Duke is walking into one of the biggest tests on its schedule with a familiar face on the other sideline.
The Blue Devils are set to travel to Miami to take on the No. 6 Hurricanes, and the early line has Duke as a 13-point underdog. That number comes even after Miami took its first loss of the season to Notre Dame.
This is the matchup plenty of Duke fans had circled before the season even kicked off. Former Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah now suits up for Miami after transferring in the offseason, and he’s not the only former Duke player making the trip. Cooper Barkate, Duke’s leading receiver last season, also followed Mensah to the Hurricanes.
Miami enters the game on a three-game winning streak and is coming off a 41-3 win over NC State on Saturday. Over Duke’s last two games, the Blue Devils have piled up a combined 88-5 edge on their opponents.
Even with the loss in South Bend, Miami still looks the part of a heavyweight. The Hurricanes were without star wide receiver Malachi Toney in that game, but Mario Cristobal’s team remains the favorite to win the ACC and make the College Football Playoff.
For Duke, the defense will have plenty of reason to be locked in when Mensah steps onto the field across from them. He left after helping lead the Blue Devils to their first outright ACC title since 1962, and now he returns in a Miami uniform with Barkate alongside him.
In Other News...
Manny Diaz Weighs In On A CFP Change Duke Fans Should Watch
As the College Football Playoff moves toward a 24-team format, Manny Diaz is already thinking about what the change could mean for the sport beyond just the bracket itself. The Duke coach said he does not support eliminating conference championships, arguing that a playoff should still begin inside the leagues and reward teams for what they do on the field rather than leave so much to committee judgment.
Diaz also pointed to a likely side effect Duke fans should keep an eye on: the growing uncertainty around bowl games in an expanded playoff era. If more teams are pulled into the postseason picture, those traditional December matchups could lose some of the relevance they have carried for years, even as the postseason itself gets bigger and more inclusive. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Needs One More Scoring Threat To Take Down Duke
Michigan State heads into the Championship Classic with a clear formula in mind: lean on Jeremy Fears to steady the offense, get enough production from the center spot, and keep Duke from dictating the game with its defense. The Spartans have the kind of structure that can make a high-profile nonconference matchup interesting, especially if their key pieces hold up against the pressure that comes with facing a team like Duke.
What Michigan State still needs, though, is one more scorer it can count on when the Blue Devils start taking away the primary options. An additional double-digit threat would go a long way toward making this a real test for Duke, because the margin for error shrinks quickly when the defense is this good. The question now is whether the Spartans can find that extra punch in time to make the matchup far more competitive than it looks on paper. [Read more 🡒]
Mia Minestrella's Winner Put Duke On The Verge Of History
Mia Minestrella delivered the kind of moment Duke womens soccer has built its reputation on, stepping to an overtime penalty kick and burying it in a 5-4 comeback win over Wake Forest. The seniors finish tied the programs career goal record at 47 and sent Duke into the ACC Championship semifinals, while also helping the Blue Devils reach their 500th program victory.
For a team that had to climb all the way back in one of the biggest comeback wins in ACC Championship history, the night carried more than one layer of significance. Minestrellas latest goal added to a career already packed with big moments, and it left Duke on the verge of history with the tournament still ahead. [Read more 🡒]