Through three weeks, Duke's offense has been predicated on one thing: get the ball to Nate Sheppard, over and over and over again. It's not a bad strategy. There's not a better RB in college football right now than the Blue Devils' sophomore star. He's the leading rusher in the country, putting up 528 yards through three games. He's run for 140+ in all three games thus far.
It's no surprise that Duke is 3-0 as a result.
But Duke still needs more balance on offense in order to establish itself as a serious contender in the ACC Championship race. Manny Diaz knows it. He also expects it to happen as the season continues to progress.
"I still suspect we'll throw it way better in November than we do in October," Diaz said during his Monday press conference. "And I hope we throw it in October better than we did in September."
Manny Diaz believes improvement is coming for Walker Eget and Duke's passing offense
San Jose State transfer Walker Eget is still getting comfortable in the Duke system and with his new teammates. It's easy to forget that he missed the entire spring with injury and only had a few weeks to work with the receivers and tight ends before the season started. That's a major reason why Diaz believes things are going to continue to get better with time.
And they already have.
After a concerning debut against Tulane that called into question whether Diaz needed to have a quick rope and hand the keys to sophomore Dan Mahan, Eget has played better in the last two weeks. He threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns in the four-point road win over Illinois in Week 2. Last week against Stanford, he threw for 202 yards and a touchdown as the Blue Devils rolled to a 35-7 win at home.
This week should provide a perfect opportunity to work out some kinks. It would be a smart week to limit the workload for Sheppard. That's no offense to William & Mary, but Duke should have little trouble dispatching an FCS foe at home. That should allow Diaz and OC Jonathan Brewer to experiment a little on offense.
They should come out throwing early and often, giving Eget and the receivers as many opportunities to click as they can. Let Sheppard get a few touches to pad his stats and his early Heisman Trophy case, but this game needs to be about working out the issues with the passing offense. It's the last opportunity for a tune-up game in 2026. From here on out, it's nothing but ACC opponents for the Blue Devils.
Look for a heavy diet of Eget and the passing offense as Duke looks to take a big step forward against an overmatched opponent.
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