Duke Football Top Moments of the Decade: No's 8 and 7

Bowl win, bowl eligibility next on countdown

Next up on the countdown of Duke football’s top moments of the 2010s come a bowl win and another win that clinched bowl eligibility in the season finale.

8. Duke beats Wake to clinch bowl eligibility:

Coming off of a disappointing 4-8 season in 2016, Duke opened 2017 with four straight wins. Then the Blue Devils seemed to lose their mojo. Duke lost the next six games, including an upset loss at Army that likely figured into any bowl-math estimates that scoured the remaining schedule looking for six wins.

Duke won at home against Georgia Tech to reach five wins, sending observers to the APR ratings and the list of six-win teams across FBS, to see if the Blue Devils could get in with five wins, if there weren’t enough teams to fill all the bowl slots.

Duke made things easy, however, in a game at Wake Forest on the final day of the regular season. After falling behind early, 17-3, the Blue Devils stormed back, led by 346 yards, two touchdown passes and a touchdown run by Daniel Jones. Duke took a 31-23 win over the Deacs to reach six wins. A week later, the Blue Devils accepted a bid to the QuickLane Bowl.

7. Independence Bowl Champions:

The Blue Devils made their second straight bowl game and third in four years in 2018, accepting a bid to the Independence Bowl to play Temple.

The Blue Devils lit up the Owls, 56-27, led by Daniel Jones’ Independence Bowl record 423 passing yards and five touchdowns. Receiver TJ Rahming had 12 catches for 240 yards and two touchdowns and Duke ran its bowl winning streak to three straight.