2021 Game Previews – Duke versus Wake Forest

Remember when Duke used to beat Wake Forest? It started in 2012 when, after a decade or so of losing to Wake, the Blue Devils ripped off four straight and five out of six from 2012 to 2017. Well, times have changed. Dave Clawson has, like a lot of current ACC coaches, had David Cutcliffe’s number. 2018 saw Wake demolish Duke by 52 points. 2019 was much closer, but that score is misleading because the Blue Devils were helped by two touchdowns in the kicking game. Other than that, the boys from Durham didn’t do much. The only saving grace about 2020 was Duke didn’t lose to Wake – because the Blue Devils didn’t play Wake. It’s the little things in life, right?

Turning back to my habit of looking at trends when making game predictions, the trends say that Wake is a program on the rise. Clawson is currently two games over .500 at Wake and has taken this team to five straight bowl games. Wake comes in 7-0 and a perfect 4-0 in the ACC. While Clawson hasn’t been great in conference play, take out his first two seasons in which he went 2-14, and he’s just about even in the ACC. That’s pretty darned good.

Since Wake first cracked bowl eligibility under Clawson in 2016, Duke has gone off the rails. With just two winning seasons during that time, Cut has coached the Blue Devils to 29 wins and 39 losses. The conference record is an abysmal 11-34. That is just about awful no matter how you try to spin it.

Given how Duke has looked in two of its three conference losses this year, I don’t see the Blue Devils coming away with a win. This Wake Forest team has won about every way a team can win. They started by beating teams in a convincing fashion – look at the scores against Florida State and Virginia. They also put up SEVENTY against Army. And they pulled out two close wins against Louisville and Syracuse. Those are the kind of wins that good teams get. And, checks notes, Duke isn’t getting any of those wins in conference and hasn’t in what feels like forever.

So, what’s my prediction for Saturday? Well, Wake wins. No question about that. What’s the final score? Look, I don’t particularly like doing these because it isn’t easy to get them right consistently. But, since I know you guys like them, I’m taking Wake 42-13. Sorry, but I don’t see the Blue Devils doing much more so long as we don’t let our mobile quarterback run the ball to take pressure off of Mataeo. Maybe we need to think carefully about who calls the plays on offense? Maybe the head coach needs to stop promoting people because they have been there for a long time?

Let me know what you think in the comments or on Twitter.

Go Duke!