Who will be the surprise team in the ACC this season?
This answer might surprise you.
Only three teams have won ACC titles since 2011 – Clemson, Florida State and Pittsburgh – but ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel believes that the road to Charlotte in 2023 runs through Durham, North Carolina, home of the Duke Blue Devils.
Clemson, of course, opens the 2023 season at Duke on Monday, Sept. 4.
“How about the road to the ACC title and national relevancy in September goes through Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina,” Thamel said last week during ESPN’s College GameDay show on location at the site of the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City, when asked who will be this year’s ACC surprise team.
“Duke opens Monday night, Labor Day weekend against Clemson. They went 9-4 last year. Riley Leonard was one of the best quarterbacks in the ACC. Came straight out of nowhere. Mike Elko’s done an unbelievable job. Notre Dame visits on September 30th. We could be talking about Duke next season.”
ESPN analyst David Pollack agreed wholeheartedly with Thamel about the Blue Devils, who won nine games last season for the first time since 2014 but haven’t appeared in the ACC Championship Game since 2013 when they lost to FSU 45-7.
“100 percent concur. Completely agree,” Pollack said in response to Thamel. “I think they were the surprise team last year. Nobody paid attention obviously because it’s Duke football. They just want to care about Duke basketball. But they put it together, won a lot of close games. Everybody’s back from that team mostly. I think you build more belief, too, in year two. I completely agree with Pete.”
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
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