Duke Cruises to 62-7 Victory Over William & Mary

Saturday, September 26

Durham, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

Duke University

4-0 , 1-0

William & Mary

2-3 , 1-2

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
William & Mary	7	0	0	0	7
Duke	14	24	10	14	62

Duke football downed William & Mary, 62-7, at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium on September 26, 2026.

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Cruises to 62-7 Victory Over William & Mary

9/26/2026 7:06:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Coach Diaz: Postgame Press Conference Jared Richardson: Postgame Press Conference Tyshon Reed Jr.: Postgame Press Conference Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke remained undefeated and pushed its winning streak to eight consecutive games with its 62-7 victory against William & Mary.

The Blue Devils (4-0, 1-0 ACC) threw five touchdown passes to five different receivers, while Nate Sheppard was one of three running backs to find the endzone on the ground. Sheppard surpassed 100-rushing yards for the fifth consecutive game, the second-longest streak in Duke history. The 62 points are the most by a Duke offense since scoring 67 against Richmond on Sept. 24, 1949, while on defense, Duke has held three of its first four foes to less than 10 points for just the second time since 1972.

With Dan Mahan throwing three touchdowns and Walker Eget tallying two touchdown passes, two separate Duke quarterbacks threw multiple touchdowns in the same game for the first time since 1990. The five receiving touchdowns by five different Blue Devils marks the first time a Duke offense has accomplished the balanced feat since the 2009 season, when the Blue Devils did so against NC State on Oct. 10, 2009.

As a unit, Duke's defense tallied nine tackles for loss, four sacks and two quarterback pressures and limited the Tribe to just 17 rushing yards and 170 total yards. With its defensive effort, the Blue Devils held an opponent under 200 total yards for the first time since Elon posted 140 total yards on Aug. 30, 2024.

William & Mary was held scoreless following halftime, the second consecutive second-half shutout by Duke's defense this season. In total, the Blue Devils have not allowed a touchdown in a second half all season and have surrendered only six total points across the first four contests of the year.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke marched 75 yards on its opening drive and took a 7-0 lead as Walker Eget connected with Jayden Moore on his first career touchdown, covering 24 yards. The drive was aided by a 30-yard Jonah Burton reception and an eight-yard Moore snag on third-and-six.
After Luke Mergott blocked a Tribe field goal, Duke took over at its own 36-yard line. A 26-yard toss to Burton, plus another Burton catch and facemask penalty set up Duke at the William & Mary 19-yard line, where Nate Sheppard rushed for a touchdown with 6:08 left in the opening frame, his sixth rushing score, and ninth total touchdown, of the season.
William & Mary made it a 14-7 score with 2:58 left in the first on a six-yard scoring pass from Winston Watkins to Jack Reuter.
Cosme Salas drilled a 32-yard field goal to push the Blue Devil advantage to 17-7 before an Andrew Pellicciotta career-long 39-yard punt return set up Duke again at the William & Mary 29-yard line. Dan Mahan came in and connected with Kavon Simmons for a 29-yard scoring strike to make it 24-7 with 10:42 left in the opening half.
Another 29-yard TD pass from Mahan, this time to Jaivon Solomon, made it a 31-7 lead with 8:03 left in the half.
Duke capped the first-half scoring with a 28-yard blast from Eget to Jared Richardson with less than a minute to play.
The Blue Devils added 10 points in the third frame for a 48-7 lead with a Salas 39-yard field goal (11:16) and Brody Keefe 27-yard TD pass from Mahan (3:40).
Duke tacked on two additional rushing scores in the final frame, beginning a four-yard rush by Jayvian Tanelus with 11:58 remaining and ending with a 28-yard scamper courtesy of CJ Givers at the 5:25 mark.