Halloween falls on a Saturday this year and that means Boston College will be in action.
The Eagles will face off with ACC foe Duke in what is its second straight road game and part of a stretch of three out of four.
Game Notes
- Who: Boston College vs. Duke
- Head Coaches: Bill O’Brien, Boston College; Manny Diaz, Duke
- When: Saturday, October 31 at TBD
- Where: Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina
Series History
The history between these two teams dates back to 1927 when they first played in Chestnut Hill, Mass. After meetings in three consecutive seasons, they did not play until 2006. There has been a total of nine matchups between Boston College and Duke with the Eagles holding a 5-4 advantage. Duke has won three of the last four.
- Oct. 1, 1927: Duke 25, BC 9
- Oct. 12, 1928: BC 19, Duke 0
- Nov. 2, 1929: BC 20, Duke 12
- Nov. 11, 2006: BC 28, Duke 7
- Nov. 13, 2010: BC 21, Duke 16
- Sept. 17, 2011: Duke 20, BC 19
- Oct. 2, 2015: Duke 9, BC 7
- Sept. 19, 2020: BC 26, Duke 6
- Nov. 4, 2022: Duke 38, BC 31
Duke 2025 Recap
What a year it was for the Blue Devils. Duke began 1-2 after a loss to Tulane before ripping off three straight wins. The Blue Devils had another bad loss to UConn midseason but won the final three games, including the ACC Championship against Virginia. The Blue Devils would go on to win the Sun Bowl, 42-39, over Arizona State.
Offense: Can Duke Survive Post-Mensah?
Darian Mensah was going to return to Duke this fall but the transfer portal era got in the way. Miami came calling with what has to be a nice offer to play quarterback and he headed to South Beach.
This leaves the Blue Devils without their leader who threw for close to 4,000 yards and 34 touchdowns last year. In comes Walker Eget from San Jose State. He has been thrown to turning the ball over but has a big-time arm. Dan Mahan has not played yet but was a highly-valued recruit last year as well.
Not only did Mensah head south, but Duke lost its top pass catcher as Cooper Barkate will join his quarterback in Miami. He led Duke with 1,106 yards and seven touchdowns last season. Qua’Sean Brown (Virginia Tech) and Sahmir Hagans (graduated) are also gone. This leaves Duke without its top three pass catchers.
This means tight end Jeremiah Halsey will have to take on more responsibility while transfers Jared Richardson and Javen Nicholas will be thrown into the mix right away.
It also looks like Nate Sheppard will be relied upon more heavily after an All-ACC season where he totaled 1,132 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He will be running behind a new offensive like with Braden Miller (Cal) and Nick Del Grande (Coastal Carolina) coming to play tackle, joining center Matt Craycraft and guard Jordan Larsen.
Defense: Diaz Looks To Revamp Unit
Manny Diaz knows how to coach up a defense and we saw this last season.
This defense last year was strong up front and took the ball away often but struggled on third down and in the passing game.
The Blue Devils forced 24 turnovers last season and multiple in seven games. The middle of the defense will be just as good with Luke Mergott and Kendall Johnson returning. The duo combined for 127 tackles last season. Throw a healthy Nick Morris in the mix and the linebackers are elite.
The defense needed four new starters up front after coming away with 11 or more tackles for loss in six games.
The secondary lost Chandler Rivers and Caleb Weaver as well. The defense allowed 276.8 passing yards per game and 45% or worse on third downs eight times.
Matchup Preview
This being a late October matchup means we will likely know the direction of Boston College’s season by this point. The major question is — can the Eagles pull off an upset over the reigning ACC champs?
Duke’s offense will look completely different but by this point of the season, it will not be a new-look group anymore. It will be interesting to see if the Eagles can take advantage of the new faces though and get in the backfield. This is another game where the Eagles will be getting points and at this time, it is hard to imagine an upset. But anything is possible!
Will the Eagles be able to earn a statement victory heading into November?