Two weeknight home games mark Duke’s 2020 football schedule
Having fallen one win short of a bowl game last season, Duke football will face a less daunting task to return to the postseason this fall.
Unlike last season, when the Blue Devils opened the season against Alabama in Atlanta, they’ll play their first three games of the 2020 season at Wallace Wade Stadium.
The schedule, announced by the ACC on Wednesday morning, also shows three consecutive October games with minimal travel. Wake Forest and North Carolina come to Durham to play Duke on Oct. 3 and 17. The Blue Devils make the short trip to Raleigh to play N.C. State on Oct. 10.
Times and television networks for Duke’s games will be announced at a later date.
For the seventh consecutive season, Duke will play at least one game on a day other than Saturday. The Blue Devils and Charlotte agreed last summer to move their week three game at Wallace Wade Stadium to Sept. 17, a Thursday night. It will be televised by one of ESPN’s channels, possibly the ACC Network.
Duke has a second prime-time weeknight game on Nov. 13, when reigning ACC Coastal Division champion Virginia comes to Wallace Wade Stadium for a Friday night tilt.
Best game
Oct. 17, North Carolina
Always an intense rivalry game, the passion for this one will be ratcheted up even higher after the Tar Heels beat the Blue Devils 20-17 last October in a wild finish that included some heated post-game interactions as the Victory Bell changed hands. Duke had won five of the previous seven meetings before Mack Brown bested David Cutcliffe in his first year back on the UNC sidelines.
Toughest stretch
Late November: Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami
Duke will need to play well over its last three games if it wants to return to a bowl game. The finishing kick starts with a Friday night home game with Virginia, which won the ACC Coastal Division last season. Duke hasn’t defeated the Cavaliers since 2014. Next comes Virginia Tech at home and the Hokies will be fired up after losing to Duke last season. Duke ends the season on the road at Miami, which has lost the the Blue Devils the last two seasons.
One to skip
Sept. 7, Elon
The second of three consecutive home games to open the season is the one against a team from the Football Championship Subdivision. Elon went 5-6 last season. With Duke opening the season at home with Middle Tennessee State a week earlier and playing Charlotte five nights later on a Thursday night, it’s okay to look past the middle game of the three-game homestand.
Must win
Sept. 26, at Pittsburgh
Duke opens its eight-game ACC slate on the road for the second consecutive season. Last year the Blue Devils smoked Virginia Tech 45-10 but failed to build upon that win. This time Duke travels to Pittsburgh to face a Panthers team it has only defeated once since they became annual ACC competitors in 2013. That’s six losses in seven years, including five in a row. Duke really,really needs to turn this series around.
Duke 2020 football schedule
Sept. 5: Middle Tennessee
Sept. 12: Elon
Sept. 17: Charlotte
Sept. 26: at Pittsburgh*
Oct. 3: Wake Forest*
Oct. 10: at N.C. State*
Oct. 17: North Carolina*
Oct. 31: at Notre Dame
Nov. 7 : at Georgia Tech*
Nov. 13: Virginia*
Nov. 21: Virginia Tech*
Nov. 28: at Miami*
Note: * ACC game
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 9:21 AM.