Duke’s 4-0 start still hasn’t earned the Blue Devils a spot in the AP poll, but ESPN is giving them a far more respectful look.
While the Blue Devils head into their bye week unranked, ESPN slotted them at No. 22, a nod to a team that already owns an ACC championship from last season and has now won eight straight games, Duke’s longest run since 2013.
Andrea Adelson highlighted the kind of foundation that makes Duke easy to believe in right now. The Blue Devils are sitting inside the top 12 nationally in both total defense and run defense, and that kind of production has a way of keeping a team on track even when the spotlight hasn’t fully caught up.
The bigger national omission might be the work Nate Sheppard is doing on the ground. Through four games, he leads the NCAA with 644 rushing yards, which puts him 44 yards ahead of Florida running back Jadan Baugh, a Heisman Trophy favorite. Sheppard has become the centerpiece of Duke’s offense after the program lost quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate in the transfer portal to Miami.
Even with those departures, Duke still has a path to another ACC title run. The Blue Devils return from the bye with a trip to Georgia Tech on Oct. 10, and the Yellow Jackets are 1-3 after losing quarterback Haynes King and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner.
After that, Duke gets a stretch of games that looks manageable in October and early November against North Carolina, Virginia, Boston College, and NC State. The final month is where the schedule tightens up, with road games at No.
4 Miami on Nov. 14 and Wake Forest, plus a home date with Clemson on Nov. 20.
That kind of path makes 10-2 or even 11-1 feel possible. And it’s hard not to wonder what Duke might look like if Mensah had stayed put instead of heading to Miami.
Still, the Blue Devils have enough in place to keep rolling. Sheppard has been one of the nation’s most productive backs, and quarterback Walker Eget has given Duke steady early returns with 721 passing yards, six touchdowns and one interception.
By the time the bye ends, Duke will have a case to be ranked. Whether the AP finally notices is another matter.
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