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The Duke Blue Devils are coming off one of the biggest wins in the programs history. Last week they quarterback Sean Renfree threw a last minute touchdown to beat archrival North Carolina. The win was Duke’s sixth of the season and made them bowl eligible for the first time since 1994. The Blue Devils have another chance at big potentially program building win this week when they take on the 12th ranked Florida State Seminoles.
Can they do it? History tells us they cannot. Florida State has been in the ACC for 21 seasons and Duke hasn’t beaten them a single time in that span. If anything that means that Duke is due right? The Blue Devils chances are expectedly slim in this game, but there is a way that the Blue Devils can pull a huge road upset.
In order for Duke to look forward they must first look back. A couple of weeks ago North Carolina State pulled a huge upset over Florida State. The blueprint to win was relatively simple; keep it a low scoring affair and hope for some luck.
However, the chances for Duke successfully implementing that blueprint are slim to none. The Seminoles are ranked seventh in the nation in average scoring per game (scoring 44.4 points per game), and the Blue Devils defense is ranked 73rd in average scoring defense (giving up 27.8 points per game).
By simply looking at those statistics it becomes readily apparent that in order for Duke to win this game they must outscore the Seminoles. That may be as tall a task as stopping FSU’s offense. The Seminoles have the best defense in the ACC by leaps and bounds, and scoring on that particular group is very difficult to do once in a game, let alone multiple times.
The reason NC State was able to beat Florida State was because they were able to hold the Seminoles to 16 total points, something they were much better equipped to do than Duke is. The Blue Devils have been the best story in the ACC this year, but I just can’t see a way in which they can pull the massive road upset.
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