Duke enters Saturday’s matchup with William & Mary in a spot that should look familiar by now: a chance to clean up the details, settle in early and avoid letting a lesser opponent hang around long enough to make things weird.
That matters because William & Mary has already shown this season that it can turn a game on its head in a hurry. The Tribe’s opening win at Villanova was one of those finishes that sticks with you. Villanova led 32-22 with less than a minute left, then William & Mary put together three scores in the final 53 seconds to steal a 35-32 win on the road.
Duke linebacker Nick Morris, Jr. said that kind of rally says plenty about what the Blue Devils are preparing for.
“That tells me a few things. One, that they play very hard.
We got our scouting report this morning [Tuesday] and that was the message, that they play very hard. Also, that example of the Villanova comeback tells me that they believe they can win.
I’m sure coming in to play a Power-Four team, they’ll have that same level of belief that they can come in and win.
“As a leader, the onus is on me and the other captains to make sure we aren’t taking a step back this week. We need to even ramp up the intensity this week because a lot of teams succumb to the temptation to treat a week like this, where the external perception is that the game is less important than it normally is against an ACC team, the tendency is to take a step back in intensity. But if we can ramp it up, we’re going to have a huge advantage over our future opponents.”
Duke coach Manny Diaz has already pointed to some of the same warning signs. He noted the Blue Devils have had early-season trouble against Elon in each of the last two years, not because of any lack of respect, but because first-game sloppiness can creep in. He also highlighted William & Mary’s ability to force turnovers.
The Tribe’s quarterback is Winston Watkins, a 6-5 starter who began his career at Towson. He is completing two-thirds of his passes.
William & Mary is coached by Mike London, who previously led Richmond and then Virginia. London had success against David Cutcliffe early in Cutcliffe’s Duke tenure. His time at Virginia ended with a 15-33 mark over his final four seasons, and since then he has coached at Howard before landing at William & Mary.
The Tribe’s season has gone sideways since that wild opener. They beat Delaware State 22-15, then were blown out by Lehigh and later overwhelmed by Fordham, 52-27. Fordham had been outscored 83-7 across its two previous games before facing William & Mary, which makes that result stand out even more.
One number jumps off the page: Fordham ran for 428 yards against the Tribe.
That is not exactly the kind of backdrop you want heading into a game against Nate Sheppard and Duke’s offense.
The betting market has noticed too. Duke is favored by 43.5 points, a number that feels enormous by any normal standard. Even if the Blue Devils control the game from start to finish, that spread leaves very little room for error.
So the formula is pretty clear for Duke: start fast, set the tone, clean up the penalties and play to the standard. If the Blue Devils do that, they should be in position to let the younger players show what they can do.
In Other News...
Dukes 3-0 Start Comes With One Concern Fans Cant Ignore
Dukes 3-0 start has put the Blue Devils in the thick of the early-season conversation, with two nonconference wins and an ACC victory giving the program a clean opening stretch. But the unbeaten record has not come with universal confidence, and the biggest question around this team is whether the offense can keep doing enough when so much of it has flowed through running back Nate Sheppard.
ESPNs Bill Connelly reflected some of that skepticism in his latest ranking, placing Duke 26th among the 35 unbeaten teams. The broader projection picture is similarly measured, with ESPNs analysts seeing the Blue Devils more in line for a bowl path such as the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl or the Freedom Mortgage Military Bowl, which leaves the idea of a perfect regular season feeling a lot more like a long shot than a destination. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Is Mourning A Sudden Loss Tied Closely To Coach K
Chris Spatolas death has brought a sudden wave of grief around Duke and the wider college basketball world, where he was known not only as an ESPN analyst but also as a former member of the Blue Devils staff. Duke University and ESPN both confirmed his passing on Sept. 21, and each offered public tributes that reflected the range of roles he filled over the years, from broadcaster to coach to Army veteran.
For Duke fans, Spatolas connection to the program carried an added layer of meaning because of how closely he was tied to Coach Ks orbit. His work on television kept him visible to college basketball viewers long after his days on campus, but his passing leaves a more personal loss around the program, with the full circumstances still not publicly explained. [Read more 🡒]
Manny Diaz Sent Duke Fans A Message With His Opening Gamble
Dukes fast start under Manny Diaz has done more than pad the record. After a 35-7 win over Stanford in Week 3, the Blue Devils moved to 3-0 and kept building the case that they can be more than just a spoiler in the ACC. The defense has been especially sharp, allowing only six points in the second half across its first three games, and the overall tone around the program has shifted from hopeful to assertive.
What stood out against Stanford was the message Duke sent before the game really settled in. Diaz framed the opening sequence as part of a broader approach, a deliberate effort to show his team wanted to attack the moment instead of easing into it. For a program trying to establish itself as a legitimate conference threat, that kind of early gamble says a lot about where the Blue Devils think they are headed. [Read more 🡒]