Duke Football: Does basketball program use up all good luck in Durham?

Coming off a big-time 21-7 victory at Northwestern, Duke football was hit with a pair of tough losses.

First, starting quarterback Daniel Jones is likely to be sidelined for at least the final three games of this month after having surgery to fix his collarbone. Jones, according to the school, suffered the injury late in the third quarter vs. the Wildcats after being sacked.

Jones was honored as the ACC Quarterback of the Week after completing 16-of-22 for 192 yards with three touchdowns. He became the fourth Duke quarterback to throw three scores in a quarter, posting a pass efficiency rating of 191.04.

While the loss of Jones will be short-time, first team all-ACC cornerback Mark Gilbert’s season is over. In the same report, he states that Gilbert injured his left hip and will be done to allow for recovery and rehab on the injury.

Fresh off wins over Army and Northwestern, and with Baylor up next, the Blue Devil fan base for football has to be asking: does the Duke basketball program use up all the luck at the school?

A perennial national title contender for years under Mike Krzyzewski, it seemed like this might be a memorable season for David Cutcliffe and the Blue Devils on the gridiron.

Cutcliffe has guided Duke to 61 wins since taking over in 2008, including a 10-4 season in 2013 that included a first place finish in the ACC’s Coastal Division and a spot in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Blue Devils have qualified for five bowls under him, including wins in 2015 and last year to finish 7-6.

With a healthy Jones and Gilbert, there is no reason to think Duke would not be 4-0 heading into the ACC opener with Virginia Tech at home to finish September.

Jones should be back in time for a road date to start October at Georgia Tech, as the team has a bye the week before. Duke also has games with Virginia, Pittsburgh, Miami, North Carolina, Clemson and Wake Forest remaining on the docket.

Jones, a junior from Charlotte, has completed 74 percent of his passes for 389 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions this year. He threw for almost 2,700 yards and 14 scores last year after completing 270 of 430 passes for 2,836 yards and 16 scores as a freshman in 2016.

Gilbert, a 6-1 junior from North Carolina, ends the year with four tackles.