Darian Mensah, Duke take ACC opener with win over NC State

Field Level Media|published: Sat 20th September, 20:21 2025

Sep 20, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils quarter back Darian Mensah (10) throws the ball during the first quarter against the NC State Wolfpack at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Darian Mensah threw for three touchdowns as Duke won its Atlantic Coast Conference opener, defeating North Carolina State 45-33 on Saturday at Durham, N.C.

Anderson Castle ran for three touchdowns, including a 66-yard burst with 2:19 left, as the Blue Devils (2-2 overall) snapped a two-game skid.

CJ Bailey completed 29 of 39 throws for 364 yards and two touchdowns for the Wolfpack (3-1, 1-1), but he threw three interceptions as NC State saw a 13-point lead vanish in a hurry in the second quarter.

The Wolfpack's Will Wilson had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs, while Hollywood Smothers posted 123 rushing yards and one touchdown.

Mensah finished 19-for-28 for 269 yards.

With two touchdowns in the final 2:20 of the first half and another on Mensah's 33-yard pass to Sahmir Hagans just 1:30 into the second half, the Blue Devils had 21 points in less than four minutes of game time and a 28-20 lead.

Smothers ran 51 yards for a touchdown on the next possession, but Bailey's two-point run failed. Then Duke's fourth-and-1 gamble paid off with Mensah's 37-yard strike to Cooper Barkate.

Duke's Wesley Williams blocked a chip-shot field-goal attempt, enabling the Blue Devils to keep a two-possession lead.

A huge sequence took place in the final two minutes of the first half. With NC State in position to extend its lead, a 67-yard interception return by Duke's Tre Freeman set up Castle's 1-yard run with 16 seconds left, so the Blue Devils took a 21-20 lead into the break.

Previously, on the game's opening possession, Bailey's hook-up with Terrell Anderson on third-and-11 covered 75 yards for a touchdown.

Duke was in the end zone on Castle's 2-yard run on its first possession, which was extended when NC State jumped offsides with the Blue Devils in punt formation and then Duke changing plans and converting on fourth down.

A 99-yard drive ended on the second play of the second quarter when Bailey fired a 6-yard pass to Anderson in the end zone. It consumed more than nine minutes.

NC State went 80 yards for the next points, with Will Wilson running in from 1 yard out for his first career touchdown. That included a fourth-down pick-up from punt formation.

Duke responded, scoring on Landen King's leaping catch in the end zone on a 17-yard snag from Mensah.

--Field Level Media

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