Florida State was trying to bounce back from losing much of the first half of the season.
Now Duke is coming off its first loss.
The teams meet in a Friday night Atlantic Coast Conference game in Durham, NC
Duke (5-1, 1-1 ACC) hasn’t played since falling 24-14 at Georgia Tech on Oct. 5. The Blue Devils are winless against Florida State in 22 all-time meetings.
Duke coach Manny Diaz said the break came at a good time for his team to regroup.
“Our players were able to refresh themselves as much as you can in the middle of October,” said Diaz.
Florida State (1-5, 1-4), which has lost its last two games, had the same gap of time between games as the Blue Devils. This will be the Seminoles’ second straight game, as they lost 42-16 at SMU on Sept. 28.
“It’s always good to reset,” Seminoles safety KJ Kirkland said. “It also gave us a better chance to look at our opponent.”
Kirkland and his teammates have taken a good look at Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy, who has thrown for 1,431 yards and 14 touchdowns in just five interceptions this season.
“That quarterback is very good,” Kirkland said. “He has a big arm to him. They can run the ball. They do a lot of good things.”
Florida State’s offense needs a shake-up. The Seminoles haven’t scored more than 16 points in a game since a season-opening 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech in Dublin.
Florida State coach Mike Norvell is trying to get the vibes together, so the Seminoles enjoyed playing the music at practice earlier this week in preparation for the Duke game.
“We don’t control the universe, but we control ourselves,” said Norvell. “We’re in control of what we’re doing. We wanted a little bit of a change in that regard. To make sure we bring the energy that’s needed in every single game.”
The Seminoles will be loaded with young players on offense, including redshirt freshman quarterback Brock Glenn. There could be four more freshmen or redshirt freshmen in the starting lineup on that side of the ball.
Diaz said Florida State looked inspired by Glenn, who became the starter in the Oct. 5 game against Clemson, when he threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
“More than anything, it feels like the team has fire and energy behind him,” Diaz said.
Florida State defeated Duke 38-20 last October in Tallahassee, Fla., outscoring the Blue Devils 21-0 in the fourth quarter.
–Field Level Media
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