USA TODAY Sports released its expert picks for the Week 10 battle between Duke and No. 5 Miami on Thursday, and the six-voter panel doesn’t have high hopes for the Blue Devils.
All six voters picked the Hurricanes to remain undefeated, one of many unanimous selections among the ranked teams on the schedule.
The Hurricanes lead the FBS in total offense and scoring thanks to quarterback Cam Ward’s Heisman Trophy-caliber season with 2,746 passing yards and 27 total touchdowns.
Despite some questionable performances of late, such as letting Louisville score 45 points or letting California build a 35-10 lead, the Miami defense remains statistically impressive. The Hurricanes have 26 sacks as a team while allowing 298.9 yards per game, both tops among ACC teams, and their 6.0 yards allowed per pass attempt are second only to the Blue Devils in the conference.
However, those recent performances mean Miami has been on routine upset watch recently. The Hurricanes needed to overcome double-digit leads against the Golden Bears and Virginia Tech in the fourth quarter before beating the Cardinals by one score.
If not for a blocked field goal on the final play of regulation against SMU, the Blue Devils would roll into Coral Gables with a 7-1 record and a ranked victory.
Manny Diaz tries to beat his former program at noon Eastern time on Saturday.