Henry Belin IV, Riley Leonard , Grayson Loftis Starting At Quarterback Position For Duke, Head Coach Mike Elko As Duke Host Wake Forest Tonight In Durham?
Henry Belin IV took over at quarterback position for Riley Leonard when Riley Leonard was injured on September 30, 2023 against Notre Dame when he sustained a right high ankle sprain.
Though,
Henry Belin IV has been playing an upper body injury that has lingered for more then a month and still has him no more then 70 % healthy.
According Stephen Wiseman article on newsobserver.com
Grayson Loftis played Saturday at Louisville going 3/5 for 30 yards 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions.
Riley Leonard played at Florida State before being replaced by Henry Belin in the 4th quarter
Riley Leonard played, started at Louisville this past following returning high right ankle sprain Saturday October 21, 2023 at Florida State. At Louisville Duke didn’t produce touchdowns, offense was shutout offensively 23-0 where Riley Leonard was 9/23 for 121 yards, 1 interception.
According to espn app
With Duke preparing for a Thursday night game hosting Wake Forest tonight this question comes to mind,
Henry Belin, Riley Leonard, Grayson Loftis starting at quarterback position for Duke, Head Coach Mike Elko?
Duke comes into the game with a record of 5-3 while they’re 2-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference eighth in the standings haven lost their previous two games on the road including Saturday’s game 23-0 to Louisville in Louisville Kentucky.
When you think of Duke Head Coach Mike Elko the inaugural word that comes to mind is defense because at his previous schools Wake Forest (2014-2016) , Notre Dame 2017 , Texas A& M 2018-2021 he was the Defensive Coordinator!
The defense that 20th ranked Duke Head Coach Mike Elko is known that Tyler Santucci coordinates didn’t show up to stop 18th ranked Louisville’s rushing touchdowns Saturday allowing Louisville to score 23 points though Duke’s offense that is coordinated by Offensive Coordinator Kevin Johns didn’t show up either as Duke was shutout offensively.
As 20th ranked Duke allowed 18th ranked Louisville to score 23 points in the 1st quarter Louisville scored pair of touchdowns as Jawhar Jordan ran for 14 yard touchdown, Brock Travelstead made the extra point. Jawhar Jordan ran for 23 yard touchdown, Brock Travelstead made the extra point putting Louisville up 7-0 before Louisville extended their lead 14-0 over Duke. In 2nd quarter Louisville extended their lead to 17-0 over Duke this time, with a 47 yard field goal by Brock Travelstead. In the 3rd quarter Brock Travelstead would extend Louisville’s lead over Duke with pair of field goals a 20 yard field goal a 24 yard field goal extending Louisville’s over Duke this time, 20 -0 23-0.
Following Duke allowing Louisville to score 23 points Duke being shutout offensively Saturday leading to 20th ranked Duke sustaining 23-0 loss Saturday in Louisville Kentucky Duke Head Coach Mike Elko had this to say!
“The way we started was really flat on both sides of the ball,
“We got behind 14 to nothing on the road against a really good football team. That hasn’t been our recipe (for success) since I got here. It caused us to chase the game a little bit. And in chasing the game, we never found ways to get our footing on offense.”
It just wasn’t pretty,”“It wasn’t pretty at all.”Penalties were a huge factor,”“We committed way too many to have success on the road, and that’s on me as the head football coach. I’ve got to figure out how to get that cleaned up and fixed.”
We’ve talked a lot since I’ve been here,“that our job is to have the next guy ready to go. Today, I didn’t do that. I didn’t do that well enough. And so when it got down to it, we just didn’t make enough plays blocking. There was pressure all night.”
Following Duke allowing Louisville to score 23 points Duke being shutout offensively Saturday leading to 20th ranked Duke sustaining 23-0 loss Saturday in Louisville Kentucky Duke Defensive Tackle Ja’Mion Franklin had this to say!
I don’t think that really was the issue. I think that they were hitting a lot of runs and Jordan was hitting holes a lot faster than we should allow them.”
We want to win every game that’s left on our schedule,”. “So we’re going to attack this short week against an in-state rival. There’s nothing really more that needs to be said about that. We’ll be ready to play this game and we’re gonna be ready to finish out the season strong.”
According to Stephen Wiseman article on newsobserver.com
Wake Forest comes into the game with record of 4-4 1-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference are thirteenth in the standings because like Duke Wake Forest lost their previous Atlantic Coast Conference game on Saturday October 28, 2023 in Winston though unlike Duke Wake Forest lost to 4th ranked Florida State 41-16. In the 1st quarter Florida State scored a touchdown, a field goal as Jordan Travis ran for 13 yard touchdown Ryan Fitzgerald made extra point putting Florida State up 7-0 before Florida State would extend their lead to 10-0 as Ryan Fitzgerald would make 46 yard field goal. In the 2nd quarter Wake Forest would get on scoreboard with a touchdown as Ke’Shawn Williams would run for 2 yards , Matthew Dennis would make extra point. Before Florida State would score three touchdowns a field goal in 2nd quarter as Keon Coleman would catch 29 yard pass from Jordan Travis, Ryan Fitzgerald would kick extra point extending Florida State’s lead to 17-7 before Trey Benson would catch 80 yard pass from Jordan Travis Ryan Fitzgerald would kick extra point extending Florida State lead over Wake Forest 24-7 before extending their lead yet again this time 31-7 as Keon Coleman would catch 14 yard pass from Jordan Travis, Ryan Fitzgerald would make extra point. Then Florida State would extend their lead yet again over Wake Forest. This time, 34-7 . In the 3rd quarter Wake Forest would kick a field goal as Matthew Dennis would make 24 yard field goal score a touchdown as Tate Carney would run for 2 yards. Though, the 2 point conversion would fail . In the 4th quarter Trey Benson would run for 18 yard touchdown, Ryan Fitzgerald would make extra point.
According to espnapp
Following 4th ranked Florida State’s 41-16 win over Wake Forest Head Coach Mike Norvell had this to say!
I love the response after making its 2nd quarter move to blow open a tight game . To be able to come out and finish the second quarter the way we did , I mean that was a heck of a response.
Following 4th ranked Florida State’s 41-16 win over Wake Forest Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson had this to say about 4th ranked Florida State!. It’s the most complete football team we’ve played all season. They made explosive plays , they were very stout on defense . They’re really good in the kicking game . That’s kind of where we’re right now .
According article by Associated Press on espn app
Kickoff is set for 7:30pm from Brooks Field @ Wallace Wade Stadium!
The game is going to be televised on ESPN with Matt Barrie, Dan Mullen, Harry Lyles Jr. commentating!