Duke football vs. Elon first look: Betting odds, key matchup, player to watch

Two years ago, Duke opened its football season at home on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend with a new head coach and plenty of questions.

That scenario played out well as Mike Elko, after starting his Blue Devils coaching tenure with a 30-0 win over Temple, compiled a 17-9 record over two seasons before leaving to become Texas A&M’s head coach.

Now Duke faces a similar situation as Manny Diaz, hired last December to replace Elko, prepares to begin his Blue Devils coaching tenure on Friday night, Aug. 30, against Elon at Wallace Wade Stadium.

His task is different than Elko, who took over a Duke program coming off three consecutive losing seasons and mired in a 13-game ACC losing streak. Diaz seeks to lead the Blue Devils, who climbed as high as No. 16 while spending eight weeks in the AP Top 25 poll last season, to a third consecutive winning season.

He said he’s offering a message of focus to his players.

“There’s been a lot of expectations,” Diaz said. “But as we walk down that tunnel to play Elon here in just a few days, trust your teammates, do your job and have fun and let the world figure itself out in due time. Because if you start thinking about that, and that I’ve got to fulfill some sort of prophecy or whatever, you’re going down the wrong road, man. That looks good at movies, but that usually is poor on third down and forth. So, just do your job.“

Key matchup: Duke defensive line vs. Elon line

So many familiar faces are gone from Duke’s defensive front, most notably three-time team captain DeWayne Carter, who is now with the Buffalo Bills. Aeneas Peebles moved to Virginia Tech via the transfer portal and Ja’Mion Franklin exhausted his eligibility.

That means Duke needs their replacements to prove a sturdy. Last season, Duke allowed 3.9 rushing yards per carry, placing No. 6 in the ACC in rushing defense. Durham native Aaron Hall and Liberty transfer Kendry Charles will have important roles at defensive tackle. Look for Wesley Williams and VJ Anthony to make plays from defensive end.

They’ll be bigger and more athletic than Elon’s players, so if the Blue Devils fail to look dominant against the Phoenix trouble figures to be in the offing.

Player to watch: QB Maalik Murphy

As Duke’s major off-season addition, besides the new head coach, is its new starting quarterback. Maalik Murphy started and won two games at Texas last season but entered the transfer portal looking for a place where he can be the full-time starting quarterback.

The Blue Devils benefited greatly with his arrival. Murphy and Grayson Loftis, the starter in the Duke’ s final five games as a freshman last season, battled for the starting job the first three weeks of August. But Diaz and his staff selected Murphy as their QB1.

He has a big arm and has to prove his accuracy won’t be an issue that more playing time reveals. Duke has experienced skill players in wide receivers Jordan Moore, Eli Pancol and Sahmir Hagans, running back Jaquez Moore and tight end Nicky Dalmolin. Murphy is in position to succeed as he begins his Duke tenure against Elon.

Vegas betting odds

Duke was favored by 23.5 points over Elon with the the over-under is 49.5 points

Elon at Duke

Teams: Elon Phoenix (0-0) at Duke Blue Devils (0-0)

Where: Wallace Wade Stadium, Durham

Date: Friday, Aug. 30

Time: 7:30 p.m.

TV: ACC Network

Stream: DIRECTV Stream, fuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, SlingTV