It’s some Friday night ACC Conference football action when the 13th ranked Miami Hurricanes storm into Durham to play the Duke Blue Devils. The contest between the two programs is set to go off on Friday, September 29th at 7:00 p.m. EST. The match-up can be seen on ESPN for your viewing entertainment. As of this article, the Hurricanes are -7 point favorites and the over/under sits at 56.
The Miami Hurricanes peeled off some early rust to take down the Toledo Rockets by a score of 52-30 last weekend. The game marked the first time Miami had taken the field since Hurricane Irma rolled into Florida. Behind a strong running game, the Hurricanes controlled the ball and kept quarterback Logan Woodside off the field. Eventually, the Canes wore down the Rockets and put the game away in the fourth quarter.
The Duke Blue Devils also found themselves in the winner’s column after their 27-17hard-fought road win over the North Carolina Tar Heels. In that game, the Blue Devils used some timely defense to keep the Tar Heels at bay. Overall, they intercepted a pass and held North Carolina to three of 16 on third downs. The offense wasn’t lights-out but put up enough to get the job done in enemy territory.
Last year, these two schools faced-off and Miami came out on top to the tune of 40-21. The contest was played in Coral Gables, giving the Canes a decisive home-field advantage. Now, the Blue Devils will get their shot at revenge at home.
(13) Miami Hurricanes (2-0)
Miami had a couple of bye weeks in a row before getting back on the field this past weekend against Toledo. College football gurus felt that it could be a trap game for the Hurricanes because their offense might not keep pace with the Rockets. Instead, Miami sported their own high-powered attack and put up 51 points in the victory.
Running back Mark Walton was the star of the game for Miami. He only carried the ball 11 times but made the most of it. Altogether, Walton rumbled for just over 200 yards and a trip to the promised land. Obviously, the Hurricanes will look to also impose their will in the trenches against the Blue Devils this Friday.
Quarterback Mike Rosier was also a major contributor last weekend. It was steady as she goes when he connected on 27 of his 36 passes for 333 yards with three endzone strikes and one pick. With Rosier keeping the secondary on their heels, it only bodes well for the strong rushing game Miami fields.
Wide receivers Braxton Berrios and Chris Herndon IV did most of the damage through the air against Toledo. Berrios reeled in five catches for 105 yards and a score. Herndon IV also provided some punch, grabbing a game-high eight balls for over 80 yards and another touchdown. It’s so far so good at the wideout position for the Canes.
On the defensive side, the Miami Hurricanes struggled against one of the nation’s top signal-callers. In fact, they allowed Logan Woodside to throw for 342 yards and three touchdown tosses. Fortunately, the Canes will not be facing near as an explosive offense in this match-up.
Duke Blue Devils (4-0)
The Duke Blue Devils did need their defense to step up as their offense put up just 388 yards of total offense. Even still, the running game was on point. Altogether, Duke did run for 186 yards and a score. Against Miami, it may be hard for that ground game to get going because of a stout Hurricane defensive front.
Two tailbacks spearheaded the rushing attack against the Tar Heels last weekend. Brittian Brown and Shaun Wilson combined for 28 carries for 146 yards and a touchdown. The production was a nice surprise because the passing game couldn’t get off of the ground.
Quarterback Daniel Brown barely completed half of his passes against a suspect North Carolina defense. All totaled, he hit 18 out of 34 balls for just over 200 yards and a score. On a positive note, the starting signal-caller didn’t serve up any picks to the Tar Heels secondary.
Wide receiver T.J. Rahming was really the only wideout that did anything to support the Blue devil’s passing game. The Georgia native brought in six passes for 76 yards. In 2017, he has caught 24 balls for almost 250 yards but still has yet to record a touchdown. He and his teammates will need to perform better against Miami or they will be able to load the box and focus completely on the Duke rushing attack.
The Duke Blue Devils have gotten off to a strong 4-0 start, after going just 4-8 a year ago. Basically, they have been led by their defense in the early going. So far, the Blue Devils are ranked 5th in the country, allowing only 75 yards per game against the run. They also find ways to keep the opposing offenses off of the scoreboard. Overall, they rank 17th, giving way to only 15 points a ball game.
Prediction
Apparently, the mantra that opposites attract will prove to be true when these two programs meet up on Friday night. Duke enters this game playing strong defense and struggling on the other side of the ball. Miami seems to have no issues moving the chains but can’t seem to get their defense to perform as expected.
It will be interesting to see how the Blue Devils number five rated defense will do against an offensive unit teeming with confidence heading into this game. Mark Walton should be enough of a threat for Duke to keep plenty of players up in run support. That means that quarterback Mike Rosier will need to keep his side of the street clean once again in Durham.
I really don’t think that the Blue Devils will find too many holes to run through against Miami. With that being said, they do have an opportunity to spread their wings a little against the Hurricane’s secondary. If so, they can find balance and keep themselves in this contest.
Las Vegas has this line at +7 for the Blue Devils and I suggest this is where you make your play. Buy this up to 7.5 and rely on the stout defensive front for the Blue Devils to keep this one close. Because of the lack of production from the Duke passing game, I’m also suggesting that you just stay away from this contests over/under 56. #moneytreesgrow
Trends
The Hurricanes are 4-0 ATS in their last four conference games.
The Hurricanes are 6-1 ATS in their last seven games overall.
The Over is 5-2 in the Hurricanes last seven games in September.
The Blue Devils are 6-0 ATS in their last six home games.
The Blue Devils are 5-2 ATS in their last seven conference games.
The Under is 7-2 in the Blue Devils last nine home games.
