Almost a year ago, Wallace Wade Stadium was abuzz like it hadn’t been in a long time.
Duke came into its game against No. 14 Miami undefeated and looking to rile up a packed student section under the lights. It got loud early, but quiet even faster.
Duke marched down the field on its first drive, but let Daniel Jones get sacked untouched on third down in the red zone. Buzzkill.
Miami jumped ahead 14-0, but Duke followed with another impressive drive—only to settle for a field goal. Buzzkill part two.
It really should have been a tie game, but Duke fell flat and rolled over to get blown out. Now, that same Miami team is the only team in Duke’s way in the ACC Coastal Division. Buzzkill part three?
Maybe not this year.
Duke is locked and loaded to blow through its next four games against Virginia Tech, which just lost its starting quarterback and to an unranked Old Dominion, and three unspectacular Coastal foes in Georgia Tech, Virginia and Pittsburgh. Duke will probably end up losing one of those four games, but that will leave it with a road trip to Miami Nov. 3 to stay in the hunt for a spot in the ACC Championship game.
Given the Blue Devils will likely not be able to beat Clemson and assuming Miami drops a random ACC game—which it will—the game would be a de-facto winner-take-all scenario. And I like Duke in that case.
Outside of Clemson, Duke has what very well could be the best defense in the ACC. Paired with an eventually healthy Daniel Jones—who will may miss just one more game—Duke will have the balance in all three phases of the game to be a consistent force capable of avoiding a six-game derailment like it did last season.
Duke has been much more efficient on special teams. After being one of the least efficient special teams units in the nation last year, the Blue Devils are now the 14th-most efficient special teams group. They’ve more than doubled their punt return average and improved in limiting their opponents’ returns.
The Blue Devils showed they could compete with Miami last year, and are even better this year—they were just a couple plays away from having a fighting chance. Miami is a more talented team, but Duke is certainly capable of pulling off a road upset against the Hurricanes.
If Duke can weather the storm, they could find itself somewhere it hasn’t been since 2013: the ACC championship game.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.