Duke Travels To Northwestern

[Inveigle]

The Duke Blue Devils hit the road to Ryan Field Saturday afternoon to oppose the Northwestern Wildcats in Week 2 action. Duke blanked the Temple Owls in a 30-0 victory in it's opener. Meanwhile, Northwestern earned a 31-28 win (as 12.5 point underdogs) over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Duke Blue Devils
Duke impressed in the opener, thoroughly dismantling Temple. It was an offense which gained 500 yards against the Owls, while the defense did limit Temple to 179 yards, forcing two turnovers.

Quarterback Riley Leonard threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the team with 64 yards on the ground. He will need some help from his backs and receivers.

Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern didn’t dominate in their Week 1 victory, but the win was equally as impressive. Northwestern scored points in all four quarters against the Cornhuskers, and QB Ryan Hilinski shined. He finished with 314 passing yards, also two touchdowns. Evan Hull complemented Hilinski out of the backfield, with 119 yards on 22 carries.

Head-to-Head
Duke and Northwestern have met once in the last three seasons, with Duke prevailing, 30-23, as a 2.5 point underdog. Duke is on a three-game series winning streak (against the spread, too) dating back to 2017.

Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
Saturday, Sept. 10, 12:00 p.m. ET
Duke vs Northwestern Live Stream: ESPN

Northwestern is favored at home -10.

Prediction:
Duke 21
Northwestern 29

 

[bfactor]

Can Duke replicate the undefeated, unscored upon regular season of 1938?

 

[Devilsforlife]

Duke 27
Northwestern 24

I like our team and our coach so far. Let’s get it.

 

[Inveigle]

Can Duke replicate the undefeated, unscored upon regular season of 1938?

No

 

[Inveigle]

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

Fuck yeah we have a real coach

 

[DrKlahn]

Elko and Co. are obviously doing an excellent job of preparing the team to play as evidenced by how good they have been on scripted drives and in the first quarter overall. After that, it seems like the lack of high-level talent catches up with them, especially on the lines. QB looks good. In summary, 12-0 is very achievable.

 

[Pantone287]

OL is fine, I think. I actually think this is the best interior OL we've had since at least 2014 or so.

DL will ultimately be the team's undoing. We have zero talent or depth at DE, and get no QB pressure. The starting DTs are very solid, but they're having to play way too many snaps. I think comebacks will be very difficult in games where we're playing from behind, and the opposing offense can just run it at us over and over and dominate TOP - Johns' tempo offense means not much rest for the defense as it is, and our DL is going to be absolutely gassed in the second halves of those types of games.

Still though, gotta love how hard and disciplined the team plays with the talent they have, and their ability to absorb punches without breaking emotionally (cough, Cut). We've got some exciting playmakers on offense, and the DBs + LB Heyward are for real on D.

 

[Devilsforlife]

The schedule is also weak enough 6 wins are very achievable after this 2-0 start. A&T is as close to a lock as there is, and Kansas, UVA, GT, VT, UNC and BC all feel like toss-ups. Miami and Pitt are the only games I see as very likely losses.

 

[Pantone287]

Yeah, I'm glad we have a lot of Northwestern-ey opponents this year. I don't think this team is built to randomly pick off any giants, but it's built well to have some fun games against those middling P5 level programs.

 

[Devilsforlife]

Just being competitive again vs the P5 and in ACC play especially is all I truly ask for after the horrors of the last 2.5 years of Cut, from the jump pass onward.

 

[Pantone287]

College {Football|Basketball|Baseball} Ranking Composite

Remaining opponents currently ranked lower than NW's 66:

• Kansas
• A&T
• Georgia Tech
• BC
• VT

And UVA is 63, UNC 40 and perhaps falling further. About as easy of a schedule as we'll ever get prior to the dissolution of the ACC.

 

[SeanMayTriedToEatMe]

Highest yards per attempt for a QB at Duke this century was 7.4 by Thad Lewis 15 years ago. Riley Leonard is sitting at just over 10.5 ypa so far this season. There are better ways to evaluate QB play and offensive coaching, but I like ypa as a simple stat that tells most of the story. Unfortunately, Gunnar Holmgren’s 7.3 last season kinda ruins the stat.

 

[Devilsforlife]

I liked Gunnar at QB last year personally. Never felt he was the problem with the offense. I’d have liked to have seen him under some better coaches.

 

[aiw]

Fuck yeah we have a real coach

Just watched the gamecast because I was working, but think they should have gone for it on 4th and goal from the 1. Get it, game over. Miss it, the have to go 99 yards. Kick the FG, almost ended up in OT (L).

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

I think if they were up 7 that’s a slam dunk. 8 plus an extra point type fg is a little tougher. You may still be right though

 

[aiw]

We were up 5. The other thing is this kicker sucks

 

[physicsfactor]

They absolutely should have gone for it. Thankfully got bailed out by NW’s only good player fumbling.

 

[DrKlahn]

dude I had the under though

 

[Inveigle]

College {Football|Basketball|Baseball} Ranking Composite

Remaining opponents currently ranked lower than NW's 66:

• Kansas
• A&T
• Georgia Tech
• BC
• VT

And UVA is 63, UNC 40 and perhaps falling further. About as easy of a schedule as we'll ever get prior to the dissolution of the ACC.

Kansas beat West Virginia in Morgantown today.
NC A&T should be a big win for Duke.
GaTech beat Western Carolina today.
VaTech leads BC by a couple of TD's in the 4th Quarter.
Virginia Lost to Illinois today.

More wins are certainly out there for the taking.

Duke's start under Coach Elko is encouraging to say the least.