Duke has won five straight against Northwestern. Could they make it six?
Date 9/6 || Time 9:00 p.m. || Venue Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium || Video FS1
Duke gets a chance to move to 2-0 if they can pull off a road win at Northwestern.
New coach Manny Diaz came to Duke with a strong defensive reputation and the Blue Devils were aggressive in the opener, shutting Elon out until a field goal in the closing seconds.
New QB Maalik Murphy had some erratic moments, but he put together a solid game with 291 passing yards. He’ll need to be more consistent, but it was a good start.
Northwestern started off with a 13-6 win over Miami of Ohio. The Wildcats have an outstanding dual-threat QB in 5th year transfer Mike Wright. He had 178 passing yards against Miami and threw no touchdowns, but this guy has legitimate sprinter speed: when he was at Vanderbilt, his first collegiate stop, he held the Vandy 200m record.
He’s obviously a legitimate threat to break any play open and the Devils will have their hands full containing both the run and the pass.
On the other hand, Duke’s new no-huddle offense, if it works as designed, will put a lot of pressure on Northwestern’s defense.
Duke currently has a five-game winning streak against Northwestern. Running it to six won’t be easy, but it’s possible, especially if Duke’s offense improves in Week 2.
Duke may have caught a break with the venue: Northwestern’s stadium is being renovated and games will be played at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium, right on the shoreline of Lake Michigan. What’s the break?
It only seats about 15,000, which should negate the home field advantage somewhat.
Even if Duke loses though, the Blue Devils will still be ahead of Florida State and no worse than tied with Clemson in the ACC standings. And if they win, they’ll stay up on the Tigers, who play Appalachian State this weekend. Obviously Clemson’s going to be favored, but as Dabo Swinney acknowledged, App State is no joke and an upset isn’t out of the question. The ACC with Duke at 2-0 and FSU and Clemson at 0-2? That would be wild.
