Elon at Duke, Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Duke by 23 1/2.
Series record: Duke leads 7-0-1.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
This is Duke’s debut under new coach Manny Diaz, who took over after Mike Elko left for Texas A&M after two seasons of rapid success. Diaz spent the past two seasons as defensive coordinator at Penn State and is making his return to the sideline as a head coach for the first time since his ouster from Miami in 2021. Diaz went 21-15 in three seasons with the Hurricanes. The Phoenix are a Championship Subdivision program from the Coastal Athletic Association. Elon is picked to finish sixth in that 16-team league and is chasing its first win against a Bowl Subdivision program.
KEY MATCHUP
Duke QB Maalik Murphy vs. Elon’s defensive front. The Texas transfer beat out Grayson Loftis for the starting job in preseason, giving the 6-foot-5, 230-pound passer runway as a starter after working as a reserve for the College Football Playoff-bound Longhorns last year. Murphy appeared in seven games and had two starts with Texas, which had followed him creating a buzz in that year’s spring game. He’ll face a defense that has traditionally had success in getting after quarterbacks; Elon ranked 13th in the FCS ranks in sacks (2.83) in 2022 and 21st last year (2.55).
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Elon: QB Matthew Downing. The seventh-year passer came on last year, averaging 294 yards passing for the final four games after failing to crack the 200-yard mark in any of the first seven games last year. He has previous stops at Georgia, TCU and Louisiana Tech.
Duke: WR Jordan Moore. He’s the top target in the new offense coordinated by Jonathan Brewer with nearly 1,500 career receiving yards to go with 13 touchdowns, eight of those coming last year.
FACTS & FIGURES
Diaz won 16 Atlantic Coast Conference games at Miami, second only to Clemson in that span. … Duke’s nine ACC wins in the past two seasons nearly matches its total win total for the three seasons before Elko’s arrival (10-25 from 2019-21). … The Blue Devils won 52-13 in the most recent meeting in 2014. … This is the third straight season that Elon will open on the road against a power-conference foe after losing at Wake Forest last year and at Vanderbilt in 2022. … Elon last won an opener on the road in 2006. … The Phoenix’s 14 returning offensive and defensive starters are second-most in the CAA.
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