Duke Blue Devils: There’s a Hill After the Bye Week

The Duke Blue Devils are 3-4 heading into the bye week. It doesn’t get any easier as they try to keep their bowl aspirations alive.

The Duke Blue Devils are on bye week this week in what has been a very eventful season so far. This is the season where they lost to Wake Forest and the year where they beat Notre Dame. This Duke team beat Army close and then lost to Louisville close. All this means is that this Duke team has been incredibly hard to pin down and also inconsistent.

That should explain perfectly why Duke is currently 3-4 at the moment. Of the seven games they have played, they are 3-1 in the nonconference and winless in the conference. That later number should generate some worry since there are only conference games left on the schedule.

As for why Duke lost to Louisville, Coach David Cutcliffe came close to blaming the officiating. He noted that the rules protecting kickers are pretty unfair for teams trying to block kicks. Duke cornerback Breon Borders was called for roughing the kicker on a Louisville missed field goal. According to Cutcliffe, Borders did just about everything right and noted the kicker moved forward in order to contact him.

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One player who has certainly stepped up for Duke in the first half of the season has been quarterback Daniel Jones. Jones was thrown into the role, but he has been Mr. Everything at times for the Duke offense. The offense looks to be in good hands for at least the next two years. Duke has played its best, though, when the running back tag team of Jela Duncan and Shaun Wilson set the table.

Bowl math is obvious. Duke needs three wins to get bowl eligible. All of the Central Division’s heavyweights are waiting for them in the second half of their schedule. North Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech, and Pitt make up four of Duke’s last five games.

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That makes the next three weeks crucial for Duke bowl chances. Duke will play Georgia Tech after the bye week and then get Virginia Tech at home. That would set up the North Carolina game in Durham as the bowl capstone game. The last time Duke was in that situation, they beat the Tar Heels to earn eligibility.

Regardless what happens, Duke is certainly learning about themselves and the conference. Maybe they won’t capitalize this year, but they will certainly be back at them next year.