's obvious that Duke has to get more from the QB spot going forward. The Blue Devils have a dynamic running game with Sheppard, and after one week, there's reason for significant optimism that the defense is going to be more 2024 than 2025.
But this team has a clear ceiling if Eget - or Mahan - can't produce more at the game's most important position.
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