For the ACC slate, our football beat writers predict whether the Blue Devils will pick up a win in their weekly matchup. In a highly-anticipated home matchup, Duke will welcome No. 21 SMU to Wallace Wade Stadium at 8 p.m. Saturday:
Ranjan Jindal: SMU 28-24
I do have a strange feeling about this game, and think that it might be the one that Duke gets its offense back on track, especially with the possibility of both Jaquez Moore and Jordan Moore playing. For the Blue Devils to win, I think they have to do two things: turn SMU over 2-plus times, and have a third-down conversion percentage above 40%. The loss of tight end R.J. Maryland is huge for this Mustang offense, because he was the top target for quarterback Kevin Jennings. For now, I’m gonna stick with what I’ve seen, which is more consistently from SMU, but I think there’s a real shot the Blue Devils steal one in Wallace Wade.
Dom Fenoglio: SMU 31-17
The Mustangs bring all of the weapons that allowed Georgia Tech to hand Duke its first loss of the season and then some. SMU has a dual-threat quarterback in Kevin Jennings and an all-around stud in Brashard Smith. The Blue Devils were able to stifle the Yellow Jackets for much of the game in Week 6, but their problems arose when they played tired in the fourth quarter. Yes, that was the sixth straight game played for Duke, but I see a similar situation developing Saturday if the Blue Devils’ struggles on offense continue. Redshirt sophomore Maalik Murphy and the offense simply cannot continue to have quick drives that result in punts, or else the Mustangs will run all over the field in Durham.
Caleb Dudley: SMU 28-17
This is the score I picked on the Blue Devil Blitz, so I will stick with it. Duke has been excellent over the past few years protecting its home turf, but I think the Mustangs are dynamic enough to overcome this deficit and pull out a win at Wallace Wade Stadium. If the Blue Devils trot out the current iteration of their offense, I do not think they will be able to keep pace with Jennings and company, no matter how good the defense is. Head coach Manny Diaz will have his squad up and ready to play, and while they will keep it close, it will not be enough.
Martin Heintzelman SMU 17-7
The reality is simple: Duke’s offense is yet to prove it can function at any level close to what would be required to beat a very good Mustang team. The Blue Devil defense will probably manage to put up a fight early in the game, but ultimately the home team won’t be able to do much against this SMU group. Look for minimal scoring from Duke beyond maybe a defensive touchdown or a short-field situation, while the Mustangs manage to grind out some scores over the course of the game.
Rodrigo Amare: SMU 35-20
If the Mustangs’ high-powered offense turns Saturday night’s affair into a track meet, I don’t think Duke’s offense has the firepower to catch up. Murphy just had his worst game as a Blue Devil against Florida State, and I think his struggles continue as the pressure of matching SMU’s production mounts. Duke’s defense has been fantastic this season, but this is the game where it finally breaks; there’s only so many times Diaz’s unit can overcome the Blue Devils’ offensive woes. I expect the first half to be competitive, but the Mustangs will steadily pull away as their offense settles into the game.
Abby DiSalvo: Duke 24-20
Say what you will about the Blue Devils, but they’ve shown a remarkable ability to play at the exact level of each previous ACC opponent. This is a team that fought tooth and nail with Northwestern in double overtime and matched North Carolina’s dominant first half with a second of its own. Duke also led Georgia Tech thanks to a spotty Yellow Jackets’ defense before losing the game on defensive struggles, then tallied its worst offensive production against a Florida State squad characterized by similar offensive woes. As Duke takes on SMU, there’s no reason to doubt the Blue Devils could emerge victorious in another mirror-image matchup. Maybe a quality opponent is all it will take for the team to capitalize on previous glimmers of success.
Tyler Walley: Duke 27-24
On its face, this is an ill-fated matchup for the Blue Devils. The Mustangs are the perfect blend of efficient, multifaceted offense and swarming defense against the pass and the run alike. Thanks to a large talent gap between these two rosters, Duke will face an uphill battle for 60 minutes. And yet, I’m sticking with the home team. I believe defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke’s unit has performed exceptionally in all but three out of 28 quarters of football. The Mustangs have not played a defense of Duke’s caliber yet, save for an unusual early-season contest against No. 11 BYU. If the Blue Devils can hold quarterback Kevin Jennings in check while cleaning up their own issues in the pass game from the last three weeks, then I believe Duke will improve to 7-1 on the back of one of the proudest upset wins in program history.
Season records:
Jindal: 4-0
Fenoglio: 2-2
Dudley: 3-1
Heintzelman: 2-2
Amare: 3-1
DiSalvo: 4-0
Walley: 4-0
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Dom Fenoglio is a Trinity junior and a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.
Ranjan Jindal is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.
Rodrigo Amare is a Trinity sophomore and assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.
Martin Heintzelman is a Trinity junior and Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.
Abby DiSalvo is a Trinity sophomore and assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.