2015 Duke Blue Devils football team

American college football season

2015 Duke Blue Devils football

Pinstripe Bowl champion

Pinstripe Bowl, W 44–41 OT vs. Indiana

Conference| Atlantic Coast Conference
Division| Coastal Division
Record| 8–5 (4–4 ACC)
Head coach|

* David Cutcliffe (8th season)

Offensive coordinator| Scottie Montgomery (2nd season)
Offensive scheme| Multiple
Defensive coordinator| Jim Knowles (6th season)
Base defense| 4–2–5
MVP| Jeremy Cash
Captain| Jeremy Cash, Matt Skura
Home stadium| Wallace Wade Stadium

Seasons

<- 2014

2016 ->

2015 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

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Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
Atlantic Division
No. 2 Clemson x$^  |  | 8  | - | 0  |  |  |  |  | 14  | - | 1  |
No. 14 Florida State |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 10  | - | 3  |
Louisville |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
NC State |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 6  |
Syracuse |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 8  |
Wake Forest |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 9  |
Boston College |  | 0  | - | 8  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 9  |
Coastal Division
No. 15 North Carolina x  |  | 8  | - | 0  |  |  |  |  | 11  | - | 3  |
Pittsburgh |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
Miami (FL) |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
Duke |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
Virginia Tech |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 6  |
Virginia |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 8  |
Georgia Tech |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 9  |
Championship: Clemson 45, North Carolina 37

* ^ - College Football Playoff participant
* $ - Conference champion
* x - Division champion/co-champions

Rankings from AP Poll

The 2015 Duke Blue Devils football team represented Duke University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in the Coastal Division. The team was led by head coach David Cutcliffe, in his eighth year, and played its home games at the newly renovated Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. They finished the season 8–5 overall and 4–4 in ACC play to tie for fourth place in the Coastal Division. They were invited to the Pinstripe Bowl, where they defeated Indiana, 44–41, in overtime.

## Schedule[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Rank| Site| TV| Result| Attendance

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September 3| 9:30 p.m.| at Tulane*| |

* Yulman Stadium
* New Orleans, LA

| CBSSN| W 37–7| 25,470
September 12| 6:00 p.m.| North Carolina Central*| |

* Wallace Wade Stadium
* Durham, NC

| ESPN3| W 55–0| 33,941
September 19| 12:30 p.m.| No. 23 Northwestern*| |

* Wallace Wade Stadium
* Durham, NC

| ACCN| L 10–19| 24,127
September 26| 12:00 p.m.| No. 20 Georgia Tech| |

* Wallace Wade Stadium
* Durham, NC

| ESPN2| W 34–20| 20,101
October 3| 3:30 p.m.| Boston College| |

* Wallace Wade Stadium
* Durham, NC

| ACCRSN| W 9–7| 20,009
October 10| 12:00 p.m.| at Army*| |

* Michie Stadium
* West Point, NY

| CBSSN| W 44–3| 39,712
October 24| 3:30 p.m.| at Virginia Tech| No. 23|

* Lane Stadium
* Blacksburg, VA

| ESPNU| W 45–43 4OT| 63,257
October 31| 7:00 p.m.| Miami (FL)| No. 22|

* Wallace Wade Stadium
* Durham, NC

| ESPNU| L 27–30| 30,143
November 7| 12:00 p.m.| at No. 21 North Carolina| |

* Kenan Memorial Stadium
* Chapel Hill, NC (Victory Bell)

| ESPN2| L 31–66| 60,500
November 14| 12:00 p.m.| Pittsburgh| |

* Wallace Wade Stadium
* Durham, NC

| ESPNews| L 13–31| 30,241
November 21| 3:30 p.m.| at Virginia| |

* Scott Stadium
* Charlottesville, VA

| ESPN3| L 34–42| 35,178
November 28| 12:30 p.m.| at Wake Forest| |

* BB&T Field
* Winston-Salem, NC (rivalry)

| ACCN| W 27–21| 26,435
December 26| 3:30 p.m.| vs. Indiana*| |

* Yankee Stadium
* Bronx, NY (Pinstripe Bowl)

| ABC| W 44–41 OT| 37,218

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Eastern time

[1]

## Personnel[edit]

### Roster[edit]

2015 Duke Blue Devils football team roster

Players  | Coaches
Offense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

QB | `1` | Thomas Sirk |  Jr
WR | `3` | T. J. Rahming | Fr
WR | `10` | Ryan Smith | Jr
QB | `17` | Daniel Jones |  Fr
C | `62` | Matt Skura |  Sr
G | `67` | Lucas Patrick |  Sr
G | `79` | Tanner Stone |  Jr
TE | `80` | David Reeves |  Sr
TE | `81` | Davis Koppenhaver | So
WR | `82` | Chris Taylor |  Fr
WR | `83` | Anthony Nash |  Jr
TE | `85` | Dan Beilinson |  Jr
WR | `87` | Max McCaffrey | Sr
Defense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

S | `20` | Jake Kite |  So
LB | `24` | Zavier Carmichael | So
S | `26` | Corbin McCarthy |  Jr
DT | `93` | A. J. Wolf |  Jr
Special teams | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

LS | `57` | Thomas Hennessy |  Jr

Head coach

* David Cutcliffe

Coordinators/assistant coaches

* * *

Legend

* (C) Team captain
* (S) Suspended
* (I) Ineligible

* Injured
* Redshirt

* * *

Roster

### Coaching staff[edit]

Name | Position | Seasons at
Duke | Alma mater

|
|
|

David Cutcliffe | Head Coach | 8th | Alabama (1976)
Scottie Montgomery | Offensive coordinator/The Baxter Family Associate head coach/quarterbacks | 3rd | Duke (1999)
John Latina | Offensive line/Assistant head coach/Running game coordinator | 4th | Virginia Tech (1981)
Jim Knowles | Defensive coordinator | 5th | Cornell (1987)
Jim Collins | Defensive ends | 8th | Elon (1974)
Jeff Faris | Wide receivers | 4th | Duke (2011)
Matt Guerrieri | Safeties | 4th | Davidson College (2011)
Zac Roper | Special teams coordinator/Tight ends/recruiting coordinator | 8th | Ole Miss (2001)
Derek Jones | Assistant Special Teams coordinator/Defensive Backs | 8th | Ole Miss (1996)
Re'quan Boyette | Running backs | 4th | Duke (2009)
Marcus Johnson | Offensive Quality Control | 5th | Ole Miss (2004)
Patrick O'Connor | Defensive Quality Control | 4th | Dickinson College (2010)
Josh Grizzard | Offensive Graduate Assistant | 3rd | Yale University (2012)
Eli Keimach | Offensive Graduate Assistant | 2nd | Massachusetts (2014)
Clayton McGrath | Defensive tackles/Graduate Assistant | 3rd | Brown University (2011)
Sam McGrath | Defensive Graduate Assistant | 1st | Brown University (2012)
Reference:[2]

## Game summaries[edit]

### At Tulane[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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Blue Devils | 3  | 10  | 3  | 21 | 37
Green Wave  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 7 | 7

See also: 2015 Tulane Green Wave football team

### North Carolina Central[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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Eagles  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0 | 0
Blue Devils | 7  | 17  | 17  | 14 | 55

See also: 2015 North Carolina Central Eagles football team

### No. 23 Northwestern[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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No. 23 Wildcats | 0  | 3  | 9  | 7 | 19
Blue Devils  | 7  | 0  | 0  | 3 | 10

See also: 2015 Northwestern Wildcats football team

### No. 20 Georgia Tech[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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No. 20 Yellow Jackets  | 3  | 7  | 3  | 7 | 20
Blue Devils | 19  | 0  | 7  | 8 | 34

See also: 2015 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

### Boston College[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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Eagles  | 0  | 0  | 7  | 0 | 7
Blue Devils | 3  | 6  | 0  | 0 | 9

See also: 2015 Boston College Eagles football team

### At Army[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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Blue Devils | 10  | 17  | 3  | 14 | 44
Black Knights  | 0  | 0  | 3  | 0 | 3

See also: 2015 Army Black Knights football team

### At Virginia Tech[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4| OT| 2OT| 3OT| 4OT | Total

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No. 23 Blue Devils | 14  | 0  | 7  | 3| 3| 7| 3| 8 | 45
Hokies  | 7  | 3  | 6  | 8| 3| 7| 3| 6 | 43

See also: 2015 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

### Miami (FL)[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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Hurricanes | 0  | 14  | 0  | 16 | 30
No. 22 Blue Devils  | 0  | 3  | 9  | 15 | 27

See also: 2015 Miami Hurricanes football team

This game is best remembered for the finish, in which Miami used eight laterals to return the kickoff with no time left and get the win. However, photographic evidence later proved that one of the laterals was still in the Miami player's hand as his knee was down, which if caught by the referees would have ended the play and kept Duke the winners. The ACC apologized to Duke and suspended the officials from this game.

### At No. 21 North Carolina[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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Blue Devils  | 3  | 7  | 14  | 7 | 31
No. 21 Tar Heels | 21  | 17  | 21  | 7 | 66

See also: 2015 North Carolina Tar Heels football team and Victory Bell (Duke–North Carolina)

### Pittsburgh[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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Panthers | 7  | 3  | 14  | 7 | 31
Blue Devils  | 7  | 3  | 3  | 0 | 13

See also: 2015 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

### At Virginia[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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Blue Devils  | 7  | 6  | 7  | 14 | 34
Cavaliers | 21  | 7  | 14  | 0 | 42

See also: 2015 Virginia Cavaliers football team

### At Wake Forest[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

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Blue Devils | 7  | 10  | 7  | 3 | 27
Demon Deacons  | 7  | 0  | 0  | 14 | 21

See also: 2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team and Tobacco Road rivalry

### Vs. Indiana (Pinstripe Bowl)[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4| OT | Total

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Hoosiers  | 0  | 17  | 14  | 10| 0 | 41
Blue Devils | 10  | 7  | 10  | 14| 3 | 44

See also: 2015 Indiana Hoosiers football team and 2015 Pinstripe Bowl

## Rankings[edit]

Further information: 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes| Week

|

Poll| Pre| 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| Final
AP| —| —| RV| —| RV| RV| 25| 23| 22| RV| —| —| —| —| —| RV
Coaches| RV| RV| RV| —| RV| RV| 24| 21| 18| RV| —| —| —| —| —| RV
CFP| Not released| —| —| —| —| —| —| Not released

## References[edit]

1. ^ "2015 Duke Blue Devils Football Schedule". Duke University Department of Athletics. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
2. ^ "Football – 2015 Coaches". Duke University Department of Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2015.

* v
* t
* e

Duke Blue Devils football

Venues|

* Hanes Field (c. 1913–1928)
* Wallace Wade Stadium (1929–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* North Carolina: Victory Bell

Culture & lore|

* History
* Blue Devil
* "Fight! Blue Devils, Fight!"
* Blue and White (Duke fight song)
* Marching band

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

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*[v]: View this template
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*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number