Duke gets Boston College at home Saturday with a sixth win and bowl eligibility sitting right in front of it. The Blue Devils are coming off a road win at Virginia last Friday night, while the Eagles arrive with momentum after back-to-back ACC victories over Pitt and Georgia Tech.
Boston College has leaned on quarterback Mason McKenzie, who leads the team in both passing yards with 1,363 and rushing with 614. Still, the matchup most of Duke Wire’s staff keeps circling is the Blue Devils’ ground game against an Eagles defense that has had trouble slowing runners, especially at the second level.
Zach Ciavolella sees Duke sticking with a familiar formula: defense, plus Nate Sheppard doing the heavy lifting. He points to Boston College’s struggles against the run and says that could give Sheppard a chance to bounce back after two relatively quiet outings. He also notes that Boston College can’t be dismissed after its performance against Georgia Tech, but Duke’s defense has been allowing just 16 points per game and should be in position to keep the Eagles in check.
Ciavolella predicts Duke wins 27-20.
Brian Stultz sees the same opening for the Blue Devils’ offense. He describes Boston College’s defense as strong against the pass but vulnerable against the run, which should put Sheppard and CJ Campbell in line for a productive day. In his view, Sheppard gets the ball early and often, which helps loosen things up for Walker Eget through the air and allows Duke to pull away while clinching bowl eligibility.
Stultz has Duke winning 28-17.
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Diaz pointed to the confusion created by recent player transfers and the absence of clear direction for the 2027 recruiting cycle, all while the sport waits on unresolved NCAA rule disputes. The lingering tampering case involving Clemson and Ole Miss is part of that larger cloud, and for the Blue Devils, the bigger concern is simple enough: without structural clarity, it is hard to know what the next roster looks like, or even how to properly prepare for it. [Read more 🡒]