DURHAM – Sunday’s second and final scrimmage of fall camp at Wallace Wade Stadium didn’t bring a sense of finality for Duke sophomore safety Brandon Johnson.

The Blue Devils still have plenty to do before the opener against Temple on Sept. 2.

“We’ve still got work to do, so I wouldn’t say (this was) the end of camp,” Johnson said, “but we’re into game mode now, so we’re just preparing for Temple and trying to get better every day.”

Along with the normal caveat that everything in preseason college football is a catch-22, an additional one needs to be made for Duke’s second scrimmage: Duke’s first-team offense was going against the second-team defense, and hence the first-team defense was facing the second-team offense (with the exception of a few rotating players).

While the first scrimmage had a lot of good-on-good action, this had more of a game-week feel.

What comes with that is a few mismatches.

The part that stood out – this probably has something to do with it being under the microscope entering the scrimmage – is that the Blue Devils’ passing game appeared to click into gear.

Riley Leonard connected with Eli Pancol for about a 50-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline on the first series of the scrimmage, and that was the first of five touchdown throws by Duke QBs. Freshman Henry Belin IV had two touchdown throws, and Leonard threw another on the second play of an overtime simulation.

The Blue Devils’ other passing touchdown was a strike from Gavin Spurrier to freshman wide receiver Jaden Watkins.

Duke’s passing game has come under scrutiny this week after coach Mike Elko called it inconsistent following last weekend’s scrimmage. He again said Saturday that it had been inconsistent this week, noting Saturday morning’s practice was a good performance but Friday morning’s practice wasn’t.

To Pancol, Duke’s receivers have been stacking good days and Sunday’s scrimmage was the best performance yet.

“They’ve all been real good,” Pancol said. “We’re just stacking each day, so yeah I guess technically it is the best day because the next day is the best day.”

On the other side of the ball, Duke’s defensive standouts were something of the usual suspects from the past three weeks.

Transfer safety Darius Joiner continues to impress with his knack for being around the ball, and his ability to lay big hits on receivers trying to complete catches. Early in the scrimmage, Belin made a downfield throw to Andrew Jones, who was jarred loose from the ball by Joiner.

Defensive tackle DeWayne Carter had a sack and batted down a pass at the line; linebacker Dorian Mausi had a third-down sack and showed some range in coverage. Cam Dillon, a grad transfer linebacker from Columbia, batted down a pass and got into the backfield for a couple of pressures.

Johnson, too, made some plays out of the nickel as that position looks more like a third cornerback than a third safety in Duke’s new defensive scheme.

“I wouldn’t say it was too many challenges,” Johnson said of moving to nickel. “You’ve just got to make sure you’re on your P’s and Q’s.”

That’s good, because Duke is running out of time to be on its P’s and Q’s before it’s keeping score in an actual game.

Here were my observations during Duke’s 16th practice and second scrimmage of fall camp:

Equipment: Full pads

Was today won by the offense, defense or neither: Offense

If not made clear above, the passing game was strong. It wasn’t flawless, but it felt like a consistent performance that Elko has been looking for all week.

Duke isn’t all of a sudden going to trot out the top receiving corps in the ACC, but it needs sure-handed receivers who can eat up yards after the catch, and who can occasionally stretch the field. For the most part, those characteristics were on display.

It’s also worth mentioning in this section that Duke’s running game has been consistent throughout fall camp. The Blue Devils’ offensive line is solid, and Duke goes (at least) four deep at running back.

After a lot of focus has been spent recently on the passing game, and QB battles are always going to attract headlines, it’ll be interesting to see how balanced Duke’s offense is against other teams.

Catch of the day: Hmmm … I didn’t mark down any ridiculous catches.

Sahmir Hagans had a busy day and a couple of his catches were throws into tight windows that he pulled in on the sideline.

Nicky Dalmolin had a catch from Leonard on a perfectly thrown back-shoulder ball for a 22-yard touchdown during an overtime segment. The timing was perfect and that’s harder than Dalmolin and Leonard made it look.

Matt Smith caught an early 24-yard touchdown from Belin in which the tight end caught it short of the end zone, pinballed through a couple of hits, and crossed the goal line.

All in all, no catch stood out above the rest.

Quote of the day: “I’ma be honest, I don’t care who’s going against me, I’ve got the same mentality, I want to dominate every time.” – Eli Pancol on whether he has a favorite defensive back to line up against in practice

Freshman/newcomer of the day: Henry Belin IV, freshman quarterback

Quarterbacks who enroll in the summer instead of January and start in their first season are a rare breed.

Calm down, Belin isn’t going to be Duke’s starter – but he’s further along developmentally than most QBs in his position.

We knew the 6-3, 212-pounder had the size, but the last three weeks have given Duke’s staff plenty of time to evaluate Belin’s arm and grasp of the offense.

The arm is, in an oversimplification, strong. Sunday’s scrimmage offered several more examples of Belin firing bullets into tight windows, and also putting deep balls in correct places.

It’s the grasp of the offense that needs to come, plus some work on short-to-intermediate throws. Improvement in those areas comes with reps and time – of which Belin will have.

News of the day: Without giving away anything depth-chart related …

Jordan Moore didn’t take a single snap at quarterback.

Now, there’s a disclaimer here that I missed a few snaps in traveling from the field to the press box. As many as 10 snaps. It’s *possible* he got a few in that window – but unlikely.

Leonard and Belin had strong days throwing the ball. There were zero interceptions (when Spurrier and Ty Lenhart were in, also) and five touchdown passes (at least).

Moore is going to play – he’s too good of an athlete to not be on the field in some capacity. And as good as the receivers were Sunday, it’s still a team that’s gone through the past three weeks trying to figure out who can make plays on the perimeter.

There will be a projected depth chart sometime in the next week that lays out I think Duke will line up ahead of the season opener.