Northwestern at Duke

Perenially, Duke is a program in turmoil that just never seems to compete in the ACC. As good as the basketball program has been, their football team has been equally bad. They now have put the reigns of the program in the hands of David Cutliffe who was a coordinator at Tennessee and head coach at Ole Miss. He has promised to change the culture of losing at Duke. Last week they beat James Madison, which doesn't appear to mean anything until you look below the surface. James Madsion returned almost everyone from a team that lost by a single point to Appalachain State in the playoffs. Remember Appalachain State beat Michigan in Ann Arbor last year. James Madison is also ranked #5, so that win is a bit larger than most my give credit for. The Blue Devils held Madison to under 250 yards and did not allow a single 3rd down conversion. Duke is returning 10 defensive starters, and they appear to have stepped up with the experience on that side of the ball. So, while many expect a lot of points by Northwestern here, we aren't so sure. Northwestern played a team comparable in ability to Duke in Syracuse last week and held them to just 226 yards. Syracuse was able to muster just 3.7 yards per pass. The Wildcats return eight starters and should be better across the board defensively. The "X" factor here may be some heavy rain from hurricane Hanna, but even without the aid of the weather, I like the UNDER in this one as both defenses are vastly improved.