2015 Duke Blue Devils football team

2015 Duke Blue Devils football
2015 Duke Blue Devils football
Pinstripe Bowl champion
Pinstripe Bowl, W 44–41 OT vs. Indiana
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
	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 →

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 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t e
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

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
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

Roster

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	`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.	#	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

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

At Tulane

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

North Carolina Central

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

No. 23 Northwestern

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

No. 20 Georgia Tech

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

Boston College

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

At Army

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

At Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	4OT	Total
No. 23 Blue Devils	14	0	7	3	3	7	3	8	45
Hokies	7	3	6	8	3	7	3	6	43

Miami (FL)

	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

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	3	7	14	7	31
No. 21 Tar Heels	21	17	21	7	66

Pittsburgh

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

At Virginia

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

At Wake Forest

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

Vs. Indiana (Pinstripe Bowl)

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

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

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

[Schedule-1] "2015 Duke Blue Devils Football Schedule". Duke University Department of Athletics. Retrieved February 13, 2014.

[Coaches-2] "Football – 2015 Coaches". Duke University Department of Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2015.

[1]

[2]

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 →