A year after Duke reached bowl eligibility in the final week of the season with a road upset at Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons will try to return the favor to extend their season in Durham this weekend.
Wake Forest will be desperate to earn its third consecutive bowl appearance, which would match its longest streak in program history, but the Demon Deacons have struggled this season, with five of their six losses coming by at least 17 points. They have fared much better on the road than at home, though, with an upset win against N.C. State two weeks ago in Raleigh and a blowout victory at lowly Louisville.
Although the Blue Devils already know they will earn an invite to a bowl game and are just playing to move up in the ACC’s pecking order for bowl placement, they will need to match Wake Forest’s hunger to complete their first eight-win regular season since 2014.
“If we can’t exceed most of the people we play’s energy and intensity, it’s not going to go well for us,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. “We had a great little devotional this morning about a lot of those personality traits—their will, their conviction, their mindset, their heart and their drive.”
The Demon Deacons have played in a lot of shootouts this year, with a high-powered offense led by dynamic wide receiver Greg Dortch. The redshirt sophomore is second in the ACC with 954 receiving yards and tied for third with seven touchdowns, and Dortch is the clear top threat for a receiving corps that has five players with multiple touchdown catches.
“They’ve got a lot of players that we are very familiar with—18 juniors and seniors that are in the starting lineup,” Cutcliffe said. “This is what Wake has become and has been under [head coach] Dave Clawson. They’re very skilled on offense and very varied as far as the number of different weapons that they have, but Dortch I think is a great player.”
One position where Wake Forest does not have a returning starter is at quarterback. John Wolford left big shoes to fill after passing for a program-record 3,192 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior in 2017, and true freshman Sam Hartman won the job to start the year, passing for close to 2,000 yards in nine games.
But after Hartman suffered a season-ending leg injury against Syracuse, the Demon Deacons turned to redshirt sophomore Jamie Newman, who grew up about 30 miles east of Durham in Graham, N.C. Newman led Wake Forest to its upset of the Wolfpack, but was less effective last weekend against Pittsburgh, throwing one touchdown pass and two interceptions in a 34-13 loss.
“We recruited him, had him here in camp. He’s got a big-time arm, really athletic young man,” Cutcliffe said. “He’s played real well in this role that has been thrust upon him, and it didn’t surprise me that he’s played well.”
The Demon Deacons are less dangerous on defense, allowing 35.6 points per game—the second-worst total in the ACC. Duke should have much more room to work offensively than it had last week against No. 2 Clemson, by far the best defensive unit in the conference, when the Blue Devils failed to score a touchdown for the first time in more than a year.
“It’s going to be different how we prepared for Clemson to Wake Forest. Wake Forest is really twitchy, they’re really athletic, they’ve got some really athletic guys in the secondary and the linebacker position,” center Zach Harmon said. “They’re a really all-around well-balanced team.”
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