Duke may be dancing in September, but cloudy days await for the Blue Devils.
The team announced its schedule for the 2020 campaign Wednesday morning, highlighted by an uninspiring opening stretch and a grueling ACC slate.
The Blue Devils will kick off the season with three consecutive home contests, all against opponents that Duke should trounce. The Blue Devils' Sept. 5 opponent, Middle Tennessee State, and Sept. 17 opponent, Charlotte, both finished 100th or worse in ESPN's Football Power Index in 2019, while their Sept. 12 opponent, Elon, is not an FBS team.
After an easy three weeks, reality will set in quickly for Duke, which will face a brutal schedule from that point forward. The Blue Devils will kick off ACC play when they travel to Pittsburgh Sept. 26. October will be a particularly challenging month for the team, hosting North Carolina for a Victory Bell matchup Oct. 17 and heading to South Bend, Ind., to play Notre Dame for an Oct. 31 matchup that should certain spook Duke fans.
The Blue Devils will be looking to get back on track in 2020, as 2019 was the first time they didn't make a bowl since 2016.
The full schedule:
Sept. 5 vs. Middle Tennessee State
Sept. 12 vs. Elon
Sept. 17 vs. Charlotte
Sept. 26 at Pittsburgh
Oct. 3 vs. Wake Forest
Oct. 10 at North Carolina State
Oct. 17 vs. North Carolina
Oct. 31 at Notre Dame
Nov. 7 at Georgia Tech
Nov. 13 vs. Virginia
Nov. 21 vs. Virginia Tech
Nov. 28 at Miami
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