The Duke Blue Devils may have just had one of the biggest wins in school history.
Duke beat the 9th ranked Clemson Tigers 28-7 Monday night. This was Duke’s biggest margin of win over Clemson since 1936. This was also the first time since 1989 the Duke Blue Devils have beat a ranked opponent. “It’s almost indescribable what I just saw.” “That’s the weirdest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Swinney said. “I’ve been beat. I’ve had my butt kicked. But that’s the strangest game I’ve ever been a part of.”
Clemson seemed to just utterly fall apart and implode in the red zone. Two blocked field goals and two fumbles would be the dagger to the Tigers. They won the time of possession battle, had 12 more first downs, and had just one penalty vs Dukes seven. Even after all of that, the Blue Devil defense shined brightest in the red zone and held Clemson to only 7 points.
Dukes defense showed out this game, bowing their back anytime Clemson looked to score. Riley Leonard had himself a good game, including this awesome 44 yard touchdown run.
Clemson hadn’t lost to Duke since 2004. They now face the prospect of likely having to win out to have a chance of making the playoffs. The season is still not a loss for Clemson, but they will have some work to do.
As for Duke, it was a magical night for them and their fans. The atmosphere was great as well, growing ever more festive as the clock wound toward zero. Once it got there, they wasted no time sprinting in a roar to midfield even with time still on the clock to celebrate a huge win
Aftermath
Mike Elko took over a program that had seen its winning edge fizzle in the final years of David Cutcliffe’s long and successful tenure. Now, Duke has a tough veteran team with a really good young QB in Riley Leonard. This will be a fun team to keep an eye on the rest of the season. The Tigers have likely sent themselves falling down, or even out of, Tuesday’s new poll with this showing. However, the Blue Devils could be in line to crack the rankings for the first time since 2018.
College Football is back.
Jaden Chandler-Parnell, or “JC” is a Sports & Sports Betting Insider for Stare Down Sports. You can Follow him on twitter @Jaden95Chandler
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