Duke QB Riley Leonard masterly escapes Clemson defense on way to 44-yard TD run

Duke quarterback Riley Leonard could not be stopped on his way to the end zone Monday night early in the third quarter against Clemson.

Facing a 3rd-and-3, Leonard ran the ball up the middle but found himself ensnared in a pack of Tigers. One defender had him seemingly in his grasp and another had a hand on him in the backfield but Leonard didn’t go down.

In fact, he scampered all the way down the field for a 44-yard touchdown run. It put the Blue Devils up 13-7.

Duke head coach Mike Elko praised Leonard in July at the 2023 ACC Football Kickoff, saying he has embraced the leadership needed to be QB1 in a college program.

“He’s a kid with a tremendous work ethic,” Elko said at the time. “I think one of the things people don’t know is much how he does behind the scenes to make himself and our program better. Now, with the success he had last year, being the established quarterback, I just think that gives him a certain level of respect in the locker room.”

In 13 games last season, Leonard threw the ball 392 times with 250 completions for 2,967 yards. He threw 20 touchdowns to only six interceptions. The 6-foot-4 Leonard also ran the ball 124 times for 699 rushing yards and another 13 touchdowns.

While he wasn’t an unknown quantity coming out of Fairhope (Ala.) High, Leonard was far from the top quarterbacks in the high school recruiting class. He was the No. 554 overall recruit and No. 41 quarterback, according to the 2021 On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

But Leonard could play his way onto NFL radars this year. On3’s Matt Zenitz wrote in the offseason about Leonard could be the second-best quarterback in the conference behind North Carolina superstar Drake Maye.

“I love him,” an ACC team official told Zenitz for his story on Leonard. “He’s got ideal size and frame. He’s extremely athletic and can run. He’s got a basketball background and was recruited for basketball. He was a freak-show basketball player.  He could play somewhere easy with basketball. Dunk. Explosive. And when he gets in the open field, he can haul a—. And then he’s gotten progressively better each year throwing the ball. Looks like he knows where he’s going with the ball and can make all the throws. I think he’s got a high upside.”