What Duke Must Do to Earn a Massive Conference Win

Now Duke has moved on and will learn from all the key mistakes that they made last week. Duke is preparing for a massive ACC conference game against their rival, the Virginia Cavaliers. This is going to be a showdown that could determine which team is going to the ACC title game.

This is the biggest game of the season for Duke, and these are the games they talked about wanting to be in even before the season started. It is for the taking, and we are going to see how Duke responds.

Nov 8, 2025; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Manny Diaz on the field for warm up before the start of the game against the UConn Huskies at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

"All season long, Duke head coach Manny Diaz has done a great job of making sure his team is playing good football following a loss," said Anna Snyder of The Fayetteville Observer.

"That is what he will try to do in this game. It is going to be the biggest game of the season, and the Blue Devils have to be at their best if they want a shot at winning this. Duke is feeling confident going into this game, and that is something a team has to do."

Nov 8, 2025; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Duke Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah (10) throws a pass against the UConn Huskies in the second half at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

Key Headlines for Week 12

"Virginia comes to Durham with questions under center after Chandler Morris suffered an injury last week. Currently, Morris is in concussion protocol, but Elliott and his assistants are "hopeful" he will practice later this week with with Elliott noting timing and practice reps are important for him to play at his normal level," said John Watson of 247 Sports.

"There's so much in a game plan that you need to practice," Elliott said as he updated his quarterback's status and whether or not he could just play without practicing Saturday. "His position is about timing, so we would need him to get into practice."

Nov 8, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Chandler Morris (4) throws the ball against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the first half at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

"Darian Mensah and the Blue Devils enter the game as one of the top passing attacks in the country, but there are times when opposing defenses can disrupt the rhythm, as Connecticut did last week. Virginia may not have logged sacks against Wake Forest, but they generated at least enough pressure to be considered bothersome."

"Eventually [Wake] said, 'We're not going to try and throw it.'… Even though we didn't get the sacks, I thought we were disruptive enough," Elliott said as he evaluated the defensive front's performance. Against Duke, he's hoping for more of the same."

Nov 8, 2025; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Duke Blue Devils running back Nate Sheppard (20) scores against the UConn Huskies in the first quarter at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

All hands will be on deck in this game. Everyone in the ACC will have their eyes on this one, and a lot of college football fans will be watching this one closely.

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