Syracuse Orange v. Duke Blue Devils Prediction and Preview (9/27/25)

As we countdown to kickoff for the start of the Syracuse football season on Aug. 30, The Juice Online will be doing a team-by-team preview of its opponents.

Syracuse returns to the Dome for a pivotal Week 5 matchup against Duke fresh off a game against Clemson, closing out the month of September with its first ACC home game.

The Blue Devils are coming off a 9–4 campaign in 2024 that included wins over NC State, Wake Forest, and a Gator Bowl appearance. Manny Diaz enters his second season with the bar set high for him and his team.

Scouting the Duke defense

Duke experienced major improvement last year under Diaz, but on the defensive side of the ball is where they really made their mark. Duke led the ACC in sacks, tallying 36.5. This effort was spearheaded by junior Wesley Williams and Alex Howard, who had 8 sacks and 6.5 sacks, respectively.

This collective effort helped Duke achieve a sack rate of 8.05%, good for 25th in the nation. In the secondary, senior CB Chandler Rivers (2 FF, 3 INT, 8 PD) and senior safety Terry Moore (2 FF, 4 INT, 5 PD) held teams to just a 57.5% completion rate, 20th in the nation.

Duke is returning the bulk of its 2024 defense, which is why they rank 41st in SP+, however, there is some major turnover on the other side of the ball.

A look at the Duke offense

On offense, Duke lost its QB1, Maalik Murphy, to Oregon State. Murphy had a productive year, throwing for nearly 3,000 yards with a 60.3% completion rate and finding the endzone 26 times.

In return, Duke was able to attract Tulane sophomore Darian Mensah to take over the QB1 duties. Mensah is coming off a productive first year in which he threw for just over 2,700 yards on an American Conference leading 65.9% completion rate.

He threw 22 touchdowns while only throwing 6 interceptions. The WR room also underwent changes as they lost 2 of their 4 most productive WR to the NFL. Jordan Moore (55 Rec., 861 yards, 8 touchdowns) and Eli Pancol (60 Rec., 798 yards, 9 touchdowns) both leave giant holes in receiver room.

Duke does retain two productive receivers though, as sophomore Que’sean Brown (41 rec., 445 yards, 2 touchdowns) and senior Sahmir Hagans (47 rec., 413 yards, 3 touchdowns) lead a room that picked up OU transfer, Andrel Anthony in the portal. Finally, the backfield turnover. Duke lost lead running back, Star Thomas, to Tennesse.

Thomas produced 871 yards on 213 carries and rushed for a score 7 times. For Duke, it will next man up in that department as Peyton Jones and Jaquez Moore remain, the two saw spotty opportunities in 2024.

A prediction and preview for the matchup

Duke poses a massive threat to Syracuse, on paper.

The two teams are similar in the aspect that both had resurgences last year, and both have undergone an offseason of limbo.

This game becomes very important for Syracuse following my prediction of an ACC opener loss to Clemson. It will be very detrimental to start ACC play 0-2, especially when you must go take on SMU on the road the following week.

I see Syracuse hanging on for its first ACC win, a 24-17 triumph over the Blue Devils.

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