The Duke Blue Devils looked dominant last weekend in a 47-2 win over Boston College. After games against North Carolina and Georgia Tech that did not go their way, the Blue Devils have to feel they are back on track as a top team in the ACC. They will have the opportunity to continue to prove themselves this weekend against the NC State Wolfpack. NC State is 2-3 in conference games, but they are coming off a 31-10 win over California. Quarterback CJ Bailey threw for 192 yards and two touchdowns. The win was positive news for the Wolfpack after they lost to Stanford the previous week and fired their head coach Dave Doeren.
Duke showed in their last win over Boston College what this team can look like if both the offense and defense play to their full potential. If anything was an outlier in the win, it was likely the offense performance. While the Blue Devils offense has been just above average, their defense can certainly reproduce a similar dominant performance. Duke’s defense allows just 14.3 points and 290 yards per game. It has held opponents to only 103 rushing yards per game, making it difficult for any team to establish a consistent ground gain.
NC State, an offense averaging 32.1 points, will be another good test for this Duke defense. Bailey is 24th in college football in yards(1,955) and he has thrown 13 touchdowns and only four interceptions. Before last weekend, Bailey had thrown for 240 or more yards every game since September 11th. The streak was broken in Bailey’s first game under interim head coach Todd Goebbel. Between a combination of new playcalling and a difficult opposing defense, Bailey and NC State may finish with production below their season averages. I expect Duke’s defense to hold NC State’s offense in check and for Duke’s offense to relegate back to their median, especially on the road.
Duke vs NC State prediction: Under 51.5(-110) is available at the time of publishing. Playable at 49.5(+120).
