Duke Blows Out Elon In The Second Half, Winning 45-17

Elon put up a fight in the first half, battling Duke to a 10-10 halftime tie before the Blue Devils took them to the woodshed in the second, outscoring the Phoenix 35-7 for a 45-17 win.

Darian Mensah got going after the break, throwing for three second half TDs. He finished 27-34 for 389 yards and was perfect in the second half, hitting 11-11 and connecting on his last 14 passes overall. Only Dave Brown had a better debut at quarterback for the Blue Devils, racking up 444 against Wake Forest in 1989.

Elon did cut the lead to 24-17 but Duke ripped off 21 straight to put the game out of reach.

There was a period of adjustment in the first half as Duke started the season with a new quarterback and a number of players taking on new roles, but ultimately the team settled down and began to excel.

They probably won’t have the luxury of adjusting like that next week as #12 Illinois comes to town and the margin of error will be much smaller.

• Duke football rides explosive second half to 45-17 victory against Elon
• 5 observations and more from Duke football’s first half against Elon
• Mensah shines in debut as Blue Devils rout Elon 45-17
• What we learned about Duke football in the Blue Devils’ 45-17 win over Elon
• Duke football vs Elon highlights: Blue Devils pull away in second half to earn Week 1 win
• Elon Puts Up Fight In Opening Loss At Duke
• Duke wears down pesky Elon 45-17 in season opener
• Mensah shines in second half of Duke debut in 45-17 win over Elon
• Duke pulls away from Elon after murky start
• Mensah Throws for 389; Duke Surges Past Elon, 45-17
• Box Score (PDF)
• Postgame Notes (PDF)
• Coach Diaz: Postgame Press Conference
• Cooper Barkate: Postgame Press Conference
• Aaron Hall: Postgame Press Conference
• Photo Gallery