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FOOTBALL

Duke, 22nd Ranked SMU Who Have Same Overall Records (6-1) Different Atlantic Coast Conference Records (2-1) (3-0) Are Opposing Each Other Saturday Night In Durham

Duke, 22nd ranked SMU who have same overall records (6-1) different Atlantic Coast Conference records are opposing each other Saturday night in Durham.

Where?

On the gridiron!

SMU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2024 following being a member of the AAC (American Athletic Conference)

Duke comes into the game with overall record of 6-1 while they’re 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference is fifth in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings because they won their previous Atlantic Coast Conference game topping Florida State 23-16 where the defense came up big. In the 1st Chandler Rivers had 36 yard interception return for touchdown, Todd Pelino, kicked, made extra point putting up Duke 7-3 In the 2nd quarter Starr Thomas ran for 2 yard touchdown , Todd Pelino kicked, made extra point putting Duke up 14-3 on Florida State before extending their lead on Florida State 17-3 before Ryan Fitzgerald kicked, made field goal for Florida State making it 17-6 Duke. In the 3rd quarter Todd Pelino kicked, made yard field goal extending Duke’s lead 20-13 following a touchdown from Samuel Singleton Jr. who had 95 yard kick off return from Ryan Fitzgerald . In the 4th quarter Ryan Fitzgerald kicked, made 38 yard field goal getting Florida State within 20-16. Though, it was Duke who scored last as Todd Pelino kicked, made 39 yard field goal and Duke became Bowl eligible

Following Duke’s 23-16 win over Florida State Saturday in Durham Duke Head Coach Manny Diaz had this to say about his team performed defensively!

Defensively, we were just outstanding,”So many great contributions. But overall, I just thought our front in the way that we played, in the way that we were relentless getting up on the quarterback was just the telling difference in the game.”

The game was won by our defense creating turnovers in the first half,”

The three turnovers on the three straight possessions allowed us to take control of the game.”

Following Duke’s 23-16 win over Florida State Saturday in Durham Duke linebacker Ozzie Nicholas who is a transfer from Princeton had this to say!

“Super cool,”“You know, I only got here in the summer. But I really feel like I’m part of this Duke family and part of this brotherhood community. Everyone’s just been so accepting of me as an individual. Being a part of it is really incredible to see and to do something historic is just great. Great for the energy, for the community, for everything. It’s a blessing to be a part of, truly.”

Following Duke’s 23-16 win over Florida State Saturday night in Durham Duke cornerback who had 1 interception returned for touchdown had this to say!

“I feel like that’s a lot of kids’ dreams growing up,”“You see Florida State, a big-time team. Like, if I don’t go to Florida State, I want to beat Florida State then. So I feel like it’s just us being the first team to do that at Duke is amazing. And of course, we want to keep making history this year, keep doing new stuff.”

According to Stephen Wiseman News & Observer article https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article293942924.html

SMU comes into the game with record of 6-1 overall 3-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference is third in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings because SMU has won every Atlantic Coast Conference game they’ve played to this point including a 41-10 win at Stanford a week ago where their offense included 5 touchdowns. Smu’s first touchdown second touchdown third touchdown came in 1st quarter when Moochie Dixon caught 87 yard pass from Moochie Dixon, Colllin Rogers kicked, made extra point before Kay’Shawn Smith caught 45 yard pass from Kevin Jennings, Collin Rogers, kicked, made extra point extending SMU’s lead over Stanford 14-0 before RJ Maryland caught 38 yard pass from Kevin Jennings , Collin Rogers kicked, made extra point extending SMU’s lead over Stanford yet again this time, 21-0. In the 2nd quarter SMU scored a touchdown a field goal as LJ Johnson Jr. caught 5 yard pass Collin Rogers kicked, made extra point extending SMU lead yet again over SMU this time, 28 -7 Collin Rogers kicked, made extra point. In the 4th quarter Cal Sanders Jr. scored on a safety extending SMU lead yet again over Stanford this time 33-10 before scoring a touchdown as LJ Johnson Jr. ran for 2 yard touchdown.

According to ESPN App

Following SMU 40-10 win on the road at Stanford SMU Head Coach Rhett Lashlee had this to say!

“That’s something you got to check off every year,”"That’s your hope. If you want to go somewhere, you got to get to that point. ... Our guys do know we’ve just put ourselves in position to play for stuff continually down the stretch. But I don’t think we’re going to sit around and be satisfied with that’s the end result that we want. But it is a big deal.”We’ve really been working hard on hitting some deep balls,”haven’t had the balls this year as well as we have maybe in the past.”

https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap/_/gameId/401635590

Kickoff is set for 8:00pm from Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium!

The game is going to be televised on ACC Network with Wes Durham, Tom Luginbill, Dana Boyle commentating!