Duke vs Northwestern Prediction, Game Preview, and Betting Lines
By Pete Fiutak,
2024-09-03
It really is the most beautiful setting in college football right now. The Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium is a small, intimate field overlooking Lake Michigan - used while Northwestern’s stadium is being refurbished - but the opener against Miami University wasn’t so pretty.
The Wildcats won 13-6, Duke sputtered in its 26-3 win over Elon, and now the two face off in a showdown to get to 2-0.
Aug 31, 2024; Evanston, Illinois, USA; A general view of the temporary Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium where the Northwestern Wildcats will play the Miami (Oh) Redhawks in a football game.
Manny Diaz got his first win as the Duke head coach on a big day from Texas transfer QB Maalik Murphy and a bigger day from the defense.
The Blue Devils lived in the Elon backfield with eight sacks, held the Phoenix to 30 yards rushing, and it should all work against a Northwestern O line that wasn’t pushed too much by the RedHawks.
The running backs were bottled up a bit, but …
Why Northwestern Will Win
New Wildcat quarterback Mike Wright was good enough. He didn’t to too much with the passing game, but he led the team with 65 rushing yards.
As long as the offense doesn’t turn the ball over and make a slew of mistakes, it should be okay - the defense will do the rest.
Miami University is good enough to win the MAC, but the offense didn’t do enough on the ground. The Northwestern pass rush was great, and the Duke offensive front wasn’t.
After allowing just 40 net rushing yards, the Wildcats should stuff a Blue Devil ground game that finished with just 59 yards and couldn’t get going against Elon.
Duke vs Northwestern: Who Will Win
Both defenses will control the game, both pass rushes will take over early on, and both offenses will sputter and cough.
The two quarterbacks will be fine, the two running games won’t work, and for the second straight week, Northwestern will survive with a lot of bending without breaking.
There won’t be a ton of scoring, but it should be interesting.
Duke vs Northwestern Prediction, Betting Lines
Northwestern 19, Duke 16 Line: Northwestern -2.5, o/u: 39.5 ATS Confidence out of 5: 2 Duke vs Northwestern Must See Rating: 3
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