Duke football 2024 schedule: Can’t miss game. Toughest stretch. Intriguing opponent

The last time Duke changed head football coaches, the Blue Devils were at the bottom of the ACC having gone three consecutive seasons without a bowl appearance.

That was just two years ago, but it feels much longer.

This time, with Manny Diaz taking over following Mike Elko’s departure to Texas A&M, the Blue Devils have won bowl games the past two seasons while producing 9-4 and 8-5 records.

That success means higher expectations when the Blue Devils take the field this August to begin the new season with their new coach.

Duke opens with Elon on a Friday night, then faces only one Power Four conference team, Northwestern, in non-conference play. Its ACC opponents include traditional Tobacco Road rivals UNC, N.C. State and Wake Forest, but also adds a league newcomer as SMU comes to Wallace Wade Stadium.

The Blue Devils face eight teams that played in bowl games last season, with three of those teams (Florida State, N.C. State and SMU) being ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Can’t miss game

UNC at Duke, Sept. 28: The Blue Devils haven’t defeated the rival Tar Heels since 2018 and this will be Diaz’s first experience with the rivalry. It comes at home and after a pair of close losses to the Tar Heels the past two years. In 2022, UNC scored in the final minute to win, 38-35. Last season the Tar Heels won, 47-45 in double overtime.

Toughest stretch

From mid-October to the middle of November, Duke plays four consecutive games against teams expected to be loaded with talent. It starts on Oct. 18 when the Blue Devils play last year’s ACC champion, Florida State, at home.

Next comes league newcomer SMU, which won the American Athletic Conference last season while going 11-3 to finish No. 22 in the final AP poll.

On Nov. 2, Diaz will coach the Blue Devils against his former employer, Miami, on the road. Then Duke makes the short trip to Raleigh on Nov. 9 to play N.C. State. The Wolfpack will certainly want to get a measure of revenge after losing 24-3 at Duke last October.

Easiest stretch

The lone projected soft spot for the Blue Devils is back-to-back September Saturdays when they play UConn at home before traveling to Middle Tennessee State. Both of those nonconference foes suffered losing seasons a year ago, with UConn going 3-8 and Middle Tennessee 4-8.

Notable nonconference game

Duke at Northwestern, Sept. 7: This matchup is notable for historical and timing reasons. This will be the first game against Power Four conference team and the first road game of Diaz’s Duke coaching tenure. It’s also a throwback to two years ago when Mike Elko found himself in the same situation. Duke blasted an overmatched Temple team, 30-0, in Elko’s Duke debut before heading to Northwestern a week later. The Blue Devils won, 31-23. It was the first inkling something special was happening with Duke football. After playing Elon in this season’s opener, the game at Northwestern could give us an early answer about Diaz.

Filled with intrigue

Duke at Miami, Nov. 2: Manny Diaz returns to Hard Rock Stadium, where was Miami’s head coach from 2019-21 before being fired so the Hurricanes could hire alumnus Mario Cristobal away from Oregon. Diaz left with a 21-15 record with the Hurricanes. He was also the team’s defensive coordinator from 2016-18, which included the program’s one ACC title game appearance in 2017. So, his competitive juices will certainly be flowing when he takes the Blue Devils to south Florida that weekend.

DUKE SCHEDULE 2024

What is the ACC scheduling model?

The 2024-2030 schedule model will continue with no divisions, feature 17 schools, and will increase the number of annual conference matchups from 56 to 68.

The top two teams based on conference winning percentage will compete in the ACC Football Championship Game on the first Saturday in December at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The approved format will continue to have each member institution play eight conference games per season, with all 17 teams playing each other at least twice over the next seven seasons — once at home and once on the road. The current 14 conference teams will play a total of three times each in California over the seven years and none will travel west to California in back-to-back seasons.

The new scheduling model protects 16 annual matchups. Of the 16 matchups, 11 are retained from the current 3-5-5 schedule model, two are restored rivalries from the divisional format in Miami-Virginia Tech and NC State-Wake Forest, and the three new schools fill the remaining three. The annual protected matchups are Boston College-Syracuse, Boston College-Pitt, Syracuse-Pitt, North Carolina-Virginia, North Carolina-Duke, North Carolina-NC State, NC State-Wake Forest, NC State-Duke, Duke-Wake Forest, VirginiaTech-Virginia, Florida State-Clemson, Miami-Florida State, Miami-Virginia Tech, Stanford-Cal, Stanford-SMU, and Cal-SMU.