Duke weekly: Scheyer’s squad looks loaded, football drops Victory Bell

If you’re a Duke fan, this week was the full emotional sampler platter: a basketball team that looks every bit like a Final Four lock, a football team dropping heartbreakers in the fourth quarter and an off-field controversy that overshadowed a rivalry loss.

Here’s your one-stop briefing before the Blue Devils hit the road to Virginia on Friday.

Scheyer’s team looks like the real deal

If Tuesday night in Cameron was any indication, Jon Scheyer has a national title contender on his hands.

No. 2 Duke hung 103 points on No. 8 Tennessee in an exhibition that didn’t feel like one, winning 103-64 over the Vols. Six Blue Devils finished in double figures. The ball moved. The defense was suffocating. Rick Barnes basically waved the white flag afterward.

“I told Jon I’m sorry we didn’t give them a better challenge tonight,” Barnes said.

Freshman guard Deron Rippey Jr. dropped 21 points in 21 minutes. John Blackwell, the Wisconsin transfer Duke desperately wanted out of the portal, added 18 and showed exactly the edge Scheyer was hoping for — he scored seven straight in the second half, hit a pair of 3s and got a playful shove from Dame Sarr for his trouble.

Patrick Ngongba II looks like a different player. Leaner, more mobile, more agile — “Big Pat” finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, swatted shots, hit a 3 and threw down a twist reverse layup in the second half that had Cameron buzzing. Last season’s foot issue appears to be in the rearview.

Then there’s Cayden Boozer, who shot the ball exactly once but got singled out by Scheyer for his work — six assists, five rebounds, zero ego.

“That’s going to be the story of our team. You do have to sacrifice,” Scheyer said. “It’s not going to be where anybody is scoring 15 to 20 points a game.”

The Blue Devils led 54-30 at halftime and were up 42-14 before Tennessee settled in. Duke shot 54.5% from the floor. The Vols were just 4-of-18 from deep.

“I wish that counted as a game but it doesn’t,” Scheyer said.

It doesn’t. But the schedule won’t ease them in — Duke heads to Kansas on Sunday for another exhibition, then plays 10 AP preseason top-25 teams in the regular season. Scheyer said senior guard Caleb Foster, dealing with a foot issue, could be available against the Jayhawks.

Grammy-winning guest

Grammy Award-winning singer and pianist Alicia Keys attended Tuesday night’s game, sitting behind the Duke bench along with her 16-year-old son, Egypt Dean.

The pair were making an unofficial visit to Duke, since the 6-4 Dean is a budding basketball star who would like to play for the Blue Devils one day.

Football drops the Victory Bell

The vibes on the gridiron are considerably less fun.

Duke blew a fourth-quarter lead for the second straight week, falling to UNC 24-20 at Wallace Wade in a rivalry game that had Bill Belichick’s Tar Heels swarming the field for the Victory Bell for the first time since 2023.

The script was brutal. Down 17-0 after a disastrous first quarter that included a blocked punt, the Devils ripped off 20 unanswered points. Nate Sheppard — upgraded from questionable to a game-time decision despite his bad ankle — grinded out 77 rushing yards and caught a game-high 11 passes for 98. His 9-yard touchdown reception from Walker Eget gave Duke a 20-17 lead with 4:39 left.

Then Billy Edwards Jr. converted a fourth-and-4 with a 12-yard dart to Jelani Thurman, and Jaylen McGill ripped off a 24-yard touchdown run through a yawning seam in the Duke defense. A late Eget interception iced it.

“There’s a frustration in defeat, but this is just what college football is going to be like week-in and week-out,” Manny Diaz said after his first loss to UNC. “It comes down to who can finish and who can do simple well in not-so-simple times.”

Translation: back-to-back one-score losses — the 28-25 loss at Georgia Tech, then the Bell — have left Duke 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the ACC after a championship season. Diaz said he still believes in the group.

“There’s a good football team in our locker room that’s had two very difficult, heart-breaking results that have come down the last play of the game,” he said.

The Kimari Robinson situation

The ugliest moment of Saturday had nothing to do with the scoreboard.

When DaShawn Stone went down injured in the third quarter, cornerback Kimari Robinson leaned over his teammate. A female member of Duke’s medical staff ran in to help and tried to move Robinson aside with her arm. Robinson swatted her arm away.

Video went viral. Robert Griffin III was among those weighing in. Robinson posted a public apology Sunday night.

“I was completely wrong, and she did not deserve that,” Robinson wrote. “The injured player on the ground, DaShawn Stone, is like family to me, and I was scared he might be seriously hurt. But being worried about him does not excuse how I treated her. I should have controlled my emotions and I didn’t.”

Diaz addressed it at the top of his Monday press conference, saying Robinson’s behavior “fallen well below” team standards but declining to detail any discipline.

“Kimari has apologized privately. He’s apologized publicly. And that’s now a matter that we handle internally,” Diaz said. Robinson’s status for Friday remains an open question.

Virginia on Friday — and the injury report isn’t pretty

Duke heads to Scott Stadium for a 7 p.m. Friday kick on ESPN as a 1.5-point underdog, with a short week to turn it around.

The rematch with the Cavs carries obvious subplot — the last time these teams met, Luke Mergott picked off Chandler Morris in overtime to win the ACC title in Charlotte. Morris is gone. Beau Pribula, a transfer with Penn State and Missouri on his résumé, is Virginia’s QB now with 13 TD passes against one pick.

But the injury board is a problem. Defensive backs Andrew Pellicciotta (injured against UNC, could miss a couple weeks) and Evan Smith are out. Stone is questionable. Center Matt Craycraft, a co-captain, misses a second straight game. Pellicciotta also handled punt returns.

Mergott, naturally, isn’t buying any pity from Virginia — the Cavs had 22 players listed as out last week.

“We’re definitely expecting a chip on their shoulder,” Mergott said. “One chip I know that we will feel is losing our last game. They’ll feel that chip and want to come out and smoke us.”

One more thing

Director of player development Ranier Rackley, hired this offseason from Rolesville High, is named in a civil lawsuit alleging he sexually abused a student in his classroom in November 2025. Rackley, through his attorney, denies the allegations. Duke athletics declined to comment on the lawsuit filed in Wake County.

This story was originally published October 23, 2026 at 12:18 PM with the headline "Duke weekly: Scheyer's squad looks loaded, football drops Victory Bell to UNC."