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...
Georgia Techs Reck Day Debut Comes With Real Pressure Against Duke
Saturdays matchup against undefeated Duke brings more than another chance for Georgia Tech to reset its season. The Yellow Jackets will unveil a new Reck decal on their helmets for the first time, adding a bit of fresh visual flair to a game that already carries plenty of weight, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Brent Key spent part of his media availability focused on the challenge in front of his team, calling attention to Dukes defense while making clear the standards in Atlanta have not changed. Georgia Tech is 1-3, but the tone around the program is still about competing the right way, and this weekend offers a spotlight game with a little extra edge built in. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Faces A Brutal Bye-Week Test Up Front
Georgia Tech comes out of the bye week staring at a difficult reset on both lines as it prepares to host undefeated Duke in Week 6. The Yellow Jackets enter the matchup as underdogs in ESPNs Football Power Index, and the concern is easy to see: Duke has paired a strong rushing attack with a defense that brings steady pressure, while Georgia Tech has been trying to manage offensive line injuries and uneven run blocking.
For a team still searching for cleaner footing up front, this is the kind of opponent that can expose every weakness in a hurry. Dukes defensive front and a top running back give the Blue Devils a clear path to control the matchup, which leaves Georgia Tech needing a sharper, sturdier performance than it has shown in the trenches so far. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Defense Faces Its Biggest Identity Test Yet At Georgia Tech
Dukes defense heads into the Georgia Tech matchup coming off a bye week with a clearer sense of itself than it had earlier in the season, and that has become a point of emphasis for defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke. He has talked about the soul of the unit as the Blue Devils try to carry forward the progress that has pushed them near the top of the national rankings in scoring and total defense, while coach Manny Diaz has pointed to the groups cohesion as a major reason for the improvement.
The test gets sharper now because Georgia Tech brings in a fresh look on offense with a new coordinator and quarterback, which can force even a settled defense to adjust quickly. For Duke, the challenge is not just matching up with scheme changes, but proving that its identity holds up when the script changes and the pressure rises on the road to keep that defensive momentum intact. [Read more 🡒]