Could Duke football win the ACC title? 5 reasons why the Blue Devils have a shot
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Duke football, coached by Manny Diaz, emerges as a serious ACC title contender.
- The Blue Devils aim to replicate SMU’s 2024 blueprint to reach the ACC final.
- Duke seeks first ACC championship since 1989 under former coach Steve Spurrier.
Much of the preseason football banter in and around the Triangle has been about Bill Belichick’s return to coaching at North Carolina, about Dave Doeren beginning his 13th season as coach at N.C. State.
Belichick has all the Super Bowl rings from his NFL days. Doeren is second only to Clemson’s Dabo Swinney in terms of coaching longevity in the ACC.
But Manny Diaz, in his second season at Duke, might have the best football team in the Triangle. He also might have one that could challenge for the ACC title.
OK, that’s a mouthful.
The Blue Devils last won an ACC championship in 1989, when Steve Spurrier roamed the Duke sideline, scheming up plays and hurling his visor.
But there is a path. It was laid a year ago by SMU, which bought its way into the ACC, promptly made its way into the 2024 ACC championship game in Charlotte and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff.
The Mustangs, picked seventh in the ACC in preseason, were 8-0 in the ACC in their first season. The closest of the eight wins came at Duke, when SMU escaped with a 28-27 overtime victory when the Blue Devils were foiled — fouled? — on a two-point play that would have won it. There’s still talk of Duke receiver Eli Pancol being held on the two-point pass in the right side of the end zone, of a flag not thrown.
But that was then. Duke would finish 5-3 in the ACC in 2024. SMU would face Clemson, 7-1 in the ACC, in the league’s championship game and the Tigers would take a 34-31 victory.
Clemson is still at the top of the heap. SMU again should be strong. But don’t be caught overlooking this Duke team this season.
“No one can play at the same level they played at a year ago for us to have the kind of success we want to have,” Diaz said, setting the tone for this Duke team. “It’s how can I be a better version of what I was in the past?”
Here are five reasons the Blue Devils can contend for the ACC title:
Close-game confidence
Diaz likes to call the ACC a “close-game league” and it has been for many of its football teams.
While the coach will mention but not harp on it, the Blue Devils won nearly every close game last season – the SMU overtime loss an exception.
“I think why we prevailed in so many close games a year ago is because we were a team that didn’t flinch, that was mentally tough and believed in one another,” Diaz said. “Whether it came down to the last play of the game, we had each other’s back.”
Every season is different, but Duke has many players returning who were there, didn’t flinch, listened to the coaches, made the plays and won. That confidence can carry over.
Nasty defense, again
How many times have you heard a football coach say defense wins the big ones? It has been a mantra since college football was played in leather helmets and Diaz is a defensive-minded coach.
In cornerback Chandler Rivers and ends Wesley Williams and Vincent Anthony Jr., the Devils have some of the best defenders in the league. If All-ACC safety Terry Moore, coming off an ACL tear, can return at some point late in the season, that would be a huge addition – talent wise and emotionally – for the Devils.
Duke again plans to feast on sacks and tackles for a loss, plans to play the disruptive brand of defensive football Diaz wants and coaches. Getting tackle Josiah Green in the portal, Williams said, should help uphold the “standard of being the nasty, physical Duke D-line we’re used to having.”
And apparently there has been a tweak to the D in Diaz’s second year.
“He’s letting us open up and take control of the defense a little bit, letting us make our own calls a little bit, which gives us more freedom and makes us play faster,” Anthony said.
Darian Mensah
Call him the $4 million man. That’s the annual NIL package the transfer from Tulane is reported to be receiving at Duke this season. Soon, it will be time to see if he’s worth it.
Mensah has said, and did again this past week, that coming to Duke was not about the money.
“It wasn’t something I was extremely focused on as far as my path as to where I am right now,” he said after Tuesday practice.
Mensah was 20-for-29 passing for 264 yards in the scrimmage last week but came away saying he was disappointed, that he had too many missed assignments. But that’s what preseason practice is about, and Diaz knows what he has at the most important position on the field, praising the redshirt sophomore for his ability to extend plays while keeping his eyes downfield.
“We can make explosive plays off schedule and that is an exciting element,” Diaz said.
If there’s an X-factor in Duke’s drive for an ACC title it could be the $4 million man from California.
Better balance on O
Tying into and playing off the dual threat that Mensah should present, the Blue Devils could be a better running team this season. And they need to be to get where they want to go.
Duke was 16th in the league in rushing last season, averaging a meager 92.5 yards a game, picking up 3.2 yards a carry. Only Florida State was worse (89.9 yards per game). It was all too one-dimensional.
“The big push for us is in being a better running team,” Diaz said. “A lot of aspects go into that and one major aspect for us is in being more explosive. We’ve got to do a better job in hitting the singles but, boy, it also would be nice to have some extra-base hits and get some big chunks out of the run, as well.”
Duke needs a solid senior season from Jaquez Moore, and Diaz expects good things from junior Peyton Jones and freshman Nate Sheppard, who had 63 yards on nine carries in last week’s scrimmage. Moore had 674 yards in 2023 and averaged 5.8 a carry, but was limited to five games last season because of foot injuries.
There’s experience up front led by tackles Brian Parker II and Bruno Fina, along with guard Justin Pickett. Tight end Landen King is another portal add or promise, transferring from Utah after two years at Auburn.
“We will continue to make strides as the year goes on,” Diaz said of the offense. “It will continue to evolve.”
Manageable schedule
To get to the ACC title game and have a chance, the Blue Devils must navigate a conference schedule that again will be challenging but does not appear overbearing.
The Devils play early nonconference games against Illinois (at home) and Tulane (in New Orleans). Picked sixthin the ACC preseason poll, Duke’s ACC opener then is Sept. 20, when N.C. State comes to Durham. Late in the season comes Diaz’s first head-to-head with Belichick and the Tar Heels.
But there are no games against Miami, SMU or Louisville, picked second, third and fifth, respectively, in the preseason ACC rankings. Georgia Tech, the No. 4 pick, will face Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium.
There is, however, Clemson, the No. 1 pick.
The Blue Devils go to Death Valley on Nov. 1. They do have an open date the week before the biggest road game of the season, and extra time to prepare. Then again, so does Clemson.
The last time the two teams faced off, in the opener of the 2023 season in Durham, the Blue Devils won, 28-7. Two years removed, it should still be a game still fresh on the minds of both sides.
