Duke football: 3 takeaways from major upset of No. 9 Clemson

Deion Prime asked the football world, “Do you believe?” Duke football was 0-28 against top-10 teams until Monday night. The last top-10 team they defeated? Clemson. The Blue Devils defeated No. 7 Clemson in 1989 on their way to the ACC Championship.

Duke football shocked the college football world on Monday, defeating the No. 9 Clemson Tigers 28-7 at Wallace Wade Stadium. Clearly, the talent disparity between the Blue Devils and the Tigers was not that wide. The Blue Devils were the more disciplined, crisp football team this evening.

Both defenses were stout most of the game, as the offenses had issues moving the football consistently. This was arguably the most physical game of the opening slate of games.

New starting quarterback Cade Klubnik had issues all night getting in sync with his receivers, and the offensive line could not block Duke’s defensive line. Clemson did have two opportunities to score in the red zone but fumbled twice inside the 10-yard line.

It was not pretty all the time for Duke’s offense, but Riley Leonard did not put the football in danger, and Clemson could not take advantage of two Duke fumbles.

Fans could not ask for a better end to Week 1 of the college football season.