After a heartbreaking loss against Notre Dame, Duke QB Riley Leonard suffered a hard-to-watch ankle injury. Where does Duke go from here if they want to stay ranked?
DURHAM, NC– Duke had Notre Dame in the final frame of Saturday’s Top-25 matchup between the Blue Devils and the Fighting Irish. Yet it all came crashing down, landing Duke in an even more dire situation than the 21-14 agonizing final score. In the waning moments of the loss, starting quarterback Riley Leonard went down in one of the most graphic scenes of the college football landscape this year.
As Leonard dropped back in the pocket, a Notre Dame strip sack twisted his ankle in a twist of fate that ended up losing Duke the ball game. But beyond that, they might have lost their quarterback for an extended amount of time. While the injury isn’t thought to be season-ending, sources report that the team believes that Leonard suffered a high-ankle sprain.
Leonard had begun to emerge as one of the bright spots on a rising Blue Devil team. Against Notre Dame he threw for 134 yards, 12 completions and a dueling 1:1 touchdown to interception ratio. Even though Leonard didn’t amaze on Saturday, he led a Duke team right up against a powerhouse Notre Dame team reeling from a 17-14 heartbreaking loss against Ohio State.
Duke had been on a hot streak with Leonard over the past two years. In 2023, the Blue Devils entered the game against the Irish ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll with Leonard spearheading an offense that has thrown for 912 yards and four passing touchdowns through five games. Prior to Saturday night’s loss, Duke was undefeated, even shutting down ranked Clemson in their season opener.
Riley Leonard also led the team in rushing, bolstering his status as a true dual threat QB with just over 88 yards on the ground. Duke will have to hold down the fort with redshirt freshman Henry Belin, a relatively unexperienced quarterback with only three career games under his belt.
He did appear last year against Lousiana-Lafayette where he completed all eight of his passes, impressively showing the future after Leonard. Bellin will be forced to rely on a underwhelming passing attack bastioned by receivers Jordan Moore, Jalon Calhoun, and Sahmir Hagans– all of which failed to eclipse 70 receiving yards in the loss.
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How long Bellin will need to stand in for Leonard is uncertain, there’s even a chance Leonard can suit up two Saturdays out against North Carolina State. However, odds are tipping not in favor of a two-week Leonard recovery. Instead, Duke will be forced to lean upon a new quarterback for the time being.
“We’ll have to find out as we go through the week, kind of where he’s at,” Duke coach Mike Elko said in the postgame press conference.
Luckily, Duke has a bye week to prepare Belin for NC State, who’s coming in hot to Durham on a intrastate road trip.
At the end of the day, Duke’s qualms about Riley Leonard may be squashed as the bye week may give enough time for Leonard to at least return to practice in a limited manner. Belin might be the short term answer, but without Leonard at the helm– Duke might be in a world of hurt.
