As Duke, Elon Are Kicking Off Their 2024 Seasons Friday Night In Durham Manny Diaz Is Coaching His First Game On Sideline As Duke’s Head Coach
As Duke, Elon are kicking off 2024 seasons Friday night in Durham Manny Diaz Is coaching his first game on sideline as Duke’s Head Coach.
Duke’s new Head Coach Manny Diaz was Penn State’s Defensive Coordinator was Miami’s Defensive Coordinator, Head Coach.
As the Defensive Coordinator for Penn State in 2022 Penn State ranked 17th nationally in total defense in 2022, and allowed an average of 322.7 yards per game. This season Penn State has allowed 223.3 yards per game, the fewest in the nation.
As Head Coach of Miami Manny Diaz had a record of 21-15 16-9 in Atlantic Coast Conference play before Before becoming Head Coach of Miami Manny Diaz was Miami’s Defensive Coordinator. As Miami’s Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz directed a Hurricane defensive unit which ranked fourth nationally in total defense (278.90) in 2018, while also finishing that season first in tackles for loss (10.5 per game), third down conversion defense (.253) and passing defense (135.60).
As the Defensive Coordinator for Penn State in 2022
According to Andrew Carter article on newsobserver.com
Manny Diaz is replacing Mike Elko who is now Head Coach of Texas A &M!
Following Manny Diaz becoming Duke’s new Head Coach Manny Diaz had this to say!
We are grateful and humbled for this opportunity and could not be more excited to be the head football coach at Duke University,""I'd like to give a special thanks to Dr. Price and Nina for their trust in me and our family as well as a true commitment to this program. Duke University is an elite institution in every facet, and we are excited to be a part of it. I'm beyond excited to get to work."
Following Manny Diaz becoming Duke’s new Head Coach Director Of Athletics Nina King had this to say about hiring Manny Diaz as Duke’s new Head Coach!
I am thrilled to welcome Manny Diaz as the new head coach of Duke Football,"He is an experienced coach with a strong track record of success, deep knowledge of the ACC, and an exciting vision for the future of our program. I am confident our student-athletes will continue to achieve tremendous success on the field and in the classroom under his leadership, and I look forward to welcoming Manny and his family to the Bull City."
According to article on goduke.com
Following Manny Diaz becoming Duke’s new Head Coach Duke University President Vincent E. Price had this to say!
I am thrilled to welcome Manny Diaz as the new head coach of Duke Football,""He is an experienced coach with a strong track record of success, deep knowledge of the ACC, and an exciting vision for the future of our program. I am confident our student-athletes will continue to achieve tremendous success on the field and in the classroom under his leadership, and I look forward to welcoming Manny and his family to the Bull City."
According to article on goduke.com
Following Manny Diaz becoming Duke’s new Head Coach he posted on x formally Twitter thanking Penn State by saying Thank you Penn State – for everything,”
It has been a great couple of years in State College. Being part of the tradition, history and passion surrounding this incredible football program is an experience the entire Diaz family will forever cherish.
“I am a better coach for the time spent here and I could not be more appreciative to James (Franklin) for giving me this opportunity. The faith, trust and support from James, Pat Kraft, President Bendapudi and the entire leadership team at Penn State means the world to me.”
This is an undeniably special place and I will miss the outstanding players, coaches and staff that show up every day ready to excel,”The chemistry we experienced between the defensive coaches and players was infectious. This entire team is an incredible group of men that will propel the Nittany Lion program to great things – on and off the field. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you and we will miss you all.”
Manny, Stephanie, Colin, Gavin and Manny Gavin III Diaz
Ahead of Duke, Elon kicking off their 2024 seasons Friday in Durham Duke Head Coach Manny Diaz shared his thoughts on his team defensively
the defense, in particular — becoming even better in the subsequent weeks as the season progresses.
You would expect every team to grow, to get better as year goes on,“And for all the years that I’ve brought it a new defense to a new school. We’re always better November than we were in September.”
According to Stephen Wiseman News & Observer article https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article291368140.html
Duke, Elon previously met on the gridiron on August 30, 2014 in Durham when David Cutcliffe who was replaced by Mike Elko was the Head Coach when Duke beat Elon 52-13. As Duke beat Elon 52-13. As Duke beat Elon 52-13 Duke redshirt senior quarterback Anthony Boone completed 22-of-33 passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Blue Devils to a season-opening 52-13 victory over Elon in front of 31,213 fans at Wallace Wade Stadium.
The 52 points are the fourth most scored by the Blue Devils under head coach David Cutcliffe and the most scored by Duke in a season opener since 1954. Duke compiled 567 yards of offense with a balanced 292 through the air and 275 on the ground.
Jamison Crowder led the receiving corps with seven catches for 93 yards, including two for touchdowns, to push his career catches total to 205. He is the third receiver in Duke history to amass 200-plus career catches, joining Donovan Varner and Conner Vernon. Max McCaffrey had a career receiving day with five catches for 65 yards.
The running game was led by Josh Snead and Shaquille Powell with 74 and 54 yards, respectively.
Devon Edwards paced the defense with seven tackles, including four solo stops. Bryon Fields had six tackles and Carlos Wray made three stops and recorded his first career sack.
Duke, after forcing Elon into a three-and-out on its opening possession, marched 61 yards over 11 plays to get on the scoreboard for the first time in 2014 with a four-yard touchdown pass from Boone to Issac Blakeney. Shaquille Powell carried the ball for 34 yards and Blakeney hauled in 22 yards receiving, including the one-handed grab in the back left corner of the end zone, to highlights Duke's opening drive of 2014.
Elon answered with a 61-yard drive that finished with a 36-yard field goal from John Gallagher to pull within a score. Duke punted for the first time of the afternoon on its next possession to go into the first break with a 7-3 lead.
Coming into the game two catches shy of the 200-catch benchmark, Crowder made his second grab of the evening count. On the first play from scrimmage, Boone found Crowder streaking down the right sideline for a 46-yard strike to put the Blue Devils in front 14-3 early in the second quarter.
The Blue Devils continued to roll offensively with Powell finding the end zone for the first time of the season with a two-yard rush up the middle, and Blakeney pulling in a 19-yard toss from Boone to send Duke into halftime with a 28-6 lead.
Duke racked up 205 yards of offense in the second quarter with Boone passing for 129 and Josh Snead amassing 52 yards on the ground. Boone finished the first half 13-of-19 with 170 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, the Blue Devils held the Phoenix to just 10 first downs, 165 yards of offense and two field goals in the first 30 minutes.
Boone and the Duke offense continued to fire on all cylinders in the third quarter. After scoring on the opening drive of the period – a 13-yard pass to Crowder – Duke added a 49-yard Ross Martin field goal for a 38-6 advantage.
Duke redshirt sophomore quarterback Thomas Sirk came off the bench to add a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Blue Devils. Sirk finished 5-of-7 for 40 yards.
Elon, trailing 45-6 in the fourth quarter, tacked on its lone touchdown in the fourth quarter, despite being held to just 132 yards of offense for much of the second half.
According to https://goduke.com/news/2014/8/30/209629569.aspx
While Duke won the match up when opposing Elon on Saturday September 13, 2024 52-13 Elon lost the match up 52-13 though, Kierre Brown set an Elon record for kickoff return yards, but the Phoenix dropped its opener at Duke by a 52-13 margin on Saturday night.
Brown set the record on his second return of the night as he gained 18 yards on the return to give him 1,849 career kick return yards as he surpassed the mark of 1,872 set by Rod Clark from 1991-94. He ended the night with 174 return yards to bring his career total to 2,017.
"I think we played hard until the end, but the result is the result," said Elon head coach Rich Skrosky. "The game should have been closer than it was. Too many of our errors were self-inflicted on both sides of the ball. Overall, I'm proud of my guys. They're a great group. We're going to get this thing going. We ran the ball pretty well."
After the Phoenix (0-1) went three-and-out on the opening series, Duke (1-0) drove 61 yards in 11 plays to claim a 7-0 lead when Anthony Boone lofted a four-yard pass to the back left corner of the end zone to Issac Blakeney.
Elon came right back and put together a 13-play, 61-yard drive that ended when John Gallagher booted a 36-yard field goal. The drive began at the Elon 20 before the Phoenix converted a third-and-six with a 10-yard completion from Mike Quinn to Tre Lennon. That was followed by a 14-yard dash by Tracey Coppedge as Elon moved to its own 48-yard line. The maroon and gold would get the ball to the Duke 19 for a fourth-and-one before kicking the field goal with 3:06 showing on the first-quarter clock.
Trailing 21-3 after two second-quarter Duke touchdowns, Elon put together an 11-play drive that went 51 yards and ended with Gallagher's second field goal of the night, this one from 35 yards out, with 4:24 left in the first half. Quinn completed five of his eight passes on the drive for 49 yards during the drive that used 3:36 off the clock.
Duke added one final touchdown in the first half to hold a 28-6 advantage after 60 minutes.
The Phoenix found the end zone with 10:23 remaining in the game as #B.J. Bennett# ran the ball in from two yards away to cap an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Bennett started the possession with a 21-yard run out to the Elon 46-yard line before Quinn hit Andre Davis for 12 yards. Facing a fourth-and-seven from the Duke 39, Quinn sent a pass deep down the right hash marks and Brown made a leaping catch to move the chains with a gain of 34 yards to the Duke five.
Quinn ended the night with 19 completions on 38 passes for 190 yards. Brown caught five balls for 70 yards and Demitri Allison snared five passes for 36 yards. Bennett rushed the ball for a career-high 87 yards while Tracey Coppedge picked up 65 yards on the ground.
Elon's defense saw both Jonathan Spain and Julius Moore post 10 tackles.
Kickoff is set for 7:30pm from Brooks Field @Wallace Wade Stadium!
The game is going to be televised on ACC Network with Clay Matvick, Steve Addazio, Justin Walters commentating!