The Duke Blue Devils will travel to face the Clemson Tigers in an ACC conference battle across the Week 10 college football slate. Both of these teams should be feeling a bit underwhelmed with their start to the season and outlook from here, but will look to spark a strong finish in this matchup.
These two programs have faced off 55 times on the football field in their history. Clemson has come out victorious in 37 of these with one tie, although Duke won the most recent matchup in 2023 by a score of 28-7.
Looking at the odds for this year’s matchup, Clemson enters as a 3.5-point favorite and holds -162 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook of winning outright. Duke holds +136 odds of pulling off the outright upset, with the game total set at 54.5
This article provides a preview of both teams and offers a pick for the Week 10 matchup.
Duke vs. Clemson prediction, preview
Duke Blue Devils
Duke is off to a 4-3 start to the season and 3-1 in conference play. The team opened up the season with a victory over Elon before dropping back-to-back games to Illinois and Tulane. The Blue Devils opened up conference play with three straight wins over NC State, Syracuse, and California but lost their previous game to Georgia Tech, 27-18. This was a chance for a statement win as they held a 10-7 lead during the third quarter. Duke is 3-4 against the spread this season.
Darian Mensah stands in at quarterback and is off to an impressive start to the season. The Tulane transfer has completed 70.3% of his pass attempts for an ACC-best 2,211 passing yards and 17 passing touchdowns while throwing just two interceptions. Nate Sheppard headlines the rushing attack with 497 rushing yards and four scores while Anderson Castle leads the team with six rushing touchdowns along with his 295 rushing yards. Cooper Barkate is the team’s leading receiver with 647 yards and four touchdowns while Sahmir Hagans has a team-high five receiving touchdowns and 313 yards through the air. Que’Sean Brown has 443 receiving yards and a touchdown while Andrel Anthony has 172 receiving yards and three touchdowns of his own.
Duke is averaging 33.9 points per game, which ranks 40th among D1 teams, while generating 463.3 yards of total offense. The Blue Devils are limiting opponents to 25.7 points per game and 375.9 total yards of offense. They have tallied 57 tackles for a loss, 17 sacks, and forced 12 turnovers as a team so far this season.
Clemson Tigers
Clemson enters this matchup with a 3-4 record on the season and is 2-3 in ACC conference play. The team has suffered losses to LSU, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, and SMU. The Tigers have three victories over Troy, North Carolina, and Boston College. Clemson is just 2-5 against the spread on the season.
Cade Klubnik stands in at quarterback, but has had an underwhelming overall season and missed the previous game due to injury. He is on track to return to the field for this matchup and will need to improve his this play if Clemson is to get their desired result and get back on track for the season. Klubnik has completed 65.8% of his pass attempts for 1,530 yards, 11 touchdowns, and five interceptions while adding 104 rushing yards and two scores with his legs. The Heisman hopeful has played himself out of this conversation but will hope for a strong end to the season to reignite his NFL Draft hype.
Adam Randall leads Clemson in rushing with 433 yards and four touchdowns on the season while adding 182 receiving yards and three scores through the air. Bryant Wesco Jr. is the team’s leading receiver with 537 yards and an ACC-best six receiving touchdowns. T.J. Moore adds 407 yards and three touchdowns while Antonio Williams has tallied 225 receiving yards.
The Tigers are averaging just 26.0 points per game, which ranks 80th out of the 136 qualifying FBS teams. They are generating 400.7 yards of total offense and averaging 2.1 passing touchdowns per game. Defensively, opponents are scoring 20.9 points per game against Clemson, which ranks 37th, and generating 337.6 total yards of offense. This defense has tallied 45 tackles for a loss, 17 sacks, and forced eight turnovers on the year.
Duke vs. Clemson pick, best bet
Both of these teams are coming off a bye week so there is not a rest advantage in either direction. This is especially favorable for Clemson given the injury to Klubnik, but the strong showing from QB Cristopher Vizzina in the previous game should have the veteran a bit less confident about the outlook for the reminder of the year. He has been upgraded to probable and is expected to start but this could be a storyline to note moving forward. Neither of these teams should be thrilled with their start, but Clemson is in the conversation for the most underwhelming season in college football.
This is a huge game for both sides as they fight to be bowl eligible and finish strong. But it feels surprising for Clemson to be the favorite in this matchup and I am backing Duke to get the outright victory.
Mensah will have the edge in this quarterback matchup and has done an excellent job taking care of the football all year. The Tigers have struggled to put up consistent offense and this will still be a cause of concern in this game. They seem to still be getting some name-recognition respect, but have not looked like the caliber of team they are designed to be.
Duke has finished games extremely strong, ranking 13th in the country in fourth quarter points. They also are 18th in total yards generated and should have no problem moving the football. Duke has won eight of its last nine games against non-AP ranked teams and Clemson saw its initial ranking slip away at a rapid rate after a disappointing start. Clemson has also failed to cover the spread in each of its last eight games played at Memorial Stadium while Duke has covered the spread in its last four road games against conference opponents.
Expect Mensah to be ready to air the ball and push the Duke offense to a level that Clemson cannot quite match. This is a statement game for both sides and look for the Blue Devils to make some noise on the road with the outright victory.
