Tulane running back suffers injury, status for Duke game in question

Duke football opens its season in just 25 days, and its Week 1 opponent was just dealt a big blow on the injury front. Tulane starting running back Jamauri McClure sustained an apparent foot injury at practice on Tuesday and left the facility on a scooter, according to The Times-Picayune Tulane beat writer Guerry Smith.

First-year Green Wave head coach Will Hall said that McClure would be back “early in the season” but “not necessarily in the opener against Duke,” according to Smith.

The injury is a massive blow to Tulane, which defeated the Blue Devils in New Orleans last season without any contributions from McClure. The sophomore back garnered American All-Conference hype as a member of Pro Football Network’s Second Team.

He ended the 2025 season with 540 yards on the ground on just 83 carries, good enough for 6.5 yards per carry, leading to plenty of offseason hype after he chose to stay with the Green Wave after then-head coach Jon Sumrall departed for Florida.

After a slow start to 2025, McClure came alive down the stretch for the Green Wave, including a 121-yard rushing performance in the American Championship Game in a narrow 34-21 win over North Texas. In fact, it was McClure’s second-quarter touchdown run that gave Tulane its first lead of the game.

The good news for the Green Wave is that running back is probably the team’s deepest position. Florida State transfer Jaylin Lucas is certainly more than capable of bearing the load while McClure is out. The Houma, Louisiana native averaged 5.9 carries last season, albeit on a short sample size of just 27 carries.

McClure’s injury is a big one, but Tulane proved it didn’t need strong contributions from its running backs in last year’s battle versus Duke. The tailback with the most rushing yards, Arnold Barnes III, put up a measly 27 yards. It was primarily quarterback Jaek Retzlaff who exorcised the Blue Devils to the tune of 111 yards on the ground. 

Duke and Tulane are set to kick off from Durham on Sept. 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET, with the Blue Devils serving as 9.5-point favorites according to DraftKings. The game is set to stream on ACC Network.

This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Tulane running back suffers injury, status for Duke game in question