The 2025 college football season has had many surprises throughout the year, but after last week, potentially the biggest has happened, as 7-5 Duke is in the ACC championship.
If this was basketball season, then there would be no surprises here, but it’s football. Duke hasn’t been to the ACC championship since 2013, which they lost to eventual national champions Florida State, after Duke pulled off a 10-2 record.
This time, Duke actually has a chance to win as they face No. 17 Virginia, despite the fact that Virginia won in their regular season match-up 34-17 just three weeks ago. To win, there are three things that Duke has to do: have consistent pressure on the quarterback, have receivers be able to get open and have an explosive start to shock Virginia.
None of those three things happened in the regular season match between these two teams.
First of all, their defensive line allowed for Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris to pass for 316 yards, mostly on plays where Morris had to scramble. Duke’s defense also didn’t have a single sack for the entire game, further proving that their defensive line needs to step up if they want to be ACC Champions.
As far as the offense goes for Duke, they need to get their receivers open. Duke quarterback Darian Mensah only threw for 213 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per completion. This doesn’t look that bad until you look at the pass attempts, which was a staggering 35. If Duke wants to pull off the upset, their receivers need to get open faster so that Mensah can actually get some completions and move the ball down the field.
The last time these two teams faced off, Duke didn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter, and at that point it was too late to come back from the 31 point deficit that Virginia ran up. In five of Duke’s seven wins, they scored first, and Duke needs that to happen in the ACC Championship so that they can set the winning tone early.
“We’ll play up tight because we’re trying to be perfect, and we’ve been at our best when we’ve made games grimy. We’ve been at our best when we’ve stuck it out,” said Duke head coach Manny Diaz, according to the Duke Chronicle.
The ACC Championship game will take place this Saturday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Fans can watch it on ABC.
