Last time Duke traveled to South Bend I was there to watch Daniel Jones at age 19 throw for 290 yards and three TD's while completing 75% of his throws (24-32) for a 38-35 victory over the Irish. Since then, Duke missed a bowl game last season and got blown out by Notre Dame at Wallace Wade. Plus we're dealing with a Pandemic, traveling for a game in South Bend again, AND there will be limited seating- 20% for the game.
Last season was a dismal finish for Duke Football. It was a tough stretch towards the end of the season, starting with a blowout loss to Orange Bowl participant, Virginia, rising North Carolina, and Notre Dame and playing spoiler to Miami’s Bowl bid was all the Blue Devils had by the end of the season. In the end, the Blue Devils finished 5-7 and they wouldn’t go to a bowl game.
What led to missing a bowl game for just the second time since 2012? Well, they were
110th in passing offense, and
79th in rushing offense. This led to just
25.3 points per game, also known as, not enough points per game.
On the other hand, their defense was legitimately good. They did allow more points on average than they scored,
29.2, which explains the losing record. Duke’s true strength came from being disruptive on defense.
Duke will need to continue to be disruptive, and aggressive on defense in 2020. The plan is to start the attack at defensive end. Victor Dimukeje and Chris Rumph II will lead the charge here. Both Dimukeje and Rumph found themselves on All-ACC teams in 2019, and combined for 15 sacks. Their ability to press quarterbacks should lead to forced and errant throws, which will in turn open things up for a secondary that plans on attacking mistakes.
This ability to force opponent’s mistakes, through aggression, is how Duke will have to beat more talented opponents. The Blue Devil’s need to steal possessions.
On offense, Chase Brice will be taking over for the Blue Devils. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he was Trevor Lawrence’s backup for their National Championship run in 2018. When Lawrence went down against Syracuse, it was Brice who had to save the day.
After Brice, though, the cupboard is bare. Noah Gray, a senior tight end, will likely be the Blue Devil’s leading receiver. He had 51 catches and 3 touchdowns last season. Meanwhile, Deon Jackson is a senior at running back and last season rushed for 641 yards. That was down from 2018 when he rushed for 847 yards.Duke also brought in talented offensive lineman
Devery Hamilton, a transfer from Stanford.
There are surely some question marks about the defense, but there is a lot of talent in defensive ends
Victor Dimukeje and
Chris Rumph. That group will be fun to watch against a loaded group of Notre Dame offensive linemen.
Prediction- Notre Dame wins 35-17
www.cbssports.com
