Duke Running Back Earns Mid-Season Honors

The Duke football team enters Week 8 with a 4-2 record, suffering their first two losses of the season recently. After a bye week, the Blue Devils fell on the road at Georgia Tech and then dropped a rivalry game to the North Carolina Tar Heels last weekend losing the Victory Bell.

With two-straight losses, the Blue Devils are now searching for some answers. The season isn't lost by any means but with a 1-2 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference, they are now likely out of the running to repeat as conference champions. But there is still a lot to play for. 

And there is still a lot of positives still, too.

The biggest bright spot for the Blue Devils has been running back Nate Sheppard. Through the first seven weeks of the season, Sheppard has 820 rushing yards which is sixth in all of college football. He also has eight rushing touchdowns, finding the end zone early and often this season. Sheppard has also been very good as a receiver, catching 28 passes or 259 yards and four touchdowns.

His play has also earned him some midseason recognition. This week, On3 released their midseason All-American team with Sheppard on there. He also received recognition making the Associated Press and Sports Illustrated midseason All-American teams

Sheppard has clearly been one of the best backs in the country, averaging 136.67 yards per game which is third among running backs. He's first overall with 179.8 all-purpose yards per game. Duke's offense centers around Sheppard as he's their go-to guy. 

But Sheppard has been dealing with an ankle injury that made him a game-time decision against North Carolina. He did play and was a factor despite being hampered by that injury.

With the good news of Sheppard being on the team, there's some other news that may make Duke fans a little uneasy.

Former Duke quarterback Darian Mensah was named to the list by On3 as well. Mensah is at Miami and is putting up a fantastic season leading Miami to a No. 1 ranking here in late October. 

The possibility of having Mensah and Sheppard in your backfield would have been awesome again for Duke. They likely would have been one of the favorites to repeat as conference champions this season again. But that's in the past.

Duke will have their chance to get some pay back on Mensah on November 14th when the two teams meet down in Miami.