Duke is 3-0 and has scored *exactly* 26 points in each game -- taking that a step further, it has three touchdowns, two PATs, two field goals and a missed PAT in every, single, game.

What a time to be alive.

This will be the insider thread for Duke's game at Middle Tennessee this week. Duke's schedule was cut-and-dried -- four non-conference games, eight ACC games the rest of the way. Brace yourself for another "since Daniel Jones" nugget: The last time Duke went 4-0 against non-conference opponents was 2018.

I won't be traveling to Murfreesboro for this one, so I'll have remote coverage. As always, stay tuned in here for coverage throughout the week, starting tomorrow with PFF grades from the UConn game and whatever news and updates stem from the Monday press conference.

Catching you up on some links:

Story on the win over UConn.

The preview for the UConn game.

(the PFF grades will be up Monday morning)

Any idea when they are expected to announce? I hear it could be very soon and word is Duke is picking up heavy momentum with them and are now the favorite? Obviously with NIL money and Miami things could change, but what are others hearing regarding them?

Used to be a few fans on the Board. How 'bout it? Ranked fourth before today's win over Richmond. Now 8-1.
OFC

Thread for this week's game is here. Duke is 2-0 with two stellar defensive games and an offense that's hit or miss.

One programming note first: I'll have a remote story on this one even though it's a home game. Wake Forest plays Ole Miss on Saturday night and while I think I've got a good handle on what that outcome will be, it's one of the teams I cover playing an SEC team, and the No. 5 team in the country, to boot.

As for coverage of UConn-Duke, I'll still have you covered during the week. We've got a press conference tomorrow with Manny Diaz and both coordinators, player interviews on Tuesday, and another presser scheduled for Wednesday with Diaz.

I don't have injury updates; that will likely be the subject of the story from tomorrow's presser.

Just to catch you up on some links:

Duke's win at Northwestern wasn't pretty, but it's still a win.

PFF grades on Duke's offense at Northwestern | PFF grades on Duke's defense at Northwestern.

Hey guys! Richie O'Leary here, publisher of The UConn Report aka the UConn-Rivals site. Just wanted to drop by and post our video from UConn Football HC Jim Mora's press conference today.

There is only a couple of Duke questions / answers in there, so ENJOY!

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Alright, Week 2 arrives with Duke at 1-0 and headed to Northwestern. A small note: The gametime listed is eastern time but the start at Northwestern is 8 p.m. local.

A programming note: Manny Diaz's presser will be Monday afternoon and I'll be there with a quick news story to follow. I have one more story off of Friday night's game that I want to get posted either tonight or tomorrow morning and that link will be in this thread. Hopefully will have a Q&A with somebody from the Northwestern side of things later in the week.

I'm not traveling for this one, so I'll be watching at home and will have a story up on the game late Friday night (technically Saturday morning).

Just to catch you up on some links:

Buzzer story on Duke's win over Elon.

Analysis on Duke's swarming defense against Elon.

PFF grades for Duke's offense | PFF grades for Duke's defense.

There were 20 Power Four decommitments in August, a very busy month:

Firing up a thread for coverage leading up to Friday night's game, and then for coverage afterward, too.

As something of a programming note for today and the week: Manny Diaz's press conference will be today at 1 p.m., followed by interviews with both coordinators, so I'll have content up with them later today/tonight. I'll have a 5 things to know about Elon, a comprehensive preview of the game, maybe another story squeezed in (it's a short week, shorter on the WF side, so I might not get to everything). And then I'll be at Friday night's game for full coverage.

This will be an interesting season for Duke. I think they're a little better than some are giving them credit for. But it's a new staff and I don't know how well some of the pieces are going to fit in the new system. And while the schedule is manageable for the non-conference (first 4 games), Duke's ACC schedule looks brutal.

In case you've missed any of the main things to know so far, some links to catch you up:

Maalik Murphy's adjustment that won him the starting QB job.

3 glass-half-full predictions | 3 glass-half-empty predictions

Duke's remade OL was a "pleasant surprise" of fall camp.

Not related to the game, but big news on the recruiting front.

Anyone want to do a league?

Duke's first practice of fall camp was today, with the season opener against Elon being a month away. I was out there for the whole practice, so:

Practice report on Duke's first day of fall camp.

There's a bit of detail in there that's hopefully valuable -- though, as always, I'd caution about leaping to any conclusions after one day of fall camp.

I don't know when the next practice I'll be able to get to is, it might not be until next week. But I've got another story or two to get done in the meantime and those will be up in the coming days.

Every year @skysdad posted a thread reference transfers. We were asked to observe Duke players basically going thru the motions, not cheering from the bench, pouting etc, etc. Were they thinking of leaving???

Things are somewhat different now with transfers. I think a player has to wait til the end of the year to enter the portal. It's more complicated now with more players opting for the NBA. However, NIL deals have sweetened the pot, and are keeping players in school longer.

Bottom line, @skysdad always picked a candidate likely to transfer. So, let's select.... Who could it be this year if hes not getting enough PT?? My top likely candidate: Harris.

OFC

We're in the doldrums of summer and while you're inside, escaping 90+ degree days, it's time to check out some football preview content.

First up is a list of breakout candidates.

I'll have more in the coming days and weeks. One programming note I want to get out there now: ACC media days are set for July 22-25 and I will *not* be there. Think it's the first time I'll miss the kickoff event since, well, before I had a fulltime job covering ACC teams, which would've been 2011. But my family scheduled a vacation for that week and honestly, ACC media days have lost a lot of value over the last 5-6 years, so it was an easy decision to pick the beach over 4 days in Charlotte.

Going to operate this in a lot of the same ways as last year, if you'll recall ... Will have stories and coverage of Duke's baseball team in this thread. It'll be spotty at times, given the timing of basketball season and other responsibilities, but I'll do what I can to get Duke's baseball team covered.

Going to start with a feature, as the season is two days away: On the return of Jonathan Santucci.

Now that the roster seems set, how do you expect PT to be divvied up? Here's a template you can copy&paste and fill out if you want to. New guys listed more or less in height order. Last year's numbers filled in for returning players.

If any of you guys Stay in Florida, South Carolina or North Carolina be safe and hopefully the water doesn’t rise to bad .

Has anyone seen this ESPN show? About the 77 Yankees. Mainly deals with the Reggie Jackson/ Billy Martin/Steinbrenner drama. With some Son of Sam mixed in. Lots of great old footage. Miracle they won back to back with all the drama. Fun show; about halfway through.
Only complaint is the focus on Reggie; that team was stacked but other than Thurman Munson they are just name dropped for the most part.

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I have a pick in for the Blue Devils to dip back into the Peach State this weekend. Cain comes off the board on August 2.

Twitter

Apparently his brother is online saying his gf groomed him into a sick version of Mormonism and doesn’t speak to his family anymore.

His 80's show meant a lot to my family growing up. My dad had his 60's comedy records; mostly just him on the phone. RIP to a comedy legend. His 70's show was good as well. This one hits home. The king of deadpan.

God bless America, God bless all of yall! #GoAmerica

I wasn't going to do much with the draft but since it's been discussed ad nauseam over the last 14-16 hours ...

Those personal problems with Kyle Filipowski that were mentioned during the season (can't remember which thread) are out there, now. His fiancé is significantly older -- I think 27 -- and is the main factor behind Filipowski having zero relationship with his family, including his twin brother. Just a strange situation. I'm not here to judge the kid for his relationship with his family and/or the company that he keeps, just trying to shed light on the situation I alluded to during the season.

Tend to think it's a stretch to latch onto that as the biggest reason he fell out of the first round. He's a 6-11 tweener, as we've discussed here before. The NBA isn't sold enough on him as a stretch-4 because he can't defend the perimeter, and he's not tough or strong enough inside to play the 5.

When you have those things working against you *and* add in whatever character concerns exist, the reasons for teams to stay away from spending a first-round pick start to add up.

Anyway ... Jared McCain drafted 16th overall last night, here was the quick story I did. Flip is sure to be drafted early when the draft resumes and I'll have a story on that, too.

Elsewhere with former Blue Devils: Wendell Moore Jr. was traded to Detroit (from Minnesota) and A.J. Griffin was traded to Houston (from Atlanta) today.

Thoughts? Do you see Danny Hurley leaving the opportunity to build his dynasty at UConn to coach the pros?

I think it will be a tough decision for Hurley, but I think he says Thank You, but No Thank
You.

Was planning on starting one of these today before the events of the last 24 hours. So here goes.

Will do my best to track roster movement over the next several weeks in this thread.

The first is Jaden Watkins, a second-year DB who came in as a WR. Trying to be nice here ... I think this transfer was coming no matter the coaching situation.

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