Duke football faced an uphill battle against #14 Ole Miss in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl with two of its key offensive starters not playing due to entering the portal in starting quarterback Maalik Murphy and starting running back Star Thomas.
The Blue Devils fell to the Rebels 52-20 in Jacksonville, FL last night.
Third-string quarterback Henry Belin IV was given the tall task of stepping into the spotlight against a ranked SEC opponent and facing off against one of the best quarterbacks in college football, Jaxson Dart.
Despite the big loss, Belin made some great throws and was responsible for some big plays on the Blue Devils' offensive side of the ball.
Belin finished the contest 25-of-44 passing for 236 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. Dart tallied 404 passing yards and four touchdowns in the win.
The Blue Devils came into the game as 17.5-point underdogs and knew it would take a flawless game to take down Ole Miss.
But despite the season ending a bit sour, it was an all-around phenomenal season for the Duke football program in Manny Diaz's first year at the helm.
Duke finished the season 9-4 and 5-3 in ACC play. This is the program's third 9-win season since 2014 (2014, 2022, 2024) and Diaz is the second Duke head coach in history to win 9 games in his first season after Mike Elko did so in 2022.
Diaz explained how proud he was of his team after such a successful 2024 campaign.
"I am immensely proud of this football team, immensely proud of what they've accomplished."
He also gave light to what he thinks his players will remember this season as.
"As time goes on, I think they will certainly recognize what a special year this was. I think what we tried to talk about in the locker room was not as much about the accomplishments as it was about the people."
It's no secret Diaz has won over the Blue Devil fan base and he looks like the perfect long-term coach for the program. As the team reloads for next season with a great winter cycle of transfers already signed, now the Blue Devils look ahead to what they can accomplish to build on the 2024 season.
Duke currently sits with the #53 overall transfer class and #35 recruiting class per On3.