2022 Game Recaps – Duke is Going Bowling

It wasn’t pretty, but Duke got to six wins and bowl eligibility after beating Boston College on the road Friday night. To restate how not pretty this game was, the Blue Devils were an 11.5 point favorite and didn’t cover. Against a team that came in 2-6. Let that sink in for a minute before you continue reading this post. Have you done that? Okay, then continue.

While 38-31 is a win, Duke seemed motivated to let a really, really bad Eagles team hang around until the very end. I don’t know if it was Eli Pancol being out or a couple of injuries to the running backs during the game (it seemed like Jordan Waters left with an injury and I think someone else did, too), but the offense looked lost at times. Riley Leonard finished the game with only 158 passing yards (which may have been more of a reflection of pretty good field position, but still). The secondary got brutalized by Boston College’s new quarterback who racked up 330 yards and 4 touchdowns. A win is a win, but this would have to be classified as an ugly win. Especially given the fact that it seemed like the offense started every drive at about the 50.

Now, a win on the road and bowl eligibility brings a lot to be happy about, but the way in which the win came about will cause Coach Elko and his staff some heartburn heading into next week’s game (and I’m not talking about the two really, really bad PI calls that led to two Eagles’ touchdowns (and by “bad”, I mean horrendously awful and incorrect). Despite the bye, the Blue Devils racked up 7 penalties for 60 yards against Boston College. In addition, as already noted, the defense made a new quarterback look like an established veteran. On the whole, the Bull City Boys were wildly inconsistent. The offense was great at times and then disappeared at times. Duke took leads of 24-7 and 31-14 only to watch the Eagles roar back and get within seven at the end. There’s no way around it – this was a weird, weird game.

But enough about the struggles, we can save it for the game preview next week. How about we just enjoy what this team accomplished? For the first time since 2018, the Blue Devils will go to a bowl. And the best part about it is that Duke has three games left to try and rack up a few more wins. Each win will put this team in a better bowl against a higher level of competition. While just getting to a bowl this season is great, I think we would much prefer that this team finish the season with two to three more wins as opposed to a repeat of the series of losses that occurred in 2012 after the team reached bowl eligibility. Now, if this team does end on a losing skid, I won’t be too critical after the last two plus seasons, but I would much prefer to see the team finish at 8-4 or 9-3.

If the Blue Devils can finish with eight to nine wins, this would be a season for the ages. It would certainly give some added weight to the Restitutor Orbis title I bestowed upon Coach Elko earlier this season. But it isn’t a given that it will happen. Virginia Tech may be down, but they almost got a win against Georgia Tech on Saturday. Pitt, too, bounced back and beat Syracuse. Nothing is guaranteed. Duke is going to have to come out focused each week.

But enough looking ahead. I’m going to sit back and enjoy where the Blue Devils are right now. You guys got to a bowl game. Congratulations to all of you! Take a moment to enjoy this and then go out and kick butt over the next three weeks!

With the game recap out of the way, I’m going to throw in another old-time tune that me and Tim recorded a few months back. It’s called “Old Grimes”. Tim is on fiddle and I’m on guitar.

Let me know what you think about what I think in the comments, on Reddit or on Twitter.

As always, Go Duke!