Duke football senior receiver puts on historic senior night performance

Duke football senior wide receiver Eli Pancol ended his Blue Devil career at Wallace Wade Stadium on a high note with an unbelievable performance as Duke beat the Virginia Tech Hokies 31-28.

Pancol finished the game with 4 catches for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns...oh wait, that was his first half stat line.

Yes, Pancol grabbed an unbelievable three touchdowns on four catches in the first half alone last night for the Blue Devils.

Comically, a lot of it he did within the first five plays the Duke offense ran last night. After Duke's first two offensive possessions were over, Pancol had 2 catches for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Video game-like numbers.

Pancol connected with quarterback Maalik Murphy for an 86-yard score on Duke's first play of the game, then on the third play of Duke's next possession Murphy found Pancol again for a 77-yard touchdown.

Pancol snagged his third touchdown catch at the end of the first half to put the Blue Devils up 21-17 on the Hokies heading into the break.

The senior finished the game with 5 catches for 188 yards and 3 touchdowns. Most of the damage was done in the first half, but it's a memorable stat line for Pancol to put up on senior night nonetheless.

Pancol has been within the Duke football program for a while, now a sixth-year senior who has spent his entire collegiate career with the Blue Devils.

He missed the entire 2023 season with a lower body injury and had a long road to recovery back. Pancol was emotional in his press conference after Duke's season opener this year against Elon, where the senior hauled in 7 catches for 81 yards and a touchdown in the win.

"I was dang near crying at halftime," Pancol said to the media after the Elon game. "My emotions were through the roof, I'm not going to lie."

It's been a successful sixth season for Pancol as he leads Duke in catches with 51, receiving yards with 721, and receiving touchdowns with 9.

Pancol's 188 receiving yards against the Hokies was his career-high and was just the second time he's had a 100-yard receiving game.

Duke has one more regular season game at Wake Forest before it plays its bowl game, but Pancol couldn't have ended his career with the Blue Devils on a more electric note.