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Manny Diaz begins his career at Duke as they face Elon. It is time to continue our college football odds series with an Elon-Duke prediction and pick.
Elon finished their fifth season under head coach Tony Trisciani in 2023. They would be 6-5, but were solid in conference play. After going 0-3 out of conference, they were 6-2 in CAA play. That includes a win over William & Mary and on the road at Delaware. Both of them were ranked fifth at the time of Elon's victory.
Meanwhile, Duke started the season strong last year. They upset ninth-ranked Clemson to start the year and started 4-0. They would lose their first game to 11th-ranked Notre Dame, but just by seven points. Still, Duke would end up losing four of five in October and November. They would ultimately finish 7-5 and then win their bowl game over Troy to finish with eight wins. Mike Elko would leave for Texas A&M before the bowl game. Former, Miami head coach Manny Diaz will be taking over this year.
Here are the College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Elon-Duke Odds
Elon: +23.5 (-108)
Moneyline: +1200
Duke: -23.5 (-112)
Moneyline: -3500
Over: 49.5 (-110)
Under: 49.5 (-110)
How to Watch Elon vs. Duke
Time: 7:30 PM ET/ 4:30 PM PT
TV: ACC Network
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
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Why Elon Could Cover The Spread/Win
Matthew Downing is back at quarterback for Elon. Downing started his career at Georgia and then spent time at TCU and Louisiana Tech, all time as a backup. Last year, he was at Elon. Downing completed 125 passes on 216 attempts. He had 1,915 yards and 19 touchdowns last year while throwing just four interceptions. Further, he has his top receiver back this year. Chandler Brayboy had 30 receptions last year for 589 yards and four scores. He is also a wonderful kick returner, having over one thousand return yards in his career. Jamarien Dalton is also back. He was tied for the team lead in touchdowns last year. Dalton has just 186 receiving yards but five scores.
In the running game, Jalen Hampton and Wayne Dixie are both gone, which leaves little production returning in the rushing game. Rushawn Baker comes in from Bucknell. Baker has rushed for nearly 1,400 yards and 15 scores in his time at Bucknell. He will be behind an offensive line that had their top two backs run for over 1,100 combined yards and eight touchdowns last year. They bring back four starters from that unit.
The defense will be led by Caleb Curtain. He was a second-team All-American last year. Curtain had 80 tackles, plus 4.5 sacks. He also had 6.5 tackles for a loss, plus four interceptions, and broke up six other basses. Khalil Baker comes in from North Carolina Central to join Curtain in the secondary. He was an all-MEAC player in 2022.
Why Duke Could Cover The Spread/Win
Duke lost Riley Leonard to Notre Dame, but Duke was used to playing without him last year. Grayson Loftis spent much of the time as the starter last year, but Duke brought in a new transfer quarterback to take the reigns. Maalik Murphy comes in from Texas. He did not spend much time playing last year, completing just 40 of 71 passes. He has 477 yards and three touchdowns while also throwing three interceptions.
Duke brings back plenty of production at wide receiver. Jordan Moore was the top receiver last year, and he had 62 receptions for 835 yards and eight scores last year for Duke. Still, top running back Jordan Waters is gone. He has transferred to rival NC State. With that, 819 yards and 12 touchdowns of production are gone. Jaquez Moore is back though. He had 116 carries last year with 674 yards and six touchdowns. They also bring in Star Thomas from New Mexico State. Thomas ran for 643 yards and four scores last year, while also bringing in 194 receiving yards and two touchdowns through the air.
Manny Diaz has a lot of work to do on the defense. They lost all four starters on the defensive line, but do bring in Kendy Charles from Liberty. Last year at Liberty he had three sacks, giving him 13.5 sacks for his career at Liberty. Tre Freeman is also back at linebacker for Duke. He had 106 tackles last year, leading the team. Further, Freeman had 1.5 sacks with an interception, three passes defended, and a forced fumble last year.
Final Elon-Duke Prediction & Pick
Duke will be breaking in a lot of new parts on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball in this game. Elon is not good enough to take advantage of that though. Still, expect Duke to run the ball plenty in this one while Elon also struggled to score. The best play in this one is on the total. Take the under in this one.
Final Elon-Duke Prediction & Pick: Under 49.5 (-110)
