The biggest challenge of the year for the Blue Devils awaits
Date 11/2 || Time Noon || Venue Hard Rock Stadium || Video ABC
Next up for Duke football is a trip to Florida to take on the Miami Hurricanes. It’s a bit of a different world: the ‘Canes play in Hard Rock Stadium, where the Miami Dolphins also play. The stadium seats about 80,000 and Miami takes football very seriously.
The good news is that Duke has started taking football seriously for a while now too.
Duke’s Manny Diaz of course coached at Miami from 2019-21. Covid probably played a role in his downfall there but he wasn’t awful there. His first season he finished 6-7, then 8-3 and then 7-5 before being fired.
Given Covid, it was probably unfair but he says he’s at peace with getting the boot. It was his hometown school though, which probably stung a bit.
Now, under Mario Cristobal, Miami is 8-0 and could make a run in the playoffs.
Realistically, the ‘Canes are going to be favored and probably heavily so. But Duke is not hopeless: Diaz has injected a level of toughness into his defense that is truly impressive and you only have to score two points to win a football game.
Realistically though, you’re not going to beat Miami 2-0 or 3-0. You’re going to have to score some points, and Duke’s offense has struggled to do that.
To beat Miami, the Blue Devils will need a solid game on both sides of the ball. A win is possible, but it’s probably going to take a supreme effort.
