Duke football has been without one of its lead running backs in Jaquez Moore since the first quarter of Duke's week two win at Northwestern. After a run, Moore went down with a lower leg injury and was later helped to the locker room. He returned to the field sidelined in a walking boot, and that was the most recent action he's seen through the 2024 season.
The senior totaled thirteen carries for 35 yards and a touchdown through the first game and part of the first quarter of the second. Moore, along with running back Star Thomas, have been the anchors for this Duke backfield throughout the season.
It was reported by Rivals that Moore "will have some role this week" for Duke against North Carolina this coming Saturday, suggesting that he will be active.
Moore went down at a time when the Blue Devil run attack was not as prevalent as it has become over the most recent two games of the season. Thomas has taken over with the bulk of the work, rushing for 122 yards on 22 carries and 111 yards on seventeen carries respectively over Duke's last two games. He also found the end zone twice last week in Duke's win at Middle Tennessee State.
Sophomore Peyton Jones also found more playing time with the absence of Moore, totaling nineteen carries for 58 yards and a touchdown over the last two games.
Now enters Moore, a senior who has been in Duke's system for the entirety of his college career.
Knowing that Thomas has the ability to take on a heavy workload, and the lack of doing so Moore has displayed over his career, it can be expected that Moore will be on a low snap count at least this week as he continues to heal from injury. But as we see the Duke run attack become a bigger threat in this offense as weeks progress, adding a talented cutter and vertical runner in Moore back into the game plan will only help the Blue Devils' success going forward.