Miami would travel to Durham, NC for this Week 10 game against Duke. The Canes would hope to get off to a fast start to not give the Devils much hope, but that would not be what happened. On the 3rd play of the game Cam ward would be picked off and Nick Morris Jr. would return the interception for the touchdown and an early 7-0 advantage. "I think that pick actually got Cam going," said Coach Dealer, "after that pick he would end up going 11 for 12 the rest of the game and 4 TD's." Miami would take the next possession and go 8 plays capping the drive with a 16 yard TD pass from Ward to Xavier Restrepo, to tie it at 7-7. The Miami offense would get the ball back after the defense forced a punt. This time Ward and Restrepo would connect for a 58 yard touchdown to go up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter would see all of the action in the last 2 minutes of the quarter. Duke would score on a 46 yard field goal to bring the score to 14-10. Miami would get a huge return from Chris Johnson Jr on the kickoff as he would take it 96 yards for the score and a 21-10 lead. Duke would quickly answer right back with a big pass of 46 yards to bring the score to 21-17. The Canes would put together a huge drive that would end with Ward hitting Elijah Arroyo for a 10 yard touchdown and a 28-17 halftime lead. "That drive to go up 11 before the half was huge for us," said Dealer, "to have a nice cushion with Duke getting the ball to start the 2nd quarter was a nice feeling to have."
The Canes would need that lead as well as Duke would put together a very methodical drive going 13 plays and scoring a touchdown, they would also get the 2 point conversion to cut the lead to 28-25. Miami would get the answer back they needed. Ward would hit a diving Arroyo for their 2nd TD connection of the day to go up 35-25. Miami's defense would make the last big play of the day as on the next possession Jaden Harris would pick off the pass and take it back 33 yards for the touchdown and a 42-25 advantage. "We played a great game on all sides of the ball, if we can continue to play like that we should continue to win these games," said Dealer.
The Miami Hurricanes used a fast-paced offensive onslaught and big special teams plays to defeat the Duke Blue Devils 42–25, building a commanding lead through the first three quarters before coasting to the finish.
Miami scored 14 points in each of the first three quarters, jumping out to a 42–17 lead before Duke added a late touchdown and a successful two-point conversion. The Hurricanes relied on a balanced offensive attack—rushing for 148 yards and throwing for 244—while also capitalizing on special teams, racking up 186 yards on kick returns that set up short fields and shifted momentum early.
Duke kept pace in total first downs (18) and matched Miami in passing yardage with 245 yards through the air. But the Blue Devils struggled to establish the run, managing only 57 rushing yards, and were plagued by three costly interceptions that cut promising drives short.
Despite holding the ball longer and converting on 8 of 13 third downs, Duke couldn’t recover from the Hurricanes' early scoring bursts and their own turnover issues. Miami made the most of their red zone chances, going 3-for-3 with touchdowns, while Duke was held to just one score inside the 20.
Both teams played relatively clean football, combining for only one penalty. But the difference came in explosive plays and ball security, where Miami held the clear edge.
The win underscores Miami's ability to jump on opponents early and stay aggressive, while Duke, despite showing flashes of offensive rhythm, will need to tighten up defensively and protect the football if they hope to rebound in their next outing.
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