Duke College Football Preview 2024: Key Players, Game Schedule, Season Predictions

Duke College Football Preview 2024

It’s so crazy it just might work.

Manny Diaz has enjoyed his share of defensive coordinator gigs.

Very energetic, very fired up, and very, very good at his job as a defensive guru, he bounced around with Texas, Miami, NC State, and Mississippi State on his resumé, along with a year at Louisiana Tech and time logged in at Middle Tennessee.

And now, after cranking up the Penn State defense over the last two seasons, he got this.

He worked his way up to the Miami head coaching job in 2019 and was okay. No one’s happy about Hurricane football unless the head coach has a wayback machine to return to 1987, but going 21-15 in three years wasn’t good enough.

But this fits. Duke is never going to win anything massive unless the rest of the world melts down, but get to around seven wins, go to a bowl, beat North Carolina and NC State once in a while, and everything will be solid.

Diaz can do that.

Former head coach Mike Elko proved it was possible to win in Durham again with two straight good seasons before taking off for Texas A&M. He did it by improving the defense instantly, and by making Duke the type of tough team that seemed to annoy everyone by trying hard.

Diaz has to keep that formula going.

There’s a TON of turnover - sorry in advance for how many times that will be brought up - but the schedule isn’t bad, the starting 22 should be okay in time, and if Diaz wins 21 games in the next three years like he did at Miami, he’ll be just fine.

NOTE: The previews were published early this summer. We tried to catch the changes, but if we missed anything, please let us know at @ColFootballNews and we'll fix it right away.

Duke Football Preview 2024: Offense

- The SMU offense cranked up 38.7 points and 454 yards per game in a huge season. Offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer made the move from one ACC team to another to run Manny Diaz’s attack.

He has enough good parts in place to improve the Blue Devil O in a hurry, and it starts with …

- The Blue Devils have a quarterback. They had one in Riley Leonard, but he suffered an ankle injury early on, left for Notre Dame, and Grayson Loftis was the early favorite to keep handling the offense after stepping in late last year.

However, Duke landed Maalik Murphy, a 6-5, 238-pound problem for the rest of the ACC once the former Texas Longhorn gets a little time logged in.

Three of the top four receivers are back, led by Jordan Moore, who is coming off a team-high 62-grab, eight-touchdown season. There’s enough depth and a few good tight ends to give Murphy a shot right away.

- Leading rusher Jordan Waters left for NC State , but Jaquez Moore should shine with more work. He ran for 671 yards and averaging 5.8 yards per carry, but he’s not alone with New Mexico State transfer Star Thomas part of a decent deep group. There’s one big problem, though.

The Duke offensive line lost two NFL-talents off the line. Graham Barton was a first round pick by Tampa Bay, and guard Jacob Monk was taken by Green Bay. Getting Jack Purcell from Penn for one tackle spot helps, but all five starters have to be replaced.

Duke Football Preview 2024: Defense

- It’s a Manny Diaz team. The defense is going to be good. Last year’s bunch led the ACC in scoring defense, allowing just 19 points per game, but it struggled to come up with takeaways and had a few rough patches.

Duke was 1-5 when allowing 21 points or more, and 7-0 when giving up fewer. It’ll be tough to match that, but it’ll bring the pressure from all sides and should be solid even though just about everyone has to be replaced.

- The line will be fine, but it might take a bit. All four starters are gone including top pass rusher RJ Oben (Notre Dame) and DT DeWayne Carter (Buffalo Bills), but Liberty transfer Kendy Charlies will matter right away. There’s just enough size to hold up, but the rotation should take a bit to come together.

Leading tackler Tre Freeman is back after making 106 stops from his outside linebacker spot, and Nick Morris should do even more now - he was third on the team with 61 tackles - with the middle all to himself. The depth in the corps, though, will need to be developed.

- The secondary has ballers. It came up with ten picks last year, and early on the corners should be a strength with Joshua Pickett and 58-tackle playmaker Chandler Rivers. Jaylen Stinson was second on the team with 88 tackles as the main man for a good group of starting safeties, but like the linebacking corps, the depth is lacking.

Key To The Duke Football Season

Stop the run.
It’s a new team with a new coaching staff and a LOT of new players, but the problems of last year remain - Duke can’t get run on.

This isn’t a team built to win when it’s not in control, and it certainly won’t hang around with high-octane offenses. Last year, Duke was 7-0 when it held teams under four yards per carry - that included NC State, Northwestern, and a great Troy team.

It was 1-5 when allowing more, with that one win being the shocker over Clemson when the Duke defense forced its season-high three takeaways.

Duke Key Player

Aaron Hall, DT Jr.
With all the changes and so many new personnel, the defensive front is the biggest unit that has to get up to speed the fastest.

Getting Kendy Charles from Liberty helps, and the 6-4, 277-pound Hall has to hold up inside. Part end, part tackle, he has just ten career tackles but needs to be great right away.

Duke Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Maalik Murphy, QB Soph.
He was an interesting get for the program. He was in the quarterback room with Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning at Texas, and he was hardly out of place. He’s a big, strong passer who bombed away for 248 yards in the thrilling win over Kansas State, and now he gets to run the Duke offense for the next few years.

Top Transfer Out: Jordan Waters, RB Sr.
Take your pick. QB Riley Leonard left for Notre Dame along with pass rusher RJ Oben - they both belong here. It would’ve been nice if Waters was still around, too, after averaging over five yards per carry over his five seasons with 20 touchdowns over the last two years. Now he’s one of the main men in the NC State backfield.

Duke Key Game

North Carolina, Sept. 28
Last year, Duke lost a 47-45 heartbreaker to the Tar Heels, marking its fifth straight loss in the rivalry. This time around, it’s the opener to the ACC season, and it’s an early must-win moment with a dangerous date at Georgia Tech to follow and Florida State right after. Four of the last seven games are on the road after this.

10 Best Duke Football Players

1. Maalik Murphy, QB Soph.
2. Tre Freeman, LB Jr.
3. Jordan Moore, WR Sr.
4. Jaylen Stinson, S Sr.
5. Chandler Rivers, CB Jr.
6. Jaquez Moore, RB Sr.
7. Kendy Charles, DT Sr.
8. Nick Morris, LB Jr.
9. Wesley Williams, DE Soph.
10. Terry Moore, S Jr.

Duke 2023 Fun Stats

- Fumbles: Opponents 14 (lost 5), Duke 10 (lost 7)

- Duke 1st Quarter Scoring: 52, 2nd Quarter Scoring: 118

- 4th Down Conversions: Duke 12-of-20 (60%), 11-of-28 (39%)

Duke Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

The new coaching staff is strong, there are a few new parts to get excited about, and … few teams in the ACC have to replace as many starters as Duke does.

That’s why the schedule works.

Playing at Northwestern early on is tough, but that’s in a makeshift - and totally gorgeous - field in Evanston while the football stadium is being renovated. Duke should take down Elon, UConn, and at Middle Tennessee. After that, though …

Duke will get to six wins and make it a third straight bowl trip. It won’t be easy after the first four weeks.

There’s no Clemson or Louisville, and Florida State is a home game, but to keep hammering this, Duke loses SO much from last year - this is a true rebuilding year.

It’ll beat SMU and, probably, Virginia Tech. It’ll pull off one nice upset somewhere to get to six victories. If everything comes together fast, this could be a third straight season for the program with eight more wins.

Set The Duke Win Total At … 6

Likely Wins: Elon, at Middle Tennessee, UConn

50/50 Games: at Georgia Tech, North Carolina, at Northwestern, SMU, Virginia Tech, at Wake Forest

Likely Losses: Florida State, at Miami, at NC State

2024 Duke Football Schedule

Aug 30 Elon
Sept 7 at Northwestern
Sept 14 UConn
Sept 21 at Middle Tennessee
Sept 28 North Carolina
Oct 5 at Georgia Tech
Oct 12 OPEN DATE
Oct 18 Florida State
Oct 26 SMU
Nov 2 at Miami
Nov 9 at NC State
Nov 16 OPEN DATE
Nov 23 Virginia Tech
Nov 30 at Wake Forest

Missing: Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Louisville, Pitt, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia