Let's take a look at the 2019 Duke football team.
Best / Worse Case Record for :
Louisville | Virginia | Miami | Georgia Tech | Boston College | Pittsburgh | Florida State | Virginia Tech | NC State | Clemson | Syracuse | North Carolina | Wake Forest
Duke
Since 2013 Duke has won at least 7 games every year, but one. They also have won their last 3 bowls. David Cutcliffe is has done masterful job rebuilding Duke, but this year the Blue Devils play a schedule that would make any top 10 team cringe. If anyone can make the Blue Devils competitive, it’s Cutcliffe.
Will Go 8-4 (5-3) if:
Quentin Harris can fill the QB shoes left by Daniel Jones. Right out of the gate, Harris will face an Alabama team that will be awfully angry after their dismantling in the national title game by Clemson. There are also games with Notre Dame and Syracuse. The best case scenario is likely a split. After that, if everything breaks right, and Duke loses just a couple of more games then 8-4 is possible.
For that to happen, besides Harris’s play, the Blue Devils need to be improved on defense. The rush defense was ranked 105. That has to be better. There’s is some talent defensively, but there isn’t a lot of depth.
Will Go 4-8 (2-6) if:
The schedule overwhelms Duke. Alabama, Notre Dame, Syracuse and at Virginia could be 4 losses right out of the gate. Games at Virginia Tech, at Middle Tennessee, at Wake Forest, and Miami are no picnic either. Say Duke goes 2-2 in those last four, they are sitting at 2-6 pretty easily. Then they have to run the table in the their other games to just make a bowl game. This is with a new starting QB and new receiving core.
Duke has a lot of holes to fill, to go along with a difficult schedule. It could be a rough season in Durham.
