The Duke Blue Devils are looking to move to 5-0 for the first time in over two decades this week. Duke has quietly looked great to start the 2017 campaign and will lock in a bowl berth with just two more victories. Yet, it feels like the Blue Devils wouldn’t be satisfied with just a postseason spot this year. Duke feels it has a legitimate chance to win its side of the ACC and will look to take a big step towards that when it welcomes the Miami Hurricanes to town on Friday night.
This matchup in Week 5 of the regular season will take place on Friday, September 29, 2017,
at 7 p.m. ET at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. This game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Miami -5
Duke +5
Over/Under: Check Back Later
Odds Analysis
The Blue Devils have made their backers quite a bit of money this year. They have the best ATS record in the conference at 4-0 against the number and have won each game by at least double digits. Even better, Duke was an underdog to both Northwestern and North Carolina, but won both of those games outright.
Miami has only played two games this season because of Hurricane Irma, but won both. The Hurricanes easily handled Bethune-Cookman in their opener and took care of business against Toledo last week even though the Rockets hung around for a while. Miami’s offense has yet to face a defense that is any better than a stiff breeze though.
Last Meeting
Who can forget the last time these two teams met in Durham? In one of the craziest endings you’ll ever see, Duke scored what looked to be the game winning touchdown with just six seconds left and began to celebrate on the sidelines, thinking it had moved to 7-1 and taken control of the ACC Coastal. However, disaster struck on the ensuing kickoff.
Miami got the kickoff and instead of going out of bounds, decided its best shot was some zany play on the return. The Hurricanes lateraled again and again and again until they found a seam down the sideline and Corn Elder found the end zone for Miami to win with no time remaining on the clock. It was an incredible ending even though the officials were later sanctioned by the league for allowing what turned out to be a forward lateral. Duke has vowed revenge ever since.
Player to Watch
Starting quarterbacks named Malik have not fared well at Florida schools, but Malik Rosier is looking to change all that. The heir apparent to Brad Kaaya has looked good through two games and lit up Toledo’s defense last week.
Rosier completed 75 percent of his passes and threw for over 300 yards and three scores against the Rockets defense and looked like the quarterback that Miami fans have been waiting for. He only ran when he needed to and hung in and completed passes all game long. Toledo doesn’t have much in the way of defense, but it was an impressive performance nonetheless.
Free ATS Pick
It’s hard to know what to make of Miami. The Hurricanes have yet to play a tough opponent that will challenge them so Duke is a little bit on the backfoot in terms of what to expect.
Both these defenses are great against the run game though. Duke is fifth in the nation in rushing yards allowed, while the Hurricanes are 22nd in the country in that same category.
That will put the ball in the hands of Rosier and he will need to beat this defense for Miami to get the win. He is more than capable of doing that, but Duke will have a scheme ready to stifle him and the Blue Devils will get an outright win.
College Football Odds: Blue Devils 27, Hurricanes 21
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