Well, it’s go time for Duke football.
Not technically. That’s Monday night at 8 P.M. If you’re lucky, you might even be able to watch it on TV. But watching two huge conglomerates fighting it out over your (and mine) dollars is another story. Right now, let’s talk about Duke and Clemson fighting it out for early ACC supremacy, or at least an early share of the ACC lead.
Mike Elko addressed the local media earlier this week for the last time before wheel’s up on Monday. One thing he said really stayed with me.
“I think this group knows that a lot of people chose to come back to this program for this season. I think they know that if they play the way they're capable of they have a chance of doing something special this year. I think that has permeated throughout our locker room all off-season.”
In this day of NIL and the transfer portal, roster turnover is rampant. And Duke did lose some people and they did add some people and I think Duke had a net positive in the portal.
But it’s the quality of returnees that raised eyebrows. Duke has some next-level talent that chose to forgo the NFL for another season, people like offensive tackle Graham Barton, defensive tackle DeWayne Carter and offensive lineman Jacob Monk. Players like quarterback Riley Leonard and receiver Jordan Moore easily could have gone to schools with bigger reputations and perhaps deeper pockets.
But this is a team that believes it is on the verge of something special.
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