DURHAM – The 291 passing yards Duke piled up against Elon in last week’s season opener were the Blue Devils’ most since their game against Wake Forest.

In 2022.

Duke never had more than 270 passing yards in a game last year — and the one with 270 was the loss at Virginia, when the Blue Devils played from behind for most of the game.

In that light, it was an impressive debut for Duke’s new coaching staff and quarterback Maalik Murphy.

Upon further review and given how many close calls Duke had on downfield throws, it was even more impressive.

“I thought for his first game here, I thought he played well,” coach Manny Diaz said of his QB. “I thought his accuracy was really good, especially when you watch him spit out anything in that short and intermediate range, he’s hitting guys in the facemask.

“It was impressive to see.”

The stat line for the Texas transfer was 26-for-40, those 291 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Diving deeper into those numbers hammers home Diaz’s point about accuracy.

Per Pro Football Focus, Murphy was 23-for-23 on throws either behind the line of scrimmage or less than 10 yards down the field. It’s where 164 of his yards were gained.

And then you can see the difference on downfield throws; Murphy was 3-for-17 on throws at least 10 yards downfield. It’s where the other 126 yards came from; most of those coming on Eli Pancol’s 55-yard catch and run at the end of first half and Jordan Moore’s 47-yard catch on the one vertical throw that was completed.

“There’s probably about four or five balls that, were they caught, it probably would’ve blown the game wide open,” offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer said.

There’s one caveat that’s partially addressed above; some of Duke’s passing yards actually come on plays the staff designates as running plays.

Let’s explain.

Play calls in football aren’t limited simply to “run” or “pass” plays. Modern, spread offenses have reads based on the defense’s alignment and if given a certain look, a screen pass is a better decision than a handoff.

“Look, everybody in this day and age has some sort of RPOs in their game,” Diaz said. “So, what could be a pass on a ball spit out on a screen was actually a run called. Run-pass numbers in this era are always a little bit skewed. In fact, when we break it down defensively, we call those runs.”

Still, 291 yards is a bunch. Riley Leonard topped the 300-yard mark three times at Duke, all in the 2022 season; against Temple, Kansas and Wake Forest (in the regular-season finale).

It’s a great first step for Murphy in his third collegiate start, and Blue Devils debut.