Yahoo Sports The Manny Diaz era begins. How to watch, stream Duke football vs. Elon on Friday night
Manny Diaz has every indication and belief his first game as Duke’s football coach will go well on Friday night, when the Blue Devils play Elon at Wallace Wade Stadium.
“It’s actually game week,’ Diaz said Monday. “It’s finally here, and none too soon, and we’re really excited to begin and open up our season. We had a really good training camp, but ultimately, we just reached that point where you’ve got to go play somebody. You got to go find out what you’re all about.”
Since taking over the Blue Devils after Mike Elko left for Texas A&M, Diaz used the transfer portal to rebuild the team’s offensive line that lost two players to the NFL. He found a new starting quarterback in former Texas Longhorn Maalik Murphy. Armed with a defensive background, he and defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke installed schemes aimed at keeping Duke’s defense, which led the ACC in fewest points allowed per game last season, stingy.
All that said, he intends on the team — the defense, in particular — becoming even better in the subsequent weeks as the season progresses.
“You would expect every team to grow, to get better as year goes on,” Diaz said. “And for all the years that I’ve brought it a new defense to a new school. We’re always better November than we were in September.”
Duke has posted 9-4 and 8-5 records over the past two seasons, completing them with bowl wins. The last time the Blue Devils posted three consecutive winning seasons was from 2013-15. Prior to that, it hadn’t happened since Duke had four winning seasons in a row from 1960-63.
This year’s Blue Devils finally get their chance to take a first step toward another winning season against Elon, a Football Championship Subdivision team that plays in the Coastal Athletic Association.
Kickoff time + TV channel for Elon at Duke
The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Friday on the ACC Network, which is available on major cable and satellite services, like Spectrum, Xfinity, DirecTV and Dish Network.
Streaming options for Phoenix-Blue Devils matchup
Options for watching the game without cable include DIRECTV Stream, fuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and sling TV.
Betting odds
Duke is a 23.5-point favorite and the over-under is set at 49.5 points.
Elon at Duke game and TV info
Teams: Duke Blue Devils (0-0) vs Elon Phoenix (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
Series history: The Blue Devils own a 7-0-1 all-time record against Elon. The tie came back in 1921. This will be the third time Duke and Elon have played in the last 15 seasons. Duke last played Elon in 2014, posting a 52-13 season-opening win.
Pregame reading
Duke adds new wrinkle to its football depth chart: What in the world is a ‘vyper’?
Duke football, under new head coach Manny Diaz, decides on its starting quarterback
Duke TE Nicky Dalmolin said goodbye to football, but he’s back. Why he changed his mind
