Can Duke Snap Their Four Game Losing Streak As They Head To Winston Salem To Take On Wake Forest?

The last time Duke won a game on the road you have to go back to September 27th in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech.

Since then things have unraveled for the team located in Durham as they’ve lost four straight games.

On Saturday Duke who comes into the game with a record of 4-6 and is a member of the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference will hit the road where they will hope to avoid yet another loss when they visit Winston Salem where they will take on Wake Forest who is a member of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference and unlike Duke is bowl eligible as Wake Forest comes into the game with a record of 7-3.

As for Duke’s previous game,

They lost their fourth straight to Syracuse who like Wake Forest is a member of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Blue Devils' offensive woes continued as three turnovers on three possessions to start the second half handed the Orange 21 of their 49 points. In addition to the three takeaways, the Orange run game made life tough for Duke. Syracuse finished the contest with 286 rushing yards with both Moe Neal and Jarveon Howard picking up 115 yards apiece. Orange quarterback Tommy Devito completed just six passes, two of which found the end zone. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Duke saw redshirt senior quarterback Quentin Harris throw for 157 yards on 19-of-36 attempts. Sixty-three of those 157 yards went to Aaron Young as he led the team in receiving yards. Mataeo Durant led the ground game with 54 yards on 11 carries, while teammate Deon Jackson racked up 32 yards on 13 carries. Duke also managed to compile with 279 yards of total offense throughout the game. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Syracuse jumped out to a 14-0 lead, scoring on its first two possessions before Duke's defense settled in and held the Orange scoreless for the rest of the opening half. The Blue Devils struggled offensively to start the game, only managing to get their first points with a little over six minutes remaining in the half when AJ Reed connected on a 31-yard field goal. Reed added three more points to Duke's first-half total with a career-long 51-yard field goal to send the Blue Devils into halftime trailing just, 14-6. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Duke started the third quarter with a huge defensive three-and-out. Unfortunately, the Orange defense came up big on the Blue Devils' next three possessions by returning an interception for a touchdown and converting another interception and a fumble into 14 more points to pull away, 35-6. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

The Blue Devils were never able to get into a rhythm offensively after the break, compiling just 97 yards of offense in the second half and only seven first downs. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Austin Parker had another outstanding game punting the ball for Duke, including sending a booming career-long 72-yard kick down the field in the second quarter. The 72-yarder ties him for 10th longest in Duke history. Overall, Parker punted six times for an average of 41.8 yards per kick and put three inside the 20-yards line.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Defensively, the Blue Devils were led by safety Dylan Singleton and linebacker Shaka Heyward with eight tackles each. Heyward recorded Duke's only sack of the night, a seven-yard takedown. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/16/football-turnovers-doom-blue-devils-in-loss-to-syracuse.aspx

Like Duke,

Wake Forest lost their previous game. The difference? Instead of losing at home to Clemson they lost on the road on in Death Valley to the third ranked team in the country.

Wake Forest suffered a 52-3 loss to No. 3 Clemson Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Demon Deacons fall to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the ACC with the loss, while the Tigers improve to 11-0 overall and finish ACC play at 8-0.”according to https://godeacs.com/news/2019/11/16/football-deacs-fall-at-no-3-clemson.aspx

How it Happened:
Clemson jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the first five minutes of the contest. The Tigers opened the scoring on its opening drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Lawrence to Tee Higgins. On the next drive, Travis Etienne scored on a 14-yard rush to double the lead to 14-0. After Clemson fumbled on its first punt attempt of the day, the Deacs took over at the Tiger 28-yard line. That set up a 30-yard field from Nick Sciba, his ACC-record setting 28th consecutive made field goal. It was only the second score allowed in the opening quarter by the Tigers this season, as the opening quarter ended 14-3.”according to https://godeacs.com/news/2019/11/16/football-deacs-fall-at-no-3-clemson.aspx

Midway through the second quarter, Clemson extended its lead to 17-3 with a 35-yard field goal from B.T. Potter. In the final minute of the half, Higgins grabbed two more touchdown passes to make the margin 31-3 at the break. “according to https://godeacs.com/news/2019/11/16/football-deacs-fall-at-no-3-clemson.aspx

Clemson added a receiving touchdown by Frank Ladson, Jr. and a rushing touchdown by Lyn-J Dixon in the third quarter to push the lead to 45-3. The Tigers added a touchdown pass to Joseph Ngata in the fourth quarter to make the final score 52-3.”according to https://godeacs.com/news/2019/11/16/football-deacs-fall-at-no-3-clemson.aspx

Maggio's Record Day:
Punter Dom Maggio set a Wake Forest record for punting average in a game (min. 5 punts) at 57.7 yards, breaking the previous record of 56.4 yards set by Ryan Plackemeier on five punts at Georgia Tech in 2005. Maggio's eight punts of at least 50 yards tied the single-game school record set by Alex Kinal, who had eight 50-yard punts vs. Boston College in 2015. Maggio had four punts of at least 60 yards, including a season-long 66-yard punt in the fourth quarter. He also broke the Wake Forest career record for 50-yard punts as he finished the game with 76 career 50-yard punts, breaking Plackemeier's record of 74.”according to https://godeacs.com/news/2019/11/16/football-deacs-fall-at-no-3-clemson.aspx

Can Duke snap their four game losing streak? Can Wake Forest rebound from the thrashing that Clemson gave them down in Death Valley?

Kick-off is set for from BB&T Field in Winston Salem.