ACC football team previews: Duke

Duke Blue Devils 

Last year: 5-7 (3-5 ACC) Best win: at Virginia Tech, 45-10 Worst loss: vs. Syracuse, 49-6
Coach: David Cutcliffe (13th year, 72-79, 116-108 career)
Starters returning: 14 (7 offense, 7 defense, 0 specialists)
Offensive player to watch: QB Chase Brice. Brice has been Trevor Lawrence's backup at Clemson the past two seasons. He transferred to Duke in the offseason and has two years of eligibility remaining. After the graduation of Quentin Harris, last year's starter, Brice is an instant upgrade for the Blue Devils, who have only one other quarterback on the roster that has thrown a pass in a game. Brice, a former high three-star/low four-star recruit, completed 60.3 percent of his passes (82 of 136) for 1,023 yards, nine touchdowns, and four interceptions in his two seasons with the Tigers. Most notably in 2018 against Syracuse at Clemson, with Lawrence knocked out before halftime with a concussion, Brice helped lead the Tigers to a 27-23 comeback win over the Orange when they led 16-7 at the break. Granted, Brice handed the ball off a lot in that game and also threw a pick, but he completed 7 of 13 passes for 83 yards and passed for a fourth-down conversion on the game-winning drive.

Defensive player to watch: DE Chris Rumph II. As a junior in 2019, Rumph collected 47 tackles, 13.5 for losses, 6.5 sacks, three breakups, and a forced fumble.
Special teams player to watch: KR Damond Philyaw-Johnson. A wideout who caught only two passes a season ago, Philyaw-Johnson was a weapon in the return game, taking back 17 kicks an average of 32.3 yards, second only to UVa's Joe Reed (33.2) in the ACC. He returned two for TDs against Wake Forest.
Schedule: at Notre Dame, vs. Boston College, bye, vs. Virginia Tech, at Syracuse, at N.C. State, bye, vs. Charlotte, vs. North Carolina, at Virginia, vs. Wake Forest, at Georgia Tech, vs. Florida State.
Win-loss prediction: 5-6 or 6-5. Seemingly only a handful of ACC teams still have nonconference games scheduled, and the Blue Devils are one of them, as they host Charlotte, a matchup that could help the Devils get back to a bowl game (if there are any) if they can dispatch the 49ers, though Charlotte wasn't bad last season, going 7-6 as it reached its first bowl game. Duke has to face Notre Dame right off the bat, but it does not have to play Clemson. After getting the probable loss to the Irish out of the way, the Blue Devils get a stretch of teams, aside from Virginia Tech, where they will have a good chance to grab some victories (BC, Syracuse, N.C. State, Charlotte) and heck, they probably will give the Hokies issues as well. Duke has won three of the past seven matchups against Tech, and two of the Devils' four losses in that span have come by a combined four points. On paper, Duke's closing stretch is tough, aside from perhaps Wake and Georgia Tech. The offense needs to produce more after an uncharacteristically poor season under Cutcliffe. Brice won't have to carry the team by himself. Four starters on the offensive line return, plus 660-yard rusher Deon Jackson, and WR Jalon Calhoun and TE Noah Gray, who combined for 97 receptions, 812 yards, and seven TDs. On 'D,' in addition to Rumph, fellow DE Victor Dimukeje returns after racking up 9.5 tackles for losses and 8.5 sacks. In the secondary, safety Mark Gilbert is finally back after a major hip injury early in the 2018 season also derailed his 2019 campaign. He was a fourth-team All-American in 2017. Cutcliffe's guys seem to be a ways away from their 10- and nine-victory seasons in 2013-14, but over the past eight years, the Devils have missed out on a bowl just twice (2019 and 2016), and the '19 squad suffered two three-point losses. A bounce-back year wouldn't be all that surprising to see.