Even after becoming bowl eligible and winning the Victory Bell in Chapel Hill last week, there was still a job to do for Duke. To go for the Big Four sweep for the second year in a row by beating Manny Diaz.

Going up against one of the better defenses they've faced this year in Wake Forest, they needed Darian Mensah and the offense to stay sharp. 

Stay sharp they did as Darian Mensah threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns and Nate Sheppard had another multi-touchdown game rushing.

The thing that felt like it was going to be the true x-factor in this game for the Devils was the defense. The things that has plagued Duke at so many points this year. 

Robbie Ashford has been very consistently inconsistent this year. He can be a force to be reckoned with via his arm strength and his physicality running the ball, but sometimes not. Towards the end of the first half, Duke saw him cook a little bit slinging two nice touchdown passes down field to cute Duke's lead to just 21-17 before halftime.

Tonight would end up being a shootout, but it was ultimately Duke's defense that forced multiple turnovers down the stretch of the second half to stop any type of run that Wake Forest might have gone on to cut into Duke's lead.

Duke's defense forced four turnovers in total, getting 14 points off of them. It's pretty wild to think that in a game where Duke scored 49 points, the defense would actually be what made the difference.

With the win tonight, Duke can claim themselves the best team in the state of North Carolina as Manny Diaz and the Devils have now swept the Big Four for two years in a row. What's even more crazy to think about is that in Manny Diaz' two years at Duke, half of his wins have come against in state opponents. Four of the nine wins, last year, and now four of Duke's seven wins, this year.

It might be less than what Duke fans were hoping for just a couple weeks ago with an ACC title on the line, but sweeping your in state rivals for a second straight year, getting your first win over Clemson in Death Valley since 1980, and making another bowl certainly gives fans more than a little bit to grasp on to from this regular season.