Wake Forest vs Duke: Football Series History
Here we are — the last week of the college football regular season. It’s been an up-and-down last couple of months for Wake Forest, and after last week’s enjoyable senior night against Syracuse, one more chance remains to end the regular season on a positive note. Just down the road in Durham, the upstart Duke Blue Devils await Dave Clawson’s team in a Big Four battle.
Wake has played Duke 101 times, the third-most of any program. The first matchup was all the way back in 1889, when Wake Forest beat Duke 32-0. All-time, however, the Blue Devils lead the series 58-41 (with two ties).
The rivalry has been dominated by long streaks. Duke went 18-1-1 from 1927–1957 and won 12 in a row from 1952-1963, while most recently Wake Forest won twelve in a row from 2000-2011. In fact, there’s only been six occasions where Wake or Duke have alternated wins– usually when one school has an advantage, they reel off multiple wins in a row.
Duke hasn’t beaten Wake in Durham since 2014, when they demolished the Deacs 41-21. However, they’ve stolen two games in Winston-Salem, beating the Demon Deacons at home by a combined 14 points in 2015 and 2017.
Wake Forest has dominated the rivalry this century, posting a 16-5 record against their in-state rivals since 2000. This is a revamped Duke team in 2022, but let’s take a look at the past three years of Wake Forest victories as we prepare for another edition in this storied rivalry this Saturday.
This will also be a reunion for Duke head coach Mike Elko — he was the defensive coordinator for Wake Forest from 2014 through 2016. He went 1-2 against the Blue Devils during his time in Winston-Salem.
READ: Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson discusses final regular-season game vs Duke
2018
The 2018 Duke football team was pretty good. They finished the season 8-5, with wins at Miami, Baylor, Northwestern, Army, and a dominant Independence Bowl victory over Temple. The final week of the season, however, Wake Forest had their number.
At the end of the first quarter, Wake was already leading 21-0. Duke quarterback Daniel Jones tried to lead Duke back into the game with an early second quarter touchdown pass, but that was the last time the home team scored. The final was 59-7, one of the most lopsided victories in recent series history.
Wake QB Jamie Newman went 18 of 23 for 177 yards and four touchdowns, Cade Carney ran for 223 yards and two touchdowns and Greg Dortch had 10 catches for 124 yards and a score. On the other side, Daniel Jones ended the game 17 of 36 for 145 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Duke was held to just 251 total yards of offense and lost three fumbles.
In addition to beating up on their rival, the win got the Deacs to a bowl game — it was only the second time in program history that Wake Forest qualified for a bowl game in three consecutive years.
Wake Forest Football celebrates as they achieve bowl eligibility with a 59-7 win at Duke. pic.twitter.com/UiMlfwFF1D
— Les Johns (@Les_Johns) November 24, 2018
2019
Wake Forest was better in 2019, and Duke was a little worse. However, the matchup between the two teams was much tighter. This time in Winston-Salem, the 2019 Wake Forest-Duke game is one of the closer matchups of the last several years.
Behind a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown, Duke jumped out to an early 10-3 lead. Jamie Newman answered quickly with a 40-yard touchdown run, and the game was tied. To start the second half, Kendall Hinton caught a 62-yard touchdown pass from Newman, and Wake was leading 20-10.
After a back-and-forth third quarter, Wake led 26-20. That’s when Duke kick returner Damond Philyaw-Johnson returned another kickoff for a touchdown, this time going 98 yards to the house. But the Deacs answered once more, as Kenneth Walker and Cade Carney each ran for touchdowns, and Wake Forest won the game 39-27.
Special teams was key in this one. Duke was out-gained 618-290 in total offense, but the kick returns kept them alive. For Wake Forest, the star of the game had to be Nick Sciba, who finished 4/4 on field goals.
READ: "The Conductor" - The many talents of Wake Forest DT Kobie Turner
2021
The 2021 Duke Blue Devils were… not good. Ending the year 3-9, they were outscored 477-274. They gave up 45 points or more in half their games. The week eight matchup with undefeated Wake Forest was not going to be pretty.
Sure enough, the game was completely one-sided. Wake Forest led 45-0 with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter when Duke finally scored. Sam Hartman went 24 of 37 for 402 yards and three touchdowns, adding 61 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Nine different receivers caught passes for Wake Forest, as the air attack was outstanding throughout the game.
The Wake Forest defense also had a great showing. In addition to the low scoring, Duke was held to 315 yards, and Wake forced a turnover.
Now, it’s time for the programs to meet again. As Duke and Wake Forest get set to take the field against one another for the 102nd time, the series history reminds us of how quickly things can change for a football team.
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Ben is a contributing writer for Deacons Daily A '22 Wake Forest graduate, Ben has also written at RedbirdRants, the St. Louis Cardinals FanSided site, for two and a half years.