Duke is gearing up to take on Northwestern on Friday, check out our Duke Wire staff predictions for the game here.
Duke football plays under the Friday night lights again in Week 2, this time on the road against Northwestern in a battle of the brainiacs.
The Wildcats came to Durham last season, and the Blue Devils chased them out of town with a 38-14 win. Running back [autotag]Jaquez Moore[/autotag] managed 61 yards on the ground in just 10 carries, and star wideout [autotag]Jordan Moore[/autotag] amassed 56 receiving yards on five catches.
Now, one year later, those two are the focal points of the Duke offense. Moore reached triple-digits against Elon in Week 1, a 47-yard catch in the third quarter adding an exclamation point to his 112-yard game. Despite some struggles in the ground game, Moore scored the team’s first touchdown of the season.
Both teams bring a new quarterback to this year’s edition, though. [autotag]Maalik Murphy[/autotag] threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns in his Duke debut last week. Can he up his game against a Big Ten pass defense?
Here are our staff predictions for the Week 2 contest.
Ryan Haley, Duke Wire site editor
It’s a bit early to call anything on Duke’s schedule a must-win, but this comes as close as a September game can. With Georgia Tech emerging as one of the more complete teams in the conference and Wake Forest transfer quarterback Hank Bachmeier looking exceptionally productive in his Demon Deacons debut, even the weaker games on the conference slate look like fistfights.
Manny Diaz needs all the help he can get to reach six wins, and a 4-0 start would give him great odds. This game is the biggest hurdle to clear of those four, however, and it’s a total mismatch in the trenches for Duke. The Blue Devils averaged less than three yards per carry on the ground last week, and Miami (Ohio) ran for 40 yards on 24 attempts against the Wildcats in Week 1.
So this game will come down to two things: Duke’s defensive line and Maalik Murphy. Luckily, one of those things looked exceptional in Week 1 and the other looked promising.
The Blue Devils compiled eight sacks as a team, leading the entire country, and the Wildcats already averaged less than six yards per attempt. Northwestern quarterback Mike Wright, previously from Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, is mobile enough to escape pressure but historically doesn’t perform well under it, and the Duke front seven is fast enough to keep him from reaching the second level super often.
Northwestern’s pass defense came away with two interceptions last week, raising their total to 15 in 14 games under head coach David Braun. Murphy is a confident passer, but he fired some questionable balls into double coverage against the Phoenix. If Duke loses this game, it’s because he does that again and gets punished for it multiple times, which is well within the range of outcomes. If he only turns the ball once, however, the Duke defensive line and Jordan Moore prove to be too much for the Wildcats.
Duke 17, Northwestern 13
Bryant Crews, Staff Writer
Week 2 of the Manny Diaz era is upon us, and after a relatively stress-free 26-3 win in its first game of the 2024 season, Duke turns the page and turns up the competition.
Diaz and his squad head to the Windy City to take on the Big Ten’s Northwestern Wildcats. Duke and Northwestern will face off in an out-of-conference game for the eighth time over the last ten seasons.
While the Duke offense’s performance in game one wasn’t perfect, they had some opportunities to showcase transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy and their many returning receiver options.
Northwestern is better than Elon, and stylistically, they present a different challenge. They will look to dominate the line of scrimmage and win by running the ball.
Duke’s losses on defense from the previous year will make themselves known this week, but I think Duke has enough offensive talent to overcome it.
Murphy will throw for at least two touchdowns, Jacquez Moore will rush for a touchdown, and we will see a second-half turnover or stop that helps seal the deal for the Blue Devils as they win their first road game this season and move to 2-0.
Duke 24, Northwestern 17
