Next Up For Duke Football - Florida State

Here’s a first: Duke and Florida State meet and Duke has a winning record while FSU does not.

And weirder, no matter what happens Saturday, Duke will have a winning record and FSU will still have a losing record.

Duke has never beaten Florida State and despite FSU’s struggles, it won’t be easy Saturday either.

Florida State has more talent than Duke does just as it has every year since it joined the ACC.

However, FSU has had some real issues, not least of all losing starting quarterback Deondre Francis to a patella tendon injury.

Aside from starting a true freshman at QB, James Blackman, FSU has significant injuries to receivers, and to the offensive line. And there’s more than that.

Not that Duke is in a much better spot. The Devils are relatively healthy but the offense has been erratic. The offense hasn’t done a very good job of protecting Duke QB Daniel Jones and his accuracy hasn’t been that great.

Florida State has defended the run very well so Duke’s going to need the passing game.

When asked about Duke’s erratic offensive play this week, Duke coach David Cutcliffe had this to say: “I’ve been through a lot as a coach. I’ve had struggles where things just don’t click for periods of time. You don’t ever punch a bell that’s called an alarm. You study the results and what’s leading to the results. I’m about work. An alarm says we have a problem. Work says we’re approaching everything we can to find a result to end the problem.”

It won’t be easy and it’s worth pointing out that FSU’s losses are to Alabama, Miami and NC State. One game, vs. UL Monroe, was canceled due to Hurricane Irma.

FSU’s only win to date was against Wake Forest and the Deacs were in that until the end.

Really all the games were fairly close except for Alabama, where the Tide won 24-7.

Not that it’ll be easy, but it’s a great opportunity for Duke.

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