2015 Duke Blue Devils football team

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.

2015 Duke Blue Devils football
Pinstripe Bowl champion
Pinstripe Bowl, W 44–41 OT vs. Indiana
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
DivisionCoastal Division
Record8–5 (4–4 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorScottie Montgomery (2nd season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorJim Knowles (6th season)
Base defense4–2–5
MVPJeremy Cash
Captains
Home stadiumWallace Wade Stadium
Seasons
 2014
2016 
2015 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
Atlantic Division
No. 2 Clemson x$^ 80  141 
No. 14 Florida State 62  103 
Louisville 53  85 
NC State 35  76 
Syracuse 26  48 
Wake Forest 17  39 
Boston College 08  39 
Coastal Division
No. 15 North Carolina x 80  113 
Pittsburgh 62  85 
Miami (FL) 53  85 
Duke 44  85 
Virginia Tech 44  76 
Virginia 35  48 
Georgia Tech 17  39 
Championship: Clemson 45, North Carolina 37
  • ^ College Football Playoff participant
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

edit
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 39:30 p.m.at Tulane*CBSSNW 37–725,470
September 126:00 p.m.North Carolina Central*ESPN3W 55–033,941
September 1912:30 p.m.No. 23 Northwestern*
  • Wallace Wade Stadium
  • Durham, NC
ACCNL 10–1924,127
September 2612:00 p.m.No. 20 Georgia Tech
  • Wallace Wade Stadium
  • Durham, NC
ESPN2W 34–2020,101
October 33:30 p.m.Boston Collegedagger
  • Wallace Wade Stadium
  • Durham, NC
ACCRSNW 9–720,009
October 1012:00 p.m.at Army*CBSSNW 44–339,712
October 243:30 p.m.at Virginia TechNo. 23ESPNUW 45–43 4OT63,257
October 317:00 p.m.Miami (FL)No. 22
  • Wallace Wade Stadium
  • Durham, NC
ESPNUL 27–3030,143
November 712:00 p.m.at No. 21 North CarolinaESPN2L 31–6660,500
November 1412:00 p.m.Pittsburgh
  • Wallace Wade Stadium
  • Durham, NC
ESPNewsL 13–3130,241
November 213:30 p.m.at VirginiaESPN3L 34–4235,178
November 2812:30 p.m.at Wake ForestACCNW 27–2126,435
December 263:30 p.m.vs. Indiana*ABCW 44–41 OT37,218
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • 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.#NameClass
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.#NameClass
S 11 Gio Holmes-Garrido  Fr
S 20 Jake Kite  So
LB 24 Zavier Carmichael So
S 26 Corbin McCarthy  Jr
DT 93 A. J. Wolf  Jr
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
LS 57 Thomas Hennessy  Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Coaching staff

edit
NamePositionSeasons at
Duke
Alma mater
David CutcliffeHead Coach8thAlabama (1976)
Scottie MontgomeryOffensive coordinator/The Baxter Family Associate head coach/quarterbacks3rdDuke (1999)
John LatinaOffensive line/Assistant head coach/Running game coordinator4thVirginia Tech (1981)
Jim KnowlesDefensive coordinator5thCornell (1987)
Jim CollinsDefensive ends8thElon (1974)
Jeff FarisWide receivers4thDuke (2011)
Matt GuerrieriSafeties4thDavidson College (2011)
Zac RoperSpecial teams coordinator/Tight ends/recruiting coordinator8thOle Miss (2001)
Derek JonesAssistant Special Teams coordinator/Defensive Backs8thOle Miss (1996)
Re'quan BoyetteRunning backs4thDuke (2009)
Marcus JohnsonOffensive Quality Control5thOle Miss (2004)
Patrick O'ConnorDefensive Quality Control4thDickinson College (2010)
Josh GrizzardOffensive Graduate Assistant3rdYale University (2012)
Eli KeimachOffensive Graduate Assistant2ndMassachusetts (2014)
Clayton McGrathDefensive tackles/Graduate Assistant3rdBrown University (2011)
Sam McGrathDefensive Graduate Assistant1stBrown University (2012)
Reference:[2]

Game summaries

edit

At Tulane

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Blue Devils 3 10 3 21 37
Green Wave 0 0 0 7 7

North Carolina Central

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 0 0 0 0
Blue Devils 7 17 17 14 55

No. 23 Northwestern

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 23 Wildcats 0 3 9 7 19
Blue Devils 7 0 0 3 10

No. 20 Georgia Tech

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 20 Yellow Jackets 3 7 3 7 20
Blue Devils 19 0 7 8 34

Boston College

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 0 7 0 7
Blue Devils 3 6 0 0 9

At Army

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Blue Devils 10 17 3 14 44
Black Knights 0 0 3 0 3

At Virginia Tech

edit
1 2 3 4OT2OT3OT4OT Total
No. 23 Blue Devils 14 0 7 33738 45
Hokies 7 3 6 83736 43

Miami (FL)

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Hurricanes 0 14 0 16 30
No. 22 Blue Devils 0 3 9 15 27

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

Pittsburgh

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 7 3 14 7 31
Blue Devils 7 3 3 0 13

At Virginia

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Blue Devils 7 6 7 14 34
Cavaliers 21 7 14 0 42

At Wake Forest

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Blue Devils 7 10 7 3 27
Demon Deacons 7 0 0 14 21

Vs. Indiana (Pinstripe Bowl)

edit
1 2 3 4OT Total
Hoosiers 0 17 14 100 41
Blue Devils 10 7 10 143 44

Rankings

edit
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
APRVRVRV252322RVRV
CoachesRVRVRVRVRV242118RVRV
CFPNot releasedNot 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.