An under the radar game was a significant one at Northwestern. With Miami getting rolled by LSU, and Virginia Tech dominanting at FSU we wondered if there was another Coastal Division team that could play a factor in the Division race. UNC and Virginia don’t have enough talent to be in the picture over the long haul. Georgia Tech still can’t hold a 4th quarter lead, and Miami has major issues at QB. The jury is still out on Pittsburgh – ask again after the Penn State game, but Duke announced themselves as a threat with a very solid win at fringe top 25 team Northwestern.
QB Daniel Jones played an efficient game throwing 3 TDS and completing 16 of 22 passes. Duke’s defense was excellent holding the Wildcats to 7 points and just 99 yards on the ground.
Northwestern is going to make a bowl game, and could be a 7-9 win team. Last year they won 10.
Suddenly while Virginia Tech eyes a monster matchup with Notre Dame there’s a tricky road game at Durham prior they have to contend with.
What is the status of Daniel Jones though?
David Cutcliffe said after the game that he believes Daniel Jones has some sort of clavicle injury. Not a good thing.
— Adam Rowe (@AdamRoweTDD) September 8, 2018
That’s something to watch for. Hopefully Jones is not seriously injured. His condition separates Duke from being a dangerous one to possibly being Virginia Tech’s biggest challenger in the Coastal.
Yet again David Cutcliffe has worked Duke into being a formidable opponent. We shouldn’t be surprised at this point any longer. Duke is well established as a good program capable of knocking off quality teams at any given moment – just like today.
In a sea of underwhelming ACC performances so far this season, Duke produced one of the conferences better early season wins.
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2 pings
Hokie Mark says:
September 8, 2018 at 11:04 pm (UTC -4)
VT is a contender, and I think Miami will be too now that they have a couple of games under the belt. Duke appears to be that third contender we thought GT would be, but isn’t. Pitt still doesn’t have a legitimate passing threat. UVA is UVA, and UNC is just awful.
Jfann says:
September 9, 2018 at 10:46 am (UTC -4)
I’m not sold on Miami. Rosier hasn’t improved at all, and LSU isn’t a great team. I can see them winning 9 games. Losing at VT and 1 other.
Duke looked like a contender but the Jones injury really hurts them. It’s the Hokies division to lose.