Duke Football in Position for ACC Title Game With One Conference Loss

Duke sits among five squads carrying a single loss in league play. The ACC heads into its last month. After toppling Clemson last weekend, the Blue Devils control their destiny.

Virginia holds onto its perfect record. Nobody else has done that. The race for those top two slots? Wide open among the one-loss bunch.

Manny Diaz has compiled a 14-7 mark since arriving as Duke's head coach in 2024. Two years in, the program keeps getting better under his watch.

The attack puts up 35.4 points each outing, ranking 40th across the country. Sophomore signal-caller Darian Mensah runs the show and has scouts buzzing about next year's draft.

Mensah hit 27 throws out of 41 attempts for 361 yards and four scores against Clemson. That Tigers defense? It boasts two probable top picks in the 2026 Draft. Peter Woods and T.J. Parker.

The QB transferred in from Tulane. He works from the pocket, doesn't scramble much on purpose. Facing elite defenses, he's become one of the most-watched guys in the league.

Weapons surround him at every spot. Cooper Barkate catches passes, while Nate Sheppard grinds out yards on the ground.

That Nov. 1 victory at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina, injected life into the squad with just weeks remaining. Beating a ranked opponent on their turf proved Duke can hang with the big dogs.

Making the College Football Playoff would transform everything for this program. Duke hasn't been a gridiron giant, but they're stacking evidence that they belong in bigger conversations.

They've got to sweep what's left on the schedule to snag a title game berth. What happens elsewhere in the conference will decide whether Duke lands in one of those two coveted slots.