Field Level Media
Sep 9, 2023
Jordan Waters ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns as No. 21 Duke beat visiting Lafayette 42-7 on Saturday night at Durham, N.C.
Riley Leonard completed all 12 of his pass attempts for 136 yards and a touchdown in less than three quarters as the Blue Devils (2-0) followed Monday night's conquest of visiting Clemson with a drilling of a Football Championship Subdivision foe.
Duke, playing as a nationally ranked team for the first time since 2018, cranked out 515 yards of total offense.
Waters, a fifth-year player, averaged 10.2 yards on his 11 carries. He scored the go-ahead touchdown with a 5-yard run early in the second quarter and added a 16-yard scoring run with 1:17 to play before halftime.
Todd Pelino of Duke missed on a 29-yard field-goal try to end the first half, leaving the Blue Devils up 21-7.
But the Blue Devils extended their lead with Jaquez Moore's 39-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Backup quarterback Harry Belin IV added a 1-yard touchdown run later in the quarter.
Jordan Moore was Duke's top receiver with 84 yards on four catches.
Dean DeNobile completed 9 of 17 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown for Lafayette (1-1).
In between Waters' scoring runs, Lafayette put together a drive of nearly seven minutes that ended when it couldn't convert a fourth-and-one at the Duke 24-yard line.
The Blue Devils scored on the game's first possession when Leonard threw 16 yards to Jalon Calhoun.
Lafayette needed 13 plays in nearly 7 1/2 minutes to go 75 yards to tie the game on DeNobile's 12-yard pass to Chris Carasia.
The Leopards, who opened the season by winning at Sacred Heart, were held to 213 yards of total offense and DeNobile was intercepted twice.
--Field Level Media