Duke football coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] continues to reset trends in his first year with the Blue Devils.
Diaz won his first five games as the Duke head coach, the school’s first 5-0 start in three decades, and with their 29-19 victory over NC State on Saturday, the Blue Devils are undefeated in The Triangle for the first time in 11 years.
Duke also beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in Week 5, a 21-20 victory that included the second-biggest comeback in school history. The Blue Devils hadn’t beaten UNC and the Wolfpack in the same year since 2013, and they’ve only pulled off that feat twice since 1990.
In 2013, the Blue Devils beat NC State 38-20 thanks to a pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns by defensive back Devon Edwards in the fourth quarter.
Three weeks later, Duke beat the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill 27-25 after quarterback Anthony Boone threw for 274 yards and two scores. Ross Martin kicked a 27-yard field goal with 2:22 to play to clinch a 10-2 regular season for the Blue Devils.
Duke can’t reach 10 wins during Diaz’s first campaign, but victories over Virginia Tech and Wake Forest would cement a 9-3 record ahead of bowl season.