# 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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 9:30 p.m. | at Tulane* | | Yulman StadiumNew Orleans, LA | CBSSN | W 37–7 | 25,470 |
| September 12 | 6:00 p.m. | North Carolina Central* | | Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC | ESPN3 | W 55–0 | 33,941 |
| September 19 | 12:30 p.m. | No. 23 Northwestern* | | Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC | ACCN | L 10–19 | 24,127 |
| September 26 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 20 Georgia Tech | | Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC | ESPN2 | W 34–20 | 20,101 |
| October 3 | 3:30 p.m. | Boston College | | Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC | ACCRSN | W 9–7 | 20,009 |
| October 10 | 12:00 p.m. | at Army* | | Michie StadiumWest Point, NY | CBSSN | W 44–3 | 39,712 |
| October 24 | 3:30 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | No. 23 | Lane StadiumBlacksburg, VA | ESPNU | W 45–43 $^{4OT}$ | 63,257 |
| October 31 | 7:00 p.m. | Miami (FL) | No. 22 | Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC | ESPNU | L 27–30 | 30,143 |
| November 7 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 21 North Carolina | | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC (Victory Bell) | ESPN2 | L 31–66 | 60,500 |
| November 14 | 12:00 p.m. | Pittsburgh | | Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC | ESPNews | L 13–31 | 30,241 |
| November 21 | 3:30 p.m. | at Virginia | | Scott StadiumCharlottesville, VA | ESPN3 | L 34–42 | 35,178 |
| November 28 | 12:30 p.m. | at Wake Forest | | BB&T FieldWinston-Salem, NC (rivalry) | ACCN | W 27–21 | 26,435 |
| December 26 | 3:30 p.m. | vs. Indiana* | | Yankee StadiumBronx, NY (Pinstripe Bowl) | ABC | W 44–41 $^{OT}$ | 37,218 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Personnel
### 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: ||||

## 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 | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |