MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Nate Sheppard put his name atop the Duke record book Saturday, but the Blue Devils could not keep pace with Miami’s offense in a 36-25 loss at Hard Rock Stadium.
Sheppard ran for 131 yards and two touchdowns, pushing his season total to 1,320 yards and passing the program’s previous single-season mark of 1,241 set by Mataeo Durant in 2021. He also caught a career-high 12 passes for 93 yards, giving him 224 yards from scrimmage against a defense that came in allowing the fewest rushing yards per game in the country. His 19 rushing touchdowns this fall are already a school record.
The game was tight for a half. Duke answered a Miami field goal with a 37-yard kick from Gavin Strange, and after the Hurricanes took a 10-3 lead on a 4-yard run, Sheppard took a direct snap and burst 47 yards to tie it with 3:17 left before the break.
Miami pulled away after that. Two more field goals put the Hurricanes up 16-10, and a short pass that freshman Javian Mallory turned into a 63-yard score late in the third quarter made it 22-10. Sheppard scored again before the quarter ended, but Mallory added two fourth-quarter touchdowns and finished with three on the day. Darian Mensah, who played at Duke last season, threw for 382 yards on 30-of-41 passing, and Miami piled up 532 total yards.
The Duke defense had its moments. It kept Miami off the scoreboard in the first quarter, held the Hurricanes to 6 of 12 on third down and limited a team averaging 45 points a game to 21 through the first 52 minutes. Duke also kept its quarterback clean, giving up zero sacks, and committed just one turnover.
Duke, the reigning ACC champion, drops to 7-3 overall and 5-3 in the league. Miami improved to 9-1 and 5-0 in conference play.
Section: More Raleigh NC sports news
Raleigh sports business profiles
Filed under: Raleigh NC Sports News
