In another world, the Duke Blue Devils are 8-1 with back-to-back ranked wins on their resume, but after failing to close out SMU and Miami in consecutive weeks, USA TODAY Sports writer Paul Myerberg finally dropped the Blue Devils from his top 30 on Monday.
Myerberg updated his ranking of all 134 FBS college football teams after Week 10, and in light of their 53-31 loss to the Hurricanes, the Blue Devils slipped down four spots to 32nd.
Seven days after losing to the Mustangs in overtime after a blocked kick on the final play of regulation, Duke built a 28-17 lead over the conference favorites with a short touchdown pass from [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] to [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] on the first possession of the second half. Miami quarterback Cam Ward couldn’t be held down forever, though, and he finished with 400 yards and five touchdowns as the Hurricanes scored 35 points in the final 23 minutes for the three-score win.
After five straight victories to open the season, head coach Manny Diaz has now lost three of his last four games. Duke also fell to Georgia Tech on the road in Week 6.
The Blue Devils remain among Myerberg’s top ACC teams. The Hurricanes shifted up one spot to fourth, and the Mustangs (11th), Clemson Tigers (19th), Pittsburgh Panthers (22nd), Louisville Cardinals (26th), and Syracuse Orange (28th) are the only other members of the conference above Duke.