The Duke football program is looking to build on a highly successful 9-4 season in its first with head coach Manny Diaz, just the fourth season of nine or more wins in program history. But, for the program to get better in 2025, this one major flaw from 2024 needs to be fixed: the run game.
Overall, Duke boasted a solid offense relative to the rest of the ACC in 2024, at least in the air. The Blue Devils tallied the eighth-most passing yards of any team in the conference (3,176) and the sixth-most passing touchdowns (28), but a practically nonexistent run attack ruined lots of opportunities to score for the program.
The Blue Devils averaged the second-least rushing yards per game (92.5) of any team in the ACC and the second-least number of total rush attempts (381). Duke was one of three squads in the conference that did not average at least 100 rushing yards per game.
Duke finished second-to-last in the ACC in third-down conversion percentage last season (29.5), and a lot of that had to do with defenses expecting the pass, even on third and short. It limited any stealth aspect the offense had and resulted in broken play after broken play. As a result, the Blue Devils only averaged 26.3 points per game, good for 12th in the conference.
Even with a solid two-man backfield with Star Thomas and Peyton Jones, the entire season went without a consistent run game.
Enter 2025, and Duke is getting veteran Jaquez Moore back, who missed almost the entirety of the 2024 season after suffering an injury in the team's Week Two matchup against Northwestern. Jones is also back for his junior season, and Diaz added Anderson Castle via the transfer portal, who was previously at Appalachian State.
Adding a run game to the offense will both give much more rhythm on that side of the ball for Duke and also take the pressure off the defense to constantly bail them out. The Blue Devils had one of the best defenses in the country last season, and look to be that way yet again. But if Duke can become a consistent scoring team and avoid major droughts, nine wins seems like a cakewalk compared to how the program reached some of their victories in 2024.
With three talented backs ready to go and a talented offensive line, Duke should greatly improve on its rushing attack from a season ago to hopefully bring the offense as a whole to a new level.