Less than two months ago, Friday night was considered the hardest game on the Duke football schedule.
The Florida State Seminoles, who won 23 games over the past two seasons, would roll into town for a primetime showing on national television. Yes, head coach Mike Norvell lost quarterback Jordan Travis, wide receiver Keon Coleman, and edge rusher Jared Verse, but he’d surely found more NFL talent between the high school ranks and transfer portal acquisitions. Duke, on the other hand, lost its head coach and starting quarterback, and they were surely the main reason why the Blue Devils won their 17 games between 2022-23.
Well, through six games in 2024, one of the two programs looks steady on its feet, and it sure ain’t the Seminoles.
Duke and FSU bring opposite records into this Week 8 clash with the Blue Devils winning five of their first six games and the Seminoles losing five of their first six. Both teams enter Friday’s game off a bye week, meaning Florida State had an extended period of time to get its act together. Even at 1-5, should Duke be worried?
Here are our staff predictions for the game.
Ryan Haley, Duke Wire site editor
Through the first three games of the season, it felt like all anyone wanted to talk about with Florida State was when the Seminoles would finally make everything work. Norvell was too good, the defensive line was too talented, and quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was too experienced for FSU to really be this bad, right?
Well, that noise has completely gone away over the past few weeks, and there’s a pretty simple reason why; it’s clear that this team isn’t any good.
As of Week 7, the second-worst offense in the ACC is Stanford with 315.5 yards and 20.3 points per game. Florida State is averaging 273.5 yards and 14.8 points, both among the bottom six in the FBS.
Redshirt freshman Brock Glenn could be pitched as a savior when he was the promising backup toiling away on the bench, but he got the keys to the offense against the Clemson Tigers and finished 23/41 for 228 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Now, the Seminoles face a Duke defense allowing just 17.5 points per game and a conference-best 4.27 yards per play.
With 17 sacks and 40 tackles for loss, the FSU defensive line can break games, but the Seminoles are still giving up 8.0 yards per pass and 4.4 yards per carry. Unless Duke quarterback [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] can be harassed into multiple mistakes, there’s not a clear area where Florida State has the advantage.
Duke 27, Florida State 20
Bryant Crews, Staff Writer
Duke is coming off a much-needed bye and will host a much-maligned Florida State squad that has suffered the biggest dropoff from preseason expectations to actual results in college football this year. The Seminoles were thought to be amongst the top candidates in the ACC title fight, entering the season No. 10 in the initial US LBM Coaches Poll, but things kept getting worse for a month straight.
By all accounts, they’ve stopped the bleeding, but their championship aspirations for this year are cooked like a steak on the grill for 12 minutes. Duke’s bye week should really do wonders for the defense and star receiver Jordan Moore. There were some nicks and bruises the Blue Devils had to work through, and now they should be rested and refreshed. Let’s also hope Duke solved its problem of forgetting Moore exists and found creative ways to continue to get him the ball.
With that said, I never imagined in my 25-plus years of following this program that I would see a day where Duke was the betting favorite over FSU in real life. However, every dog has its day. and I’m picking Duke to win this game. Some time off will help, but ultimately, Duke has the better QB and receivers, and the vibes are simply better in Durham. Star Thomas and Jordan Moore score while Duke gets at least three sacks and picks off a pass.
Duke 24, Florida State 17