TLDR: Duke is 4-0, hasn't lost since last season and just scored 62 in a game. Georgia Tech is 1-3 and dropped a 10-point halftime lead at Stanford. These 2 ACC teams meet at Bobby Dodd on Saturday, October 10.
Undefeated Duke visits a 1-3 Georgia Tech team that has been decimated by injuries. The Jackets played Stanford down 8 starters and blew a 10-point halftime lead, a week after Duke had beaten the same Stanford team 35-7. Both teams get a week off first, so what decides this game is how many Georgia Tech starters come back, and whether Duke's offense, which just scored 62, travels the way it has played at home.
+Led Stanford 20-10 at halftime while short-handed
+Week off to get injured starters back
+Mendoza's late TD kept it 1-possession game
−Played Stanford down 8 starters, 18 players
−3 DL, a safety and a guard listed out
−Holding penalties kept killing drives at Stanford
Start with the quarterbacks. Walker Eget is running Duke's offense, and in the 62-7 win over William & Mary he went 16-of-22 for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns before handing it off to the backups. Dan Mahan came in and went 6-of-7 for 126 yards and 3 more scores. Duke threw 5 touchdown passes to 5 different receivers that day. Two Duke quarterbacks each threw multiple touchdowns in the same game for the first time since 1990. On the other side, Alberto Mendoza kept Georgia Tech alive late at Stanford with a 23-yard touchdown to Jaiven Plummer that made it a 1-possession game. He needs more help than he's been getting.
Georgia Tech's problem isn't really the quarterback. It's the injury list. The Jackets went into Stanford missing 8 starters and 18 players total, and they lost more during the game. The ones listed out include 3 defensive linemen (S. Jones, A. Hoffler, J. Walker), guard E. Mackenny, safety S. Riley and receiver C. Jean-Noel. That's a front 7 and a secondary running on backups. Duke has its own names to watch: QB L. Gardner and WR Q. Johnson were both listed out back in Stanford week. With no price posted yet, the whole board is still waiting on these 2 lists.
The schedule helps with that. Neither team plays again before October 10, so both get a week off. For Georgia Tech it's badly needed, because every week back is a starter who might return. For Duke it's a chance to rest while protecting a win streak that reached 8 straight with the William & Mary blowout, counting last season's bowl win.
Both teams played Stanford, and the results were very different. Duke beat the Cardinal 35-7 at home. Georgia Tech went out west, led 20-10 at halftime, then gave up 24 straight points in the first 18 minutes of the second half. Stanford QB Davis Warren threw for 396 yards and 3 touchdowns against that depleted defense. Holding calls on Malachi Carney, Jordan Floyd and Markell Samuel kept wrecking Tech drives. A beaten-up team losing its discipline up front is the thing Duke's staff will study all week.
Duke has earned some doubts, though. The 17-3 Tulane game and the 31-27 escape at Illinois were not dominant, and the only road trip so far was a 4-point win. Georgia Tech showed it can build a lead. It just couldn't keep one with backups on the field. Whether the Jackets can hold up for 4 quarters at home probably depends on how many starters come back during the week off.
Duke Blue Devils at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets — Unbeaten Duke Heads to Atlanta to Face a Battered Georgia Tech | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush
