A look back at memorable moments from Duke football’s 2025 season
Duke football won nine games in 2025 for the second-straight season under Manny Diaz.
The Blue Devils finished 9-5 with four straight wins, capped by an ACC championship and a Sun Bowl victory. It marked Duke’s fourth consecutive bowl appearance and just the third time in program history the Blue Devils claimed both an ACC title and a bowl win in the same season.
Diaz now sits at 18–9 through his first two seasons in Durham, giving him the third-best winning percentage by a Duke head coach through 27 games.
Duke earned its way to the conference title game in a tie-breaker scenario, being one of a handful of two-loss teams in the conference. A Week 14 win over Wake Forest, along with Pitt and SMU dropping their games, earned the Blue Devils a bid to the conference title game. Duke’s opponent in the ACC title game was a familiar one in Virginia, which had beat Duke at home in Week 12 in what was arguably Duke’s worst performance of the season.
The Blue Devils got their revenge over the Cavaliers in Charlotte, taking down Virginia 27-20 in overtime. Duke held off a late Virginia comeback, when the Cavaliers scored 10 points to Duke’s 3 in the final quarter, with a Luke Mergott interception sealing the game in overtime. It marks Duke’s eighth overall ACC title and first outright since 1962.
It was one of a handful of game-winning interceptions for Mergott, who stepped into a starting role this season after injuries plagued the Duke linebacker corps. Mergott had another clutch pick for Duke in its Sun Bowl win over Arizona State.
