The Duke football program kicked off its 2025 season on August 28th with a home victory over FCS opponent Elon, 45-17. After a rocky start for the Blue Devils offensively, it was a tale of two halves. Duke entered the locker room at halftime tied 10-10 with no rhythm established on the offensive side of the ball. Head coach Manny Diaz delivered the perfect speech in the locker room, and it led to an offensive explosion across the second 30 minutes. The Blue Devils went on to outscore Elon 35-7 in the second half to begin the season with a dominant victory. Duke brought in a few talented wide receivers via the Transfer Portal this offseason, and they made their names known early in the opener.
Duke football's new receivers make names known early
The Blue Devils brought in two talented receivers in Cooper Barkate from Harvard and Andrel Anthony from Oklahoma. Both didn't take long to establish themselves as key parts of the offense for the 2025 campaign.
Barkate, a former runner-up for Ivy League Player of the Year, put his cutting and speed on display and was a consistent target for new Duke quarterback Darian Mensah. Barkate tallied five receptions for 117 yards to lead the Blue Devils in receiving yards in his first game in Durham.
As for Anthony, his 2025 might turn into a major feel-good story after he missed almost two full seasons with injury. After spending two seasons at Michigan, Anthony transferred to Norman, where he had a productive start to his career with the Sooners. He then tore his ACL, knocking him out for the remainder of the 2023 season. Anthony then missed practically the entire 2024 season after the injury failed to heal completely.
He then headed to Durham and is looking to end his collegiate career on a high note. Anthony opened up his career with Duke with three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.
Mensah put the nation on notice in his first action with Duke after signing one of the biggest NIL contracts in history, and his two new receivers were big reasons why.