Duke football head coach Manny Diaz James Guillory-Imagn Images

Duke Football Announces Favorable Change to 2025 Schedule

Originally posted on Duke Blue Devils on SI
By Matt Giles | Last updated Apr 9, 2025 10:16 AM ET

The football offseason is a long, drawn-out wait for fans to suffer through before they get to watch their favorite teams compete again. Duke football supporters are in the middle of that seven-month slog. But that wait just got a little bit shorter.

On Tuesday, the Duke football social media accounts announced that the Blue Devils' home opener for the 2025 season has been moved up, now set for Thursday, Aug. 28, instead of the originally scheduled date of that Saturday.

Good news!

The wait for football just got two days shorter pic.twitter.com/vgtlARUeOF
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) April 8, 2025

The change to the season opener, which will see Duke host an in-state FCS program in the Elon Phoenix, did not come with a kickoff time or a television channel designation. Those will be revealed at a later date.

However, the scheduling news should come as both a surprise and benefit to fans, with the offseason now two days shorter before the Blue Devil faithful can once again pack into Wallace Wade Stadium to cheer on the program under second-year head coach Manny Diaz.

Duke currently has five other home games scheduled for the 2025 season, including home tilts against Illinois (Sept. 6), NC State (Sept. 20), Georgia Tech (Oct. 18), Virginia (Nov. 15) and Wake Forest (Nov. 29).

This article first appeared on Duke Blue Devils on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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