Oct 18, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Manny Diaz looks on during the warmups of the game against Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Reliving Duke Football's Tense History With ACC Rival

Originally posted on Duke Blue Devils on SI
By Michael Canelo | Last updated Oct 27, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The Duke Blue Devils are looking to get back on track next week. They lost their previous game, but they are all confident that they will get a win in the next one. This year's Duke team has surprised a lot of people, but they know what they can do and play with the best of them. There is a lot of football ahead of them, and the best is yet to come for this Blue Devils team.

Head coach Manny Diaz is going to get his guys ready. He will have a good game plan, and his team is all in this season. A lot of games to go, and this is when Duke wants to be playing their best football.

Before we get to the next Duke game, we look back in history for this Duke football program to when they beat one of their ACC rivals.

Duke Football History

"While Georgia Tech may have wrecked the Blue Devils’ chance at an ACC title last Saturday, it was the complete opposite scenario roughly 36 years ago," said Caleb Dudley of The Chronicle.

Riding high off a three-game win streak under legendary head coach Steve Spurrier, Duke played host to the Yellow Jackets on Oct. 28, 1989 with a sellout crowd packing the bleachers at Wallace Wade Stadium. Despite the mediocre appearance of both squads — the Blue Devils entered at 4-3 while Georgia Tech was 3-3 — the stakes were high for a Duke group searching for a sliver of national relevance after decades of hardship.

By the end of the game, there was only one player to be discussed: Randy Cuthbert. Or as he was reported to be called that day, “that Cuthbert kid.” That kid certainly put up a stat line that wasn’t child’s play, as the running back dashed for a record 234 yards on the ground while adding eight receptions for 56 yards. By game’s end, the sophomore had accounted for 18 of the Blue Devils’ 30 points as it closed out a victory over a surging Yellow Jacket squad.

Despite the solid play all around, the margins could have been much wider for the home team. Duke turned the ball over four times over the course of the contest, with multiple of those coming deep in Georgia Tech territory. Every time the offense sputtered, the defense was there to clean up the mess, as it held opposing quarterback Shawn Jones to just 139 total yards.

Duke wouldn’t lose again for the rest of the regular season, picking up a share of the ACC crown while its head man in Spurrier won the conference’s Coach of the Year honors. The Blue Devils’ magical season would end in the All-American Bowl, where they fell to Texas Tech 49-21.

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

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