Thursday, October 12, 2017

Duke Battles Florida State This Weekend

Now in its 105th season of football, Duke hosts Florida State at 12 noon. The game will be broadcast live by ESPN2 with Jason Benetti (play-by-play), Kelly Stouffer (analyst) & Kris Budden (sideline). Duke is 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the ACC following last week’s 28-21 loss at Virginia.

Coming off a 24- 20 loss to Miami, Florida State is 1-3 overall and 1-2 in league play. Duke owns an all-time record of 500-513-31 in 104-plus seasons. Saturday’s game will mark the 20th on the gridiron between the two schools with Florida State leading the series, 19-0.

The series began in 1992 with a 48-21 FSU victory. In Durham, the Seminoles have won all seven affairs. This week’s game features the top two kickoff return units in the ACC with the Seminoles ranking first (29.4) and Blue Devils second (27.2). Duke will celebrate Band Day and Teacher Appreciation Day against the Seminoles while BSBSNC serves as the official game sponsor.



Now in his 10th season as Duke’s head coach, David Cutcliffe is 56- 63 with the Blue Devils and 100-92 overall. Cutcliffe earned ACC Coach of the Year honors in both 2012 & 2013. Under head coach David Cutcliffe, the Blue Devils are 33-5 (.868) when allowing 20 points or less. Dating back to the 2013 season, the Blue Devils are 32-18 (.640) in their last 50 regular season games

Duke continues to lead the ACC in third-down defense having allowed just 19 conversions in 80 attempts (.238). CB Mark Gilbert and S Jeremy McDuffie lead the ACC in passes defended per game (1.83). The Blue Devils have established a school single-season record with four interception returns for touchdowns in 2017. The previous standard of three was set in 1942, 1945 and 1949. Last week at Virginia, LB Joe Giles-Harris turned in a 15-tackle performance that included 3.5 TFL, 1.0 sack, two quarterback pressures, one caused fumble and one PBU.


The double-digit tackle outing marked the seventh of his career. With 63 ground yards against Miami two weeks ago, RB Shaun Wilson became the seventh player in Duke history to reach the 2,000- yard plateau. In 42 career games, Wilson has 2,085 rushing yards while his career 5.37 yards per attempt average ranks fourth on Duke’s all-time chart. Led by DT Mike Ramsay (4.5 sacks), Duke ranks second in the ACC in sacks per game (3.17), behind only Clemson (3.50)