Next Up For Duke Football: Ole Miss In The Gator Bowl

A major challenge looms, but challenges are what make life worthwhile.

Date Jan. 2nd || Time 8:05 ET || Venue EverBank Stadium || Video ESPN

Important note - due to the disgusting New Year’s murders in New Orleans, the time of this game has been pushed back.

Duke finished the regular season 9-3 behind great years from quarterback Maalik Murphy and running back Star Thomas, both of whom came from the portal.

The reward?

Playing Mississippi State on January 2nd in the Gator Bowl.

Unfortunately, the portal giveth and the portal taketh away and both Murphy and Thomas are diving back in and will not play in Duke’s bowl game, which will make winning a good bit harder.

You could see Duke winning a passing game, or a running game, but without their best passer and their best runner, the odds go down.

Backup QB Grayson Loftis is in the portal and won’t play either, which doesn’t help.

That’s not to say it’s impossible though.

Ole Miss is a worthy opponent. Also 9-3 and out of the SEC, America’s premiere football conference, the Rebels beat Wake Forest (40-6) so bad earlier this season that the Deacons begged out of next year’s rematch. They also beat Georgia 28-10, which was probably their best win.

Surprisingly, the only ranked opponents they played were Georgia and LSU.

However, Ole Miss has something Duke doesn’t have - their starting quarterback. The elegantly named Jaxson Dart will leave early for the NFL but he’s going to play: “There wasn’t any doubt. Never even had a second thought about it. I’m just really excited to go compete one more time with the guys.”

Duke will go with Henry Belin IV at quarterback. He’s a redshirt sophomore who was pushed down the depth chart when Murphy arrived from Texas but he’s put in his reps. As Duke coach Manny Diaz says, “[I]t’s a great lesson for everybody in the program that perseverance pays off. He has a chance now to perform on an outstanding stage against a terrific opponent.”

That’s very true and he could become a Duke legend if he runs wild. Let’s hope.

Duke’s best weapon though remains an aggressive defense. The Blue Devils have been consistently excellent on that end of the field and while Ole Miss is at a higher level than most of the teams Duke has played, the Blue Devils have dealt with some good teams this season. Duke took #11 SMU to overtime and could have beaten Miami if the ‘Canes hadn’t had a fourth quarter explosion.

This will be Duke’s biggest challenge of the season - as it should be. Getting to a major bowl game is a big accomplishment.

If the oddsmakers are right and Ole Miss beats Duke by 17 or so, well, at least we got to this point and did it in Diaz’s first season.

And if Duke pulls an upset, then a bright future looks even better.

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