A quarter of the way into the season, Duke has quietly built one of the more impressive résumés in college football.
The Blue Devils are 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, yet they remain unranked. That puts them in a small club with 5-0 Nebraska as the only undefeated power-conference teams outside the polls, even with Duke entering Saturday afternoon’s trip to Atlanta as the defending ACC champion.
The numbers have been strong across the board. Duke has already won three of its four games by double digits, and its defense is giving up just 11 points per game, sixth-fewest in the FBS.
Coming off a bye week, the Blue Devils also bring a running game and a passing game that have both delivered early. San Jose State transfer Walker Eget has thrown six touchdown passes, and sophomore back Nate Sheppard sits third nationally with 644 rushing yards.
Manny Diaz is comfortable with the attention staying elsewhere for now. His bigger concern is the place Duke is walking into. The Blue Devils have not won at Georgia Tech since 2018, and Diaz made it clear his team understands what that means.
"I think our leadership understands that we don't have anybody in our building that's ever beaten Georgia Tech," Diaz said. "We have a healthy respect for that program and what they do.
It's hard to not have an edge when you've got that. This team has a strong desire to do things that last year's team couldn't do.
They're well aware that this would be one of those things."
Georgia Tech comes in with a very different kind of pressure. The Yellow Jackets are 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the ACC, and they too are coming off a bye after a rough stretch that has seen them lose seven of their last nine games. The slide has followed a fast start to last season, when they won their first eight games.
In their most recent outing, Brent Key’s team led Stanford before allowing 24 unanswered points in a 34-27 defeat. Now the Yellow Jackets are looking for their first FBS win of the season, and Key said the response has to come from within the room.
"It's about collectively binding to the principles and values of the organization. The standards.
Standards are not changing," Key said. "It's about playing for the brotherhood in the locker room.
Just play for the brotherhood of everybody that's ever worn the white and gold."
Georgia Tech will lean on first-year starting quarterback Alberto Mendoza, who has thrown six touchdowns and three interceptions.
In Other News...
Duke Defense Faces Its Biggest Identity Test Yet At Georgia Tech
A bye week often gives a coaching staff time to sharpen the details, and for Jonathan Patke, Dukes defensive coordinator, it has also meant reinforcing something less tangible: the soul of the unit. The Blue Devils have taken real steps forward on defense this season, sitting near the top nationally in scoring and total defense, and Manny Diaz has pointed to the groups cohesion and its ability to keep opponents from generating easy chunk gains as a major reason.
Georgia Tech brings a different kind of test after making changes on offense, with a new play caller and a new quarterback steering the operation. For Duke, the matchup is less about matching stats than proving its identity holds up when the pictures change, the pace shifts and the game asks the defense to communicate on the fly. The next step for this unit is about whether those improvements still look the same when the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]
Dukes Frontcourt May Hinge On One Underrated Newcomer
Jon Scheyer keeps circling back to Drew Scharnowski as one of the more intriguing pieces in Dukes offseason haul, and not just because the Belmont transfer arrives with a reputation for bringing size and versatility to the frontcourt. The Blue Devils are trying to sort out a rotation that can hold up once games start counting, and Scharnowskis presence was always going to matter because of how he fits with returning big man Patrick Ngongba and the younger forwards trying to earn minutes.
For now, though, Duke is waiting. Scharnowski is dealing with a knee injury and will not be available for the exhibition against Belmont, which at least delays the first look at how the frontcourt might take shape. Scheyer has indicated the two big men could share the floor often, and there is even a path for Scharnowski to push into the starting mix, a development that would not only change the look of Dukes lineup but also ease the pressure on freshmen Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje and Cameron Williams as they learn on the fly. [Read more 🡒]
Jon Scheyer Just Made Duke's Colton Hiller Push Feel Very Real
Dukes 2027 recruiting class is already taking shape with five-star commit Kager Knueppel and recent pledge Luke Paul, but the Blue Devils also made room this month for a couple of elite visitors who could change the conversation around that group. Asa Montgomery and Colton Hiller were on campus for official visits, a sign that Jon Scheyer and his staff are still pushing hard at the top end of the board even as the class starts to fill in.
Hiller is the name that naturally raises the most intrigue, especially with his status among the elite prospects Duke keeps circling. Scheyer recently acknowledged the growing reality of two-year college paths in the sport, and that broader shift only adds another layer to the possibility that a player like Hiller could fit Duke sooner rather than later. For a program already leaning into premium talent and roster flexibility, the visit was notable enough on its own, even if the bigger decision still sits out ahead. [Read more 🡒]