The Duke football program has a chip on their shoulder as it feels disrespected early on this season despite a hot start.
The Duke Blue Devils are going into their bye week at 4-0 following a win over William & Mary on Saturday. The win wrapped up Duke's non-conference schedule, one that saw them beat Tulane, Illinois, and William & Mary.
They also have a Atlantic Coast Conference win over Stanford. But even with all of that, the Blue Devils haven't made either the coaches or the AP top 25 polls. Instead, they have been in the others receiving votes area. But that should change after this week.
Duke is now 4-0 as they head into the bye week and they have done enough to earn a spot in the polls. However, if they aren't, they will use it once again as motivation.
After Saturday's win over William & Mary, wide receiver Jared Richardson was asked by Matt Giles if the team not being ranked motivates them. His answer? Yes.
Richardson told Giles that the team loves being overlooked and not ranked. They feel like they are underdogs and play like they have a chip on their shoulder. He also noted something interesting about coach David Feeley and Manny Diaz is preaching it as well to fire up the team.
The chip has been there all offseason as well.
With Duke winning the ACC last season, it shocked a lot of people. They built some momentum going into the offseason, ending it with a bowl win over Arizona State. But then the offseason happened and they lost quarterback Darian Mensah. Following that, it felt like everyone was counting the Blue Devils out.
Diaz and his staff didn't and they rolled with what they had at quarterback. So far Walker Eget has been good and they even had Dan Mahan get reps as well. Duke's offense is strong and their defense is really good, which is a recipe for success usually.
What's next for Duke Football?
Duke heads into the bye week feeling good about their season so far. But when they get back, the conference schedule heats up. Duke will play two of their next three on the road as they head to Atlanta in two weeks, and then head to Virginia in four weeks. Sandwiched in between those games is a home game against North Carolina.
While Miami appears to be the heavy favorite to win the conference, there's a race for that second team in the title game. Duke is in the mix for that as both Louisville and SMU have a conference loss. The goal out of the bye week will be to continue getting these wins and feel underappreciated.
