Duke football drops hype video ahead of ACC clash with Florida State
The Duke Blue Devils are preparing for their stiffest test of the season this weekend, as they’ll face off against the Florida State Seminoles. Duke has never beaten the Seminoles, and they’ll attempt to do so on the road in Tallahassee on Saturday night.
Check out the hype video below as the Blue Devils prepare for a highly anticipated ACC clash.
The most important fact to note is that Duke quarterback Riley Leonard is a game-time decision with a sore ankle. He suffered a high ankle sprain late in the Blue Devils’ gut-wrenching loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Sept. 30.
They’ll certainly need their superstar back in the lineup if they want a shot at knocking off the fourth-ranked Seminoles. Leonard is the straw that stirs the drink for the Blue Devil offense and one of the most dynamic dual threat quarterbacks in all of college football.
If Leonard cannot play, then Henry Belin IV will be the man under center for Duke.
While the redshirt freshman boosted Duke to a 24-3 win over NC State in Week 7, he didn’t achieve much through the air.
Belin completed just 4-of-his-12 pass attempts in the win for 107 yards and two touchdowns while throwing an interception. Duke relied heavily on its ground game against the Wolfpack, grinding out 194 rushing yards in the victory.
Duke is currently ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll–tied for their highest mark since 1994. Their defense has only allowed 59 points through six games, the fewest by an ACC team since 2015. Clemson only managed to score seven points against Duke, and the Blue Devils forced three turnovers in that one.
Rece Davis makes his pick in Duke vs. Florida State
This one wasn’t easy for Rece Davis. On Thursday, the ESPN analyst revealed his pick in the Florida State–Duke matchup on Saturday. According to FanDuel, the Seminoles are 14.5-point favorites in the outing.
“This might be the pick that I’m least convicted about on the board because everything in me says take Florida State,” Davis said. “I’m really high on Florida State, as everybody knows here, and lay the points [on FSU], but Duke is so tough.”
“[Duke has] won four games by 20 [or more] points while giving up less than 10. They lead the ACC in yards per attempt rushing, and you can run on Florida State a little bit. But, I wonder if Florida State doesn’t believe you can throw on them at all, are they going to sell out to stop the run?”
As Davis mentioned, FSU does have some holes in its rushing defense. The Seminoles allow 141.3 rushing yards per game, ranking them 69th in the country. Despite any FSU weaknesses, Davis believes Duke cannot win this game without Leonard healthy.
“I’m sort of assuming that Riley doesn’t play,” Davis said. “The whole dynamic shifts if he’s able to. And he’s also got to be healthy because if. Riley Leonard can play but he can’t run then it’s not really the same thing.”
History isn’t on Duke’s side, either. Florida State is 19-0 all-time against the Blue Devils, most recently defeating Duke 56-35 in 2020. Davis is impressed by what Duke head coach Mike Elko has built, but he isn’t willing to gamble on the Blue Devils.
“I want to take Duke and the points but I can’t do it,” Davis said. “Their defense is terrific. Their running game is terrific. But, with Riley Leonard out or presumably less than 100% and no real data to support a threat in the passing game from Belin, I’m going to take Florida State and lay the points.”
The two ACC programs will face off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
On3’s Grant Grubbs also contributed to this article.