Northwestern seeks payback against Duke after opening lakefront stadium with win

Duke (1-0) at Northwestern (1-0), Friday, 9 p.m. ET (FS1)

BetMGM College Football Odds: Northwestern by 2½.

Series record: Duke leads 13-10, including 7-4 in Evanston.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Northwestern seeks payback for a 38-14 loss at Duke last season. The Wildcats opened their temporary lakefront stadium by beating Miami (Ohio) 13-6 on Saturday. Duke is looking for a 2-0 start under first-year coach Manny Diaz, along with some improved offensive efficiency after a 26-3 win against Elon to start the season.

KEY MATCHUP

Duke’s defensive front against Northwestern’s blockers. The Blue Devils had a national-best eight sacks during the weekend games. Their 16 tackles for loss against Elon were the most for Duke since 2007.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Duke: QB Maalik Murphy. The Texas transfer had a solid start in his Duke debut by throwing for 291 yards and two touchdowns. But he repeatedly missed deep as he pushed the ball downfield, going 3 for 14 on passes of at least 15 yards. The Blue Devils were close on multiple of those throws to snagging a big play, and it would help to have a better connect rate against the Wildcats.

Northwestern: QB Mike Wright: The Mississippi State transfer led three scoring drives after winning a preseason competition for the starting job. Wright completed 18 of 30 passes for 178 yards. He also ran for 65 yards and a touchdown, but he lost a fumble at the goal line trying to score late in the first half.

FACTS & FIGURES

Duke has won five straight meetings with Northwestern dating to 2017, after the Wildcats took eight of nine from 1999 to 2016. … The Blue Devils had no accepted penalties against them in the opener, putting them alongside Kansas State as the only penalty-free teams in the Bowl Subdivision ranks after Week 1. … The Friday night game is the first of two for Northwestern, the other coming at Maryland on Oct. 11. … The Wildcats sacked Miami’s Brett Gabbert four times, including two by Mac Uihlein. … Northwestern has won five straight games, its best streak since winning six in a row from 2019 to 2020.

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