Duke Preview
Perhaps no ACC champion in history has ever displayed distinct opposites of offensive and defensive capabilities as Duke. What can be the impact of those elements on the Sun Bowl matchup with ASU? Here’s a closer look at the Blue Devils
Duke Offense
In what proved to be one of the most valuable Transfer Portal moves prior to the 2025 season, quarterback Darian Mensah’s relocation from Tulane to Duke helped propel not only Mensah into the conversation of the top FBS young quarterbacks, but he also helped guide the Blue Devils to their first outright conference championship since 1962.
Statistically, Mensah has been outstanding, completing nearly 68% of his passes for 3,646 yards with 30 touchdowns to just five interceptions. Truly talented in the pocket but not much of a rushing threat, Mensah has -53 net rushing yards on the year with a long of 13 yards and one touchdown run.
Mensah, wrapping up his redshirt sophomore season, has five 300-yard passing games this season and began the year with an incredible touchdown-to-interception ratio of 21-to-2 across the first eight games of the year.
On the ground, Duke’s rushing duo of Nate Sheppard and Anderson Castle packs quite a one-two punch, as both runners have recorded double-digit touchdown totals this season.
Leading the way is the star true freshman Sheppard, the team’s top rusher with 962 yards on 178 carries (5.4 avg.) with 10 touchdowns, along with 35 catches for 266 yards and another score.
A Second-Team All-ACC pick in 2025, the rookie has a pair of 100-yard outings this season and should surpass 1,000 rushing yards for the season against ASU.
Castle, a transfer last offseason from Appalachian State, has totaled 470 rushing yards on 110 carries (4.3 avg.) with 11 rushing touchdowns and 17 catches for 111 yards. He has a pair of three-touchdown games this season.
After transferring to Duke from Harvard this past offseason, the leap for Cooper Barkate has been seamless as he has team-bests of 68 receptions for 1,069 yards with six touchdowns and was chosen as a Second-Team All-ACC pick for 2025.
Barkate has a trio of 100-yard games this season and six games with at least 80 receiving yards for the Blue Devils.
Behind Barkate, Que’sean Brown ranks second on the team with 668 receiving yards on 54 receptions with three scores, while Sahmir Hagans is tied for the team lead with six touchdown catches as part of his 37 receptions for 463 yards.
Duke boasts a viable weapon at tight end in Jeremiah Hasley, an Honorable Mention All-ACC pick for 2025, who has posted 34 receptions for 404 yards with five touchdowns.
The typical starting offensive line for the Blue Devils this season has been Tucson native Bruno Fina at left tackle, Jordan Larsen at left guard, Matt Craycraft at center, Justin Pickett at right guard, and Brian Parker II at right tackle. In fact, that group of five has started all 13 games to date.
That said, Parker, a Second-Team All-ACC selection this year, has opted out of the bowl game and has decided to enter the NFL Draft. Pickett was also an honors recipient this season, as he was chosen as a Third-Team All-ACC performer.
Duke Offense Summary
Ranking 20th nationally in scoring offense (34.0 points per game) and 34th nationally in total offense (414.6 yards per game), Duke presents a significant and balanced threat to the Sun Devil defense – especially considering that ASU will be without its top three cornerbacks for the 2025 season in this game.
ASU’s defense has the ability to limit otherwise potent offenses, but the potency and dynamic nature of the Duke offense, spearheaded by an accomplished young quarterback in Mensah, figures to create a series of worries for the Sun Devils on Wednesday afternoon.
Duke Defense
Through the first 13 games of the season, the typical defensive starters have been Wesley Williams at defensive end, Josiah Green at defensive tackle, Aaron Hall at nose tackle, with Vincent Anthony, Jr. at the “Vyper” position.
Williams, an honorable mention all-conference choice this year, leads all Duke defensive linemen with 41 tackles, including 8.5 for loss with 2.0 sacks, a team-best 16 quarterback hurries, as well as one pass breakup, one fumble recovery, and one blocked kick.
Hall, a Third-Team All-ACC honoree, ranks second on the team with 10.0 tackles for loss as part of his 39 total tackles, also posting four quarterback hurries and 2.5 sacks. Green has registered 37 tackles, including 7.0 for loss with 3.5 sacks, along with three pass breakups and two quarterback hurries.
Anthony, Jr., an Honorable Mention All-ACC pick this year, posted team-highs of 7.5 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss as part of his 33 total tackles, reportedly will sit out Wednesday’s game.
Tre Freeman has been the primary starter at one linebacker position, with Luke Mergott having started the majority of the season at the team’s other linebacker spot.
Margot ranks second on the team with 18 tackles, including 6.5 for loss with 1.0 sacks, along with eight quarterback hurries, three pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, and one interception. Freeman has chipped in 47 tackles, including 3.5 for loss with 0.5 sacks, along with three pass breakups, two interceptions, one forced fumble, and one quarterback hurry.
In the secondary, cornerbacks Chandler Rivers and Kimari Robinson have been the primary starters, with Caleb Weaver at free safety and Dashawn Stone at the “Rover” position. Jaiden Francois has primarily occupied the “Star” role.
Weaver leads the team with 83 tackles, including 4.5 for loss with 1.5 sacks, along with two interceptions and two pass breakups. Stone is third on the Blue Devils with 77 tackles, including 1.0 for loss, with three pass breakups, two interceptions, one quarterback hurry, and one forced fumble.
Francois ranks fourth on the roster with 71 tackles, including 7.5 for loss with 1.0 sack, along with two pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, and one forced fumble, while Robinson has totaled 32 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, with two pass breakups and one fumble recovery.
Rivers, a Second-Team All-ACC pick, collected 59 tackles, including 3.5 for loss, with eight pass breakups, two interceptions, one quarterback hurry, and one forced fumble, will not play in the Sun Bowl against ASU.
Duke Defense Summary
Though Duke brings a potent offense to the table in El Paso, the Blue Devils’ defense doesn’t carry the same prestige, as the team ranks 106th nationally in total defense (409.2 yards allowed per game) and is tied for 90th in scoring defense (28.69 points allowed per game).
That said, a potentially significant mitigating factor is that Duke is tied for 22nd nationally with 21 forced turnovers, and as we know, ASU concluded the regular season with back-to-back putrid performances in terms of ball control.
Duke Special Teams
Placekicker Todd Pelino has connected on 14-of-19 field goals this season with a long of 49, while punter Kade Reynoldson averages 44.54 yards on 39 punts so far this season.
Duke presents legitimate special teams returns threats as the Blue Devils have notched touchdown returns on both a punt and kickoff.
Que’sean Brown only has 116 total punt return yards on nine returns, but one was taken 78 yards for a touchdown, while Sahmir Hagans averages 33.36 yards on his 14 kickoff returns with a 100-yard touchdown run to his credit. Hagans earned Second-Team All-ACC recognition as a special teams performer for his efforts this season.
Overall Summary
When it comes to bowl games, there is no single bowl more familiar to Sun Devil football than El Paso’s Sun Bowl, as this appearance is ASU’s eighth all-time, the most appearances for the Devils in any one bowl game, and tied for the second-most game appearances by any team in Sun Bowl history.
In fact, ASU’s very first two bowl game appearances came in the Sun Bowl, first a 0-0 tie against Catholic University on New Year’s Day 1940 and the next a 26-13 defeat to Western Reserve on January 2, 1941.
More than half a century went by until ASU’s next Sun Bowl appearance, a 17-7 New Year’s Eve win over Iowa. On New Year’s Eve 2004, ASU won a thrilling 27-23 matchup with Purdue and more recently, the Sun Devils made three Sun Bowl appearances from 2014-19 – first a 36-31 win over Duke on December 27, 2014, then a 52-31 loss to NC State in Todd Graham’s final game at ASU on December 29, 2017 and lastly, a 20-14 win over Florida State on New Year’s Eve 2019.
In what will be just the second all-time meeting between these two football programs – the other coming just over 11 years ago in this same bowl game venue – the Sun Devils endured a major halt of momentum to close out the regular season, while the Blue Devils miraculously claimed their first football conference title in over 60 years.
With the dip in momentum to end the regular season for ASU and a multitude of injuries and opt-outs for Wednesday’s game, instead of the eager anticipation that followed the Sun Devils to this same bowl game in, say, 2004 and 2014, this bowl game brings the feel of a “throw-away” exhibition game.
For Duke, however, under second-year head coach Manny Diaz, who has done an outstanding job, a bowl game win would give the Blue Devils nine victories in back-to-back seasons, which would be just the second time in program history that Duke pulled off that feat, ironically joining the 2013-14 seasons for the Blue Devils.
That said, if ASU is able to pull off what would have to be considered an upset win, a positive punctuation mark would cap off a nine-win season and give the Sun Devils 20 wins across the past two seasons, an achievement that would tie 1996-97 and 2013-14 as the top two-year win totals for the Sun Devils since the mid-1970s.
If logic prevails and Duke leaves El Paso with a comfortable victory, the sun will set on a not-terrible but not-great season for the Sun Devils, and the focus will shift to the substantial roster overhaul this program faces this offseason.
