Duke prediction thread

Margin of Victory

  • GT by 14+

    Votes: 57 42.2%

  • GT by 7-13

    Votes: 50 37.0%

  • GT by <7

    Votes: 25 18.5%

  • Duke by <7

    Votes: 3 2.2%

  • Duke by 7-13

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Duke by 14+

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    135
  • Poll closed .

Deleted member 2897

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We've won 23 of the last 27 games against Duke.

Last year, we put up 605 yards of offense, but had to come from behind because we fumbled twice deep on our own side of the field (sound familiar?).

In 2015, Duke needed an uncalled offsides to barely hold us off despite the fact we were playing 12 freshmen due to injuries and we again had much more offense than them.

In 2014, Duke ended a 10 year drought to barely hold us off. Even though we smacked them down on offense by over 100 yards, we had 3 turnovers to 0 for Duke (sound familiar?).

The consistent theme here is that we always out play Duke, sometimes significantly. It all comes down to how much we shoot our own selves in the foot.

I'm going to say there is no foot shooting this time.
TaQuon Marshall gets over 66 yards to break 1,000 on the year.
KirVonte Benson gets over 70 yards to break 1,000 on the year.
TaQuon Marshall gets another 2 total touchdowns to get to 26 (!) on the year.

GT: 36
Duke: 27

We beat the spread for the 12th time out of the last 13.
 
Eastman

Eastman

Helluva Engineer
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GT 41 Duke 17. JJ and LJ get playing time and Coach Cut resigns at halftime and immediately begins seeing a therapist for what he calls “cut block nightmares”
 
dressedcheeseside

dressedcheeseside

Helluva Engineer
Messages
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dressedcheeseside said:
I like the optimism, but it really explains all the angst that happens after games.

Not sure if people know the difference between prediction and hopes and dreams.
Click to expand...
I'm quoting myself in this thread not to gloat, but to hopefully help those who habitually let there hopes and dreams replace their expectations. Don't do it, it only leads to major angst when we fall short... sometimes well short.

The Duke performance is a real head scratcher on the surface. But when you look at how we have performed on the road all season, add that to how Duke has lost squeaker after squeaker... it kinda adds up. Mentally and emotionally, we didn't show up, even with a lot on the line. Young guys tend to get a big head after a big win. Some teams are so loaded with talent, they can get away with that... we cannot. Couple that with facing a team that a) historically is a doormat (not recent past, but overall) and b) seems to be reeling on a losing streak and just lost to Army, it makes perfect sense that we'd come out flat and ill-prepared mentally.

Now I have no doubt our coaching staff was beating the "don't sleep on these guys" drum big time all week. The problem is if the guys don't believe it, they just don't believe it.

Rule #1 in competitive sports: Never, ever underestimate your opponent.

Rule #1 in competitive fanhood: Don't let your hopes and dreams replace your expectations.

*and before you ask, yes, I expected to win. But I expected a hard fought nail biter. We didn't even get that. sigh.
 
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