2015 Duke Blue Devils football team

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
Captains	Jeremy Cash Matt Skura
Home stadium	Wallace Wade Stadium
Seasons ←  2014 2016  →

2015 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
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

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

See also: 2015 Tulane Green Wave football team

North Carolina Central

	1	2	3	4	Total
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

	1	2	3	4	Total
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

	1	2	3	4	Total
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

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

See also: 2015 Boston College Eagles football team

At Army

	1	2	3	4	Total
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

	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

See also: 2015 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
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

	1	2	3	4	Total
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

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

See also: 2015 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

At Virginia

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

See also: 2015 Virginia Cavaliers football team

At Wake Forest

	1	2	3	4	Total
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)

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
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

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

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.