2022 Game Previews – Military Bowl

Folks, since I’m on vacation for the Military Bowl, I’m going to be brief with the game preview. I already wrote about UCF when the bowl game got announced, so I don’t have too much more to add past that. However, in getting ready for the game, I noticed that Knights aren’t a team that Duke can afford to overlook. UCF ranks 10th in total offense and 70th in total defense, giving up one fewer yard per game than the Blue Devils. The Knights also come in with nine wins and is just one loss in the AAC Championship away from playing in the Cotton Bowl. A team that beat Georgia Tech, Cincinnati and Tulane knows how to win. Further, two close losses to Louisville and Navy kept this from being an eleven win season. (And we all know how close losses feel.)

But Duke isn’t too shabby, either. This is the most physical, determined team we’ve seen in Durham in a long time. Many of the guys on the roster want to get the bad taste of the last several seasons out of their collective mouth. And a bowl win against a team headed to the Big 12 would be a great way to do that. Given that context, I expect the Blue Devils to come out motivated, angry and determined to prove something. That should give Duke an edge and carry the Blue Devils to their ninth win of the year.

As with any game, and I don’t consider this to be much in the way of brilliant analysis, a lot of it will come down to which coaching staff will do the best of controlling the flow of the game. It’s in that area that I think Duke is going to do a little better than the Knights. In looking back at the scores of both teams’ games this season, you’ll notice that the Blue Devils didn’t get blown out. The same can’t be said for UCF. The Knights lost two games by 17 or more points this season – losing by 21 to ECU and by 17 in the rematch against the Green Wave. Look, Gus Malzahn is a good coach, and Auburn sure hasn’t done much without him, but Coach Elko and his staff seem to have their collective finger on the pulse of their team. While two bad losses may not say too much in the way of a negative for a team, the fact that our guys have managed to avoid a blowout says a lot about what Coach Elko and his staff are capable of.

Sidenote – UCF’s offensive coordinator, Chip Lindsey, is going to UNC to take over for Phil Longo. I don’t think that’s much of a loss because Malzahn calls the plays and has his hands on the offense. I’m not minimizing anything Lindsey did in Orlando. I’m only making the point that Malzahn is well-suited to handle the departure.

After looking at what Duke and the Knights have done this season, and considering the coaching staffs, I’m taking the Blue Devils to win a fun game. While both offenses can put up points, it wouldn’t shock me to see Duke come out and dominate the game defensively. So, with all that said, I think the Blue Devils will win by a score of 38-24. The main reason I’m taking Duke to win is because the Blue Devils have shown a real ability to play complimentary football. The three units – offense, defense and kicking – fit together well. Duke has also shown a lot of depth at wide receiver and running back as well as on the offensive line. It’s been a while since we could say this, but the Blue Devils have depth. Expect that depth to show up and make a difference come Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. (You will be able to watch the game on ESPN. And since I’m in Mexico, I may give the Spanish broadcast a shot.)

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

As always, Go Duke!