Week 2 of the college football season is upon us and on Friday September 6 we have our first play. We head out to Chicago for a tilt between the visiting Duke Blue Devils and the home side of the Northwestern Wildcats. Below I will break down the matchup and let you know which side my money is on in this matchup. Let’s dive in… see you in the DEEP WATERS!!!
It wasn’t the most dominant win but Manny Diaz will take it for his coaching debut at Duke. Duke beat FCS opponent Elon in week 1 and although the game was close at halftime, Duke dominated. Defensively Duke was awesome, a unit that ranked in the Top 50 last year did not show much if any drop off in week 1, and under Diaz who runs a 4-2-5 defensive scheme, it looks as if there wont be any drop off. Duke was dominant up front in the trenches and that will be a point of emphasis this week against Northwestern who has a true dual threat QB. Mike Wright who is QB1 for Northwestern was the leading rusher and passer in their week 1 contest and you can bet that Diaz and this Duke offense knows containing him will dictate a win or loss in this contest. I personally love what I saw from this defense and I’m very interested to see how this week’s matchup plays out.
Offensively it was not pretty but Duke found its rhythm in the second half and pulled away. Offensively it is the Maalik Murphy show for Duke, the new QB1 transfer from Texas looks to cement his legacy in Durham, NC now. Although Duke did not look good running the ball against Elon, they did have some success in the air. Murphy who has a very strong arm, established a connection with a star returning wideout in Jordan Moore who had seven catches for one hundred and twelve yards in the win. Eli Pancol burst onto the scene as well, as he had seven catches himself for eighty one yards and a touchdown. They also have returning wideout Sahmir Hagans who is very shifty and can do a lot with the ball in his hands. I look for this team to spread the ball around and also mix in the run game to open the pass game in this air raid offense.
Meanwhile, Northwestern’s defense picked up where 2023’s team left off. They came away with two takeaways and limited the Redhawks to 40 rushing yards. Three players left this units secondary via the portal and that was going to be the big question surrounding this defensive unit. The defensive line wasn’t as shaky, and along with the stellar performance against the run, they came up with four sacks. Northwestern’s linebackers who are the best part of this unit, flew around the field and made plays. It will be interesting to see how this secondary matches up against this Duke offense. To me this will be the biggest decider in this game, can this new secondary make enough plays to keep Duke’s receiving core in check and make Duke try and force feed the run.
Offensively Northwestern is led by new transfer QB1 Mike Wright. Wright who played for Vanderbilt then transferred to Mississippi St last year comes in and won the job for NU. Last week he was the leading rusher and passer for this team and looks to get more help form running back Cam Porter and an offensive line that returns three of five starters from last years squad. As far as the passing game, this team leans heavily on wideout Bryce Kirtz. Nobody had over 35 yards receiving last week other than him and Kirtz is by far the biggest and only threat receiving the ball. It will be interesting to see how much of a dual threat Wright can be against this Duke defensive front. Without the true passing game threat can Wright and Kirtz team up to soften the box for the run or can another wideout step up and do the same for this offensive unit.
As for this game, I have my money on Duke +2.5. I will gladly take the points with a team that I think has more talent and is healthy after week 1. I think Duke has the better QB1, they definitely have a better receiving room and I like the back as well. Even though Cam Porter is a good back for Northwestern and Mike Wright is a good running threat I still believe they are limited offensively. I think this is a case of strengths vs weaknesses. Duke is very strong defensively up front and Northwesterns only offense last week was Mike Wright running the ball. Then defensively, you have the unknown new secondary for Northwestern against a Duke wide receiver corps that has three guys that can beat you in Moore, Pancol, and Hagans. I look for Maalik Murphy to spread the ball around mixed with the run and have a good outcome for the Blue Devils this week.
Let’s take a look at my three key factors for siding with the Blue Devils in this matchup.
- As I just laid out, strengths vs weaknesses. To me the Duke defensive front will shutdown the running attack which is the strength of the Northwestern offense. Then you have the new and unknown secondary of Northwestern against Maalik Murphy and the Duke wide receivers.
- Kirtz is a solid receiver for Northwestern but who else do they have? Nobody stepped up in game one for Northwestern and that allows better defenses to take away the only wide receiver threat. Can someone step up, I do not think so and I’ll take my chances on that.
- Maalik Murphy. In the battle between these two transfer quarter backs I’ll take the more talented Maalik Murphy, especially when getting points.
OFFICIAL PLAY: Duke +2.5; 1.1 units to win 1 unit
Season Record: 4-1 +3 units
