By james art Duke football picked up a historic victory against the now 1-6 Florida State Seminoles, defeating FSU for the first time in school history by a score of 23-16. The Blue Devils were 0-22 all-time against the Seminoles before Friday night.
Duke’s defense led the way again in a contest that saw just one offensive goal. Here are the biggest takeaways for fans to think about the rest of Duke’s season
The Blue Devils have been fortunate with regards to the injury problem of the 2024 campaign, with none of their true stars other than running back Jaquez Moore having to miss time due to injury. On Friday night, though, some of Duke’s top targets showed up late on the injury report. Tight end Nicky Dalmolin was ruled out before kickoff with a lower-body injury, leaving the Blue Devils without their top two tight ends after Jeremiah Hasley went down with a season-ending injury earlier in the season. On top of that, Duke’s biggest threat, Jordan Moore, ended up not starting, dealing with an undisclosed injury himself. Moore was only targeted twice for one catch for ten yards against Florida State. yes Moore has been listed as active since Duke’s game against North Carolina two weeks ago after missing two games, but his workload hasn’t increased much at all. Moore recorded just one carry against the Tar Heels and didn’t see the field last night. With fellow running back Starr Thomas taking over the keys to the backfield, the coaching staff is much more patient with Moore before he gets back on the field. However, it certainly gave Duke a tougher time getting the offense going without two of its top receiving targets.
With each passing week, it seems like this Blue Devil defensive unit just keeps getting better and better. Duke entered the week ranked No. 2 nationally in tackles for loss with 58 and managed eleven more against the Seminoles to go with the stellar six sacks. Defensive end Wesley Williams led the way with 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Defensive end Vincent Anthony Jr. followed with two tackles for loss and linebacker Alex Howard finished with two sacks. The Blue Devils also held the Seminoles to just two conversions on fourteen third down attempts and did not give up a single offensive touchdown all night. The Noles’ only score came on a pick-six and Duke forced a punt on four FSU punts along with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Duke leads the ACC in points allowed per game at 17.3 and hasn’t allowed more than 21 in a game this season. He also leads the ACC in passing yards allowed per game (153.6), sacks (24) and opponent third-down conversion percentage (27.4).
Duke’s football offense has struggled with inconsistencies throughout the 2024 season, and fans were hoping last week’s bye week would give the Blue Devils time to fix those issues. It was more of the same against FSU for the Blue Devils on offense, with the team struggling mightily to find any rhythm for most of the game. Quarterback Maalik Murphy, who averaged 239 yards passing per game until Friday night, finished the contest with 70 yards through the air. It was also his first game of the season without at least one passing touchdown. Duke punted on its first four drives of the game, two of which were three-and-outs, before Thomas was able to get into the end zone after Duke recovered an FSU fumble. From there, the Blue Devils had no way to move the sticks, but the defense kept the Seminoles out of enemy territory for most of the game to keep Duke in it. Third downs have been a major problem all season for the offense, and Duke put it on display again last night, converting on third downs at just a 3-for-17 clip.
The Blue Devils then host #21 SMU on Saturday, October 26 at 8:00 PM EDT. The Mustangs are averaging nearly 41 points per game and this will be another huge test for the defense against the ACC’s best opponent in terms of offense the Blue Devils have faced thus far.