Bracing for #MannyDiazMania.
With a new Syracuse Orange football season looming, we’re pleased to say that a fan favorite TNIAAM series is making its return once again to help you get ready for the new year.
Coming off a matchup versus a juggernaut Clemson team, Syracuse is back in the JMA Wireless Dome for its second ACC game of the year against a familiar basketball opponent… that is now showing some signs of life and success on the field as well.
Syracuse will host the Duke Blue Devils for the first time in five years, with both schools coming off successful 2024 campaigns under new coaches. Each of these teams could also be smelling some blood in the water at this point of the year. With tough non-con opponents to begin the season, this will be one of those pivotal matchups if either plans to get back to a bowl game.
Do the Orange finally beat Duke at home (in anything), or will #MannyMania stun a crowded Dome at the end of September?
Here’s your breakdown of Syracuse’s matchup versus Duke:
What to know about the Duke Blue Devils
School: Duke University (Durham, NC)
Nickname: Blue Devils
Mascots: The Blue Devil
Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
#BRAND Slogans: #BullCityProud, #GoBlue, #LetsGoDuke
Alternate #BRAND Slogans: #GoBlueOrGoHome, #MoreThanABasketballSchool, #MannyMagic
Conference: ACC
History vs. Syracuse: Syracuse is just 1-4 all-time versus Duke dating back to November 1938. ‘Cuse played (and lost to) the Blue Devils twice in the late-1930s, then never met up again until the Orange joined the ACC. Syracuse lost its first conference matchup to Duke 27-10 at home. Five years later, the Orange throttled the Blue Devils 49-6 in Durham. Both teams most recently played each other in 2020, which was a 14-point win for Duke.
Coach: Manny Diaz returns to the helm for his second season at Duke. The Miami native started off as a graduate assistant for Florida State and NC State, then served as a positions coach for the Wolfpack through 2005. Middle Tennessee brought him on to be defensive coordinator in 2006, a role Diaz continued to have for multiple schools for over a decade at Mississippi State (two tenures), Texas and Louisiana State. Diaz became the DC at The U for three years before making his head coaching debut with the Hurricanes in 2019. He lasted three years in that role, going 21-15 in the regular season and 0-2 in bowl games during that time. After improving his stock as Penn State’s DC for two years, Diaz returned to a head coach role, taking over Duke’s open spot with the departure of Mike Elko.
Photo by Dustin Markland/Getty Images
2024 Record: 9-4 (5-3), loss in Gator Bowl
What happened last season: Diaz picked up where Elko left off after his two years, getting Duke to at least nine wins for just the third time this century. The Blue Devils rattled off five-straight wins to begin the year, including one-score victories over Northwestern, UConn and rival North Carolina. Duke would lose three of its next four, beating FSU but dropping a close one to No. 22 SMU (28-27), getting smoked by The U (53-31) and falling by 10 points to Georgia Tech (24-14). The Blue Devils did rebound with three straight wins over NC State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest to reach nine wins and a spot in the Gator Bowl, where Duke would lose 52-20 against No. 16 Ole Miss.
Former Texas QB Maalik Murphy was the main man under center, throwing for nearly 3,000 yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. RB Star Thomas ran for over 870 yards and seven TDs. Four receivers finished between 400 and 861 yards, led by All-ACC third-team WRs Jordan Moore and Eli Pancol, who caught 17 touchdowns combined.
On defense, CB Chandler Rivers (54 TOT, 8 pass deflections, 3 INTs), DT Kendy Charles (50 TOT, 2 sacks), S Terry Moore (71 TOT, 5 pass deflections, 4 INTs) and LB Ozzie Nicholas (100 TOT, 40 solo) all received All-ACC honors.
Photo by Lance King/Getty Images
What happened during the offseason: Duke ranks No. 41 in ESPN’s most recent SP+ rankings, including No. 33 on defense and No. 67 on offense. That’s 15 spots ahead of the Orange. The Blue Devils are bringing back nearly 60% of its production from last season, ranking in the mid-50s on both sides of the ball.
Duke lost 14 players to the portal, the majority of which were three-stars, but the list also includes its starting quarterback from last year. The Blue Devils added nine players from the portal, headlined by former four-star Tulane QB Darian Mensah, former three-star Utah tight end Landen King, former three-star Oklahoma WR Andrel Anthony and former three-star Utah State CB Jaiden Francois.
Duke will also be bringing in plenty of young talent. 247Sports has its recruitment class ranked 30th, including four-star EDGEs Bryce Davis and Bariate Kara and four-star TE Bradley Gompers.
2025 season projections: Per FanDuel, Duke has the sixth-best odds to win the ACC at +2500, trailing Clemson, Miami, Louisville, SMU and Georgia Tech. FanDuel sits with an over-under win total of 6.5 wins, with -178 odds on the over.
Duke opens its 2025 season against Elon. The rest of the home slate features Illinois, NC State, Georgia Tech, Virginia and Wake Forest. Road matchups are against ‘Cuse, Tulane, California, Clemson, UConn and North Carolina.
Game Date: Saturday, September 27
Location: JMA Wireless Dome
Odds of Orange Victory: 52%
Odds of “marquee game” potential: 30%
Very Early Outlook vs. Syracuse: Do not discount Manny and the Blue Devils. There’s plenty of turnover at the key positions, but Diaz’s defensive background and Duke’s upside on defense is going to make this a total slugfest, regardless of who wins.
Duke brings offensive concerns of its own and will need to cobble things together, so Syracuse will certainly be in this game as long as turnovers don’t become an issue, but the Blue Devils played well in one-score games last year and I’d expect that to stay the same this year.
Home-field advantage will be big for Syracuse, especially with this game in particular being a hot-ticket item for fans, so that’s going to be a big swing in favor of the Orange. This is easily the type of game where you can see Syracuse rebound very well if the Clemson game just completely falls off the rails, but it will certainly be too close for comfort — slow-paced, not many points on the board and every first down feeling like a score. I’m easily putting this game in pen as one of the really important “swing” games that determines what the rest of the Orange’s season ultimately looks like.
For now, by the slightest of margins, I lean in favor of the Orange.