Duke Falls to No. 11 Illinois, 45-19

Saturday, September 6

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

1-1 , 0-0

Illinois

2-0 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Illinois

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Falls to No. 11 Illinois, 45-19

9/6/2025 3:52:00 PM | Football

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DURHAM, N.C. – No. 11 Illinois used a 14-point third quarter to push past Duke for an eventual 45-19 final score on Saturday at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Fighting Illini improved to 2-0 while the Blue Devils fell to 1-1.

Duke held Illinois to minus-five rushing yards in the first half and racked up 4.0 sacks and 10.0 tackles for loss but committed five turnovers that led to 28 Illinois points and had four penalties that led to Illinois first downs.

Wide receiver Andrel Anthony hauled in two touchdown passes, while 10 total Blue Devils caught passes. Quarterback Darian Mensah became the first Duke quarterback to throw for 300 yards in consecutive games since Gunnar Holmberg in 2021 with his 334-yard day.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke marched 52 yards on its opening drive and punched in a Todd Pelino 40-yard field goal at 10:26 to take a 3-0 advantage.
After forcing consecutive punts, Illinois took advantage of a Duke muffed punt to score on a one-yard run and take a 7-3 lead with just 1:51 to play in the first.
The Blue Devils answered on the ensuing drive with another 40-yard Pelino field goal to make it a 7-6 deficit.
Illinois struck with its longest drive of the half to take a 14-6 advantage with 5:06 to play in the second quarter. Luke Altmyer hit Cole Rusk for an eight-yard touchdown to push the Illini lead to eight.
With just 14 seconds to go in the first half, Duke narrowed the gap to 14-13 with a five-yard touchdown pass from Darian Mensah to Andrel Anthony. Duke drove 77 yards on nine plays in a quick 1:04 to pull within one at the break.
The Fighting Illini scored two quick touchdowns in the third on a Justin Bowick four-yard TD catch and Hank Beatty 25-yard run to take a 28-13 lead with 6:54 to play in the third.
Duke cut into the deficit again with Anthony's second scoring strike from Mensah. This time, Anthony caught a four-yard pass on fourth-and-goal to make it a 28-19 affair. The Blue Devils' two-point try fell incomplete.
Illinois tacked on a 35-yard field goal with 14:04 to play to push its lead to 31-19, before punching in a touchdown from two yards out and adding a late rushing score for the final score of 45-19.