What Duke’s Loss to Georgia Tech Means for ACC Race

Darian Mensah, however, shone for the Blue Devils, throwing for 373 yards and two scores, establishing himself among the upper tier of quarterbacks in the country.

The loss was a missed opportunity to not only take down an undefeated team in the ACC and rise toward the top of the standings, but it was also a chance to separate themselves from Miami, which fell for the first time this season on Friday night.

Duke's Path to the Top

Miami's 24-21 loss at home to Louisville puts Duke in a prime position to snag one of the top ACC spots and clear a path to the conference title game. The schedule for the Blue Devils gets much better after the upcoming bye week.

The two biggest hurdles remaining on the schedule for Duke are a visit with a Clemson team with four losses already, and a November home matchup with No. 16 Virginia, which has stumbled against both Louisville and Washington State in its past two games.

College football produces wild and unexpected results every week, but it is still difficult to see how Duke finds its way to Charlotte now. Miami has played two fewer conference games than the Blue Devils to this point, but still has to face SMU, which is also in front of Duke in the standings.

Even if Duke were to win out, the team would need some help from teams in front of them losing matchups they will be favored in.

All in all, Saturday was a must-win game, and the loss might have been a death blow to the program's hopes to bring home a conference title for the first time since 1989, and potentially back into a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Duke will have another bye week before facing Clemson on the road. Despite the struggles from the Tigers this season, the roster still has plenty of talent and should not be overlooked as the the Blue Devils look to right the ship.

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