Duke Disrespected as Undefeated College Football Team; Upset Predicted
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The Duke Blue Devils are in the midst of an eight-game winning streak, including winning the ACC championship.
The Blue Devils entered Week 6 unranked despite having a 4-0 record that includes wins over Tulane (who made the College Football Playoff last year) and Big Ten program Illinois.
Duke received disrespect during the offseason, with the ACC passing the "Duke" tiebreaker rule after a five-loss Blue Devils team made the conference championship game last year. Despite exceeding expectations in their first four weeks after quarterback Darian Mensah transferred to Miami, the program is still getting unfavorable publicity this season.
Paul Myerberg of USA Today ranked Duke as the No. 12 best undefeated team in the country. He predicted the Blue Devils' first loss of the year to occur on Saturday when Duke travels to play Georgia Tech.
Myerberg noted that the Yellow Jackets are coming off a bye and need the win over Duke if they hope to make a bowl game.
Georgia Tech isn't the only team in Saturday's contest that will be coming off a bye. Duke was off last week.
The other slap in the face here is that GT is 1-3 this season, including duds against Colorado and Stanford.
The Yellow Jackets aren't anywhere close to what they were last season with offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and quarterback Haynes King.
Duke should handle its business against Georgia Tech, setting up an undefeated Blue Devils program to host North Carolina on Oct. 17.
It's not like Duke has no star power on offense. Running back Nate Sheppard led the NCAA in rushing with 644 yards and six touchdowns on 91 carries before the bye. Entering Week 6, he's third behind West Virginia's Cam Cook and Boise State's Dylan Riley.
Duke should still be in the running to make the ACC championship and potentially the CFP by the time it travels to Miami on Nov. 14. Duke will then have to turn around and host Clemson on Nov. 20.
In the meantime, Duke will play GT, UNC, Virginia, Boston College, and NC State. All of those games are winnable for a Blue Devils program that can run the ball and play great defense.
How dangerous the Blue Devils can be will come down to the air and decision-making of quarterback Walker Eget, but Duke should earn recognition for a good start to the 2026 season in September.
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