Duke Football 2025 - The Diaz Days 2nd Edition

[CameronBornAndBred]

We'll know our schedule in the next few days, as the ACC is releasing the full slate for each team Monday night.

Hopefully we'll be getting some Spring Game news as well. Very thankfully, it seems Duke came through the first portal period pretty well intact.

[devildeac]

We'll know our schedule in the next few days, as the ACC is releasing the full slate for each team Monday night.

Hopefully we'll be getting some Spring Game news as well. Very thankfully, it seems Duke came through the first portal period pretty well intact.

Here's what I've pieced together so far:

Elon and Illinois start the season at WW on 8/30 and 9/6 respectively. We play at Tulane 9/13 and at UConn on 11/8. That’s a tougher OOC slate than 2024. We pick up Cal, Syracuse and Clemson away, IIRC, from checking a couple weeks ago. UVA returns to WW. Wake, GT and NCSU at home and the cheats over in chappaheeya.

I’m gonna start out way too early with a 7-5 record prediction and then a mid-tier bowl win.

[Bob Green]

September 20: Duke hosts N.C. State

Three of our first four games are at home. I love it. Southern football - sun, shorts, sandals, suntan lotion (rain, rain stay away, comeback some other day).

[CameronBornAndBred]

September 20: Duke hosts N.C. State

Three of our first four games are at home. I love it. Southern football - sun, shorts, sandals, suntan lotion (rain, rain stay away, comeback some other day).

Eh...I've said it before and I'll say it again! I'd rather have a more balanced home and away schedule. Duke truly seems to always have a September loaded with home games, in the hottest time of the year to sit in Wallace Wade. (Two years ago we broke the spell, but it was short lived.)

I DO like State as our ACC opener, though.

[devildeac]

September 20: Duke hosts N.C. State

Three of our first four games are at home. I love it. Southern football - sun, shorts, sandals, suntan lotion (rain, rain stay away, comeback some other day).

Eh...I've said it before and I'll say it again! I'd rather have a more balanced home and away schedule. Duke truly seems to always have a September loaded with home games, in the hottest time of the year to sit in Wallace Wade. (Two years ago we broke the spell, but it was short lived.)

I DO like State as our ACC opener, though.

Hopefully, a 730ish KO time.

[Bob Green]

Hopefully, a 730ish KO time.

That works for me!

[Bob Green]

Eh...I've said it before and I'll say it again! I'd rather have a more balanced home and away schedule.

Chris, I acknowledge this is hard on you as the Tailgate host. We love ya!

[devildeac]

Eh...I've said it before and I'll say it again! I'd rather have a more balanced home and away schedule.

Chris, I acknowledge this is hard on you as the Tailgate host. We love ya!

[OPK]

Eh...I've said it before and I'll say it again! I'd rather have a more balanced home and away schedule.

Chris, I acknowledge this is hard on you as the Tailgate host. We love ya!

This. You’re the bomb.

[lawgrad91]

Eh...I've said it before and I'll say it again! I'd rather have a more balanced home and away schedule.

Chris, I acknowledge this is hard on you as the Tailgate host. We love ya!

This. You’re the bomb.

Absolutely the best. We haven’t been able to go in a while due to scheduling and, well, we’ve gotten old, but Chris, you are without equal.

[Bob Green]

Breaking the 2025 schedule into three segments. We need to win two games per segment to achieve bowl eligibility. I know our aspirations are much higher now but I refuse to forget where we came from:

Segment 1: Elon, Illinois, @Tulane, N.C. State - three of four games at home and @Tulane is a winnable game. Illinois is the toughest team but State is overdue to beat us. We will win two and should win three.

Segment 2: @Syracuse, @California, Georgia Tech, @Clemson, @UConn - four of five games on the road and two bye weeks in this middle segment. This is the hardest segment but having a bye prior to Georgia Tech and Clemson is nice. We should get our two wins and three is likely.

Segment 3: Virginia, @Carolina, Wake Forest - three winnable games.

I predict an 8-4 regular season but reserve the right to change my mind 312 times before August 30th.

[devildeac]

Breaking the 2025 schedule into three segments. We need to win two games per segment to achieve bowl eligibility. I know our aspirations are much higher now but I refuse to forget where we came from:

Segment 1: Elon, Illinois, @Tulane, N.C. State - three of four games at home and @Tulane is a winnable game. Illinois is the toughest team but State is overdue to beat us. We will win two and should win three.

Segment 2: @Syracuse, @California, Georgia Tech, @Clemson, @UConn - four of five games on the road and two bye weeks in this middle segment. This is the hardest segment but having a bye prior to Georgia Tech and Clemson is nice. We should get our two wins and three is likely.

Segment 3: Virginia, @Carolina, Wake Forest - three winnable games.

I predict an 8-4 regular season but reserve the right to change my mind 312 times before August 30th.

This seems pretty reasonable. I've seen doom and gloom of 3-9 and wildly/insanely optimistic at 10-2. I'm on record of 7-5 somewhere but might change my mind even more than Bob before 8/30.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I foresee a regular season of 12-0. The post season will have a similar winning percentage!

[CameronBornAndBred]

Segment 1: Elon, Illinois, @Tulane, N.C. State - three of four games at home and @Tulane is a winnable game. Illinois is the toughest team but State is overdue to beat us. We will win two and should win three.

I agree with this. There's a danger here though that we could lay an unfortunate egg in there, and be 1-3 at the end of it. I don't predict that happening, but I'll be nervous until we fly home with a Green Wave victory. This block of games that you selected will set the tone of the team for the rest of the season; start off well and we have high hopes. Start off badly, however... (As I said, I don't see that happening, but I'll be hand wringing.)

Overall, I don't think 8-4 is a bad prediction. If we are picking up where we left off from last year, even better could be possible.

Unfortunately, with another unknown for QB, it's hard to say. (We know Mensah is good, we just don't know if he'll be a good fit.)

[Bob Green]

Chris I agree with you getting off to a fast start is vital. We must build momentum in August and September in order to survive the middle segment where we play four of five games on the road.

[CameronBornAndBred]

The Spring Game will be held on April 19th.

[CameronBornAndBred]

It's always nice to be on someone's radar. In this case, it's Max Olson's, in an article looking at next year's CFP possibilities.

Duke is another off-the-radar team, which offseason moves suggested it's serious about chasing a conference title in 2025. After an impressive nine-win debut season, Manny Diaz and his coaching staff made a massive bet on Tulane transfer QB Darian Mensah, making the rising redshirt sophomore one of the highest-paid passers in the country. He's joining a squad with a dozen returning starters, including four of five starting offensive linemen and All-ACC defensive backs Chandler Rivers and Terry Moore. If Mensah and the rest of their portal additions can pay off, the Blue Devils could have the goods to be a real factor in the ACC race.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... d-rise-lsu