Duke Blue Devils stats, records, schedule and standings

Blue Devils

Duke Blue Devils

NCAAF – ACC

Duke Blue Devils

2022-2023 TEAM LEADERS

Duke Blue Devils Football Team News

Head coach David Cutcliffe is beginning his 14th season at Duke, coming off his worst campaign with the Blue Devils since taking over a program that had produced just ten wins in the eight seasons prior to his arrival in Durham.

The 2 – 9 record was hopefully an anomaly for a coach that has taken Duke to six bowl games in the last nine years with a team that had made only eight postseasons in the previous 70 years, but the cupboard is pretty bare after a slew of transfers and graduations, with only five returning starters on each side of the ball.

Duke Blue Devils Standings

The Duke Blue Devils have been putting in a strong showing in the NCAAF this season. With a competitive standing and impressive stats, this team is a formidable force on the field. Despite some challenges, the Blue Devils remain determined to maintain their position in the standings and make a strong push for the top.

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2020 Summary

The Blue Devils were able to notch just one ACC victory in 2020, a 38 – 24 win over Syracuse on October 10th. They lost their final four games, all to conference opponents, giving up an average of 54 points a contest following a promising 53 – 19 win over Charlotte that ran their record to 2 – 5.

Duke was last in the ACC in scoring defense, allowing an average of 38.1 points a game and they weren’t much better offensively, scoring 24.8 points per game, which was 13th in the league and 91st nationally. If there was a bright spot, it was a pass defense that was fourth in the ACC, but that’s probably because teams could run at will on the Blue Devils, averaging over 213 yards per contest.

To make matters worse, Duke had almost 25% of their drives end in turnovers, 39 in all, the worst in the FBS.

Key Players

Their leading skill players are back, including leading rusher Mataeo Durant who ran for 817 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 6.8 yards a carry. If the Blue Devils can hold onto the ball, Durant may be able to help Duke run some ball control offense to keep their beleaguered defense off the field.

Jake Calhoun led the team in receptions in 2020, catching 39 passes for a pair of touchdowns. He is joined by Jake Bobo, who was the top yardage producer, with 358 yards for an average of 11.2 yards a reception and a touchdown.

Leading tackler Shaka Heyward returns at middle linebacker to a defense in serious need of talent and much of what is left can be found at his position, where he is helped by also having Ricky Shelton back on the outside.

Key Additions

Duke is in trouble in this department, since they didn’t recruit particularly well in 2020 and Cutcliffe wasn’t successful with the transfer portal. They’ll need to coach up the players that stuck around and hope for a hidden gem in an underwhelming incoming freshman class.

Key Subtractions

Two primary reasons for whatever success Duke had in 2020, and that was their pass defense, are both in the NFL. Chris Rumph II led the team with eight sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss and was the fourth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Chargers. Victor Dimukeje, his partner at the defensive end was just behind him with 7.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss. The Arizona Cardinals picked him up in the sixth round of the NFL draft.

Divisional Outlook

The ACC goes back to its traditional division alignment for 2021 after including Notre Dame in the mix for the Covid impacted 2020 season, while the Fighting Irish go back to fending for themselves. From 2013 to 2019, every team in the ACC Coastal won the title once in one of the most competitive divisions in all of college football.

This season is no different, as both North Carolina and Miami can make a case as the favorite to probably meet Clemson in the ACC Championship game in Charlotte. Both are ranked in the top 15 in the preseason polls and are coming off good seasons.

Virginia Tech needs to have a good season to keep head coach Justin Fuentes off the hot seat and could contend, especially since they have a favorable conference schedule with a key opening game against North Carolina at home. Pittsburgh could also make some noise, but Virginia and Georgia Tech will be looking to play spoiler roles while Duke is just hoping for respectability.

Duke Offense

After throwing 15 interceptions and losing six fumbles, quarterback Chase Brice transferred to Appalachian State, leaving a big void in the Duke offense. There are no experienced signal callers on the roster, but if Cutcliffe can figure out who to play at the position, at least the Blue Devils have some seasoned talent at the skill spots.

The offensive line returns a couple of starters, but it’s also an inexperienced unit that will need to gel quickly for Duke to avoid a disaster for a new quarterback. Turnovers were a big problem in 2020 and if they can keep those off the board, perhaps the Blue Devils can find more consistency on offense in 2021.

Duke Defense

The best hope for the Duke defense is for the offense to hold onto the ball and keep them off the field as much as possible. They lost NFL talent and didn’t replace it with anything close to who left after stellar 2020 seasons.

They have a lot of experience at linebacker and at cornerback, but beyond that, they’ll need to work together as a unit to see much improvement over what was a lousy 2020 performance. The safeties will have to step up to assist on the backend while the front line finds a way to get to opposing quarterbacks, but the real issue is stopping the run, something Duke didn’t do well last year.

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