The Duke Blue Devils will welcome No. 22 SMU into Wallace Wade Stadium in perhaps their biggest game of the season this Saturday night.
The Blue Devils are fresh off a dominant victory over Florida State, meanwhile, the Mustangs are coming off a lopsided win over Stanford last weekend. All in all, this upcoming showdown with SMU is the biggest game of the season for the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils are in the midst of its first campaign under new head coach Manny Diaz. Diaz spent two seasons with Penn State as their defensive coordinator ('22-'23) and also served as the head coach for the Miami Hurricanes ('19-'21), respectively. Diaz's first season in Durham has largely been a success, as he has the Blue Devils sporting a 6-1 record as they head into their fourth game of in-conference play this weekend.
Duke also welcomed a new quarterback in Malik Murphy from the transfer portal. Murphy previously served as the backup to Texas star Quinn Ewers last season, but now he's in his first season as a full-time starter for the Blue Devils. In 2024, Murphy has garnered 1,501 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and 5 interceptions thus far. Murphy, who stands at 6-foot-5, 230Ibs, has the tools to be a premier quarterback in the nation, but he needs more experience which will come with time.
The looming showdown against the Mustangs is by far the biggest test the Blue Devils will have encountered all season. Duke received two votes in the latest AP Top 25 Poll from the outside looking in and they will surely get ranked if they were to pull off the upset at home. Since the Blue Devils are in a new era with Diaz and Murphy driving the ship, this matchup will tell the college football community exactly where the program is at.
SMU will bring an offense that averages 40.7 points per game with sophomore quarterback Kevin Jennings, who was named the starter over Preston Stone earlier in the season. Jennings, who has tossed for 1,336 yards and 9 touchdowns along with two interceptions, is 4-0 as a starter this season.
The Mustangs offense averages 4.8 yards per rush (199.7 total) and 8.8 yards per pass (240.29 total), so its going to be intriguing as it squares up against a Duke defense that ranks 6th in passing yards allowed. Furthermore, the Mustangs will be without star tight-end RJ Maryland due to a leg injury he suffered against Stanford last weekend. Maryland is the Mustang's leading pass catcher (24 catches, 359 yards along with 4 touchdowns), so his absence will definitely be felt.
As for Duke, it is set to go up against an SMU defense that ranks 7th in rushing defense and 25th in overall defense, respectively. The Duke offense may need to heavily rely on Murphy's arm in hopes to pull off the upset against one of the top teams in the nation.
It is fair to say that this game is perhaps the biggest one for Duke since having faced Notre Dame back in September of 2023. In fact, ESPN College Gameday visited Duke for the first time ever and the game was featured in its Saturday night primetime slot. Duke was 4-0 and ranked No. 17 while the Fighting Irish were ranked No. 11 at the time. The Blue Devils ended up losing the game in an absolute thriller.
All in all, the Blue Devils and the Mustangs are still squarely in the ACC title hunt, which means this affair has College Football Playoff implications.