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Duke Football: Blue Devils ready for big challenge without star players

By Kevin Connelly

EVANSTON, IL- SEPTEMBER 08: Johnathan Lloyd #5 of the Duke Blue Devils celebrates his touchdown with his teammates against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half on September 8, 2018 at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL- SEPTEMBER 08: Johnathan Lloyd #5 of the Duke Blue Devils celebrates his touchdown with his teammates against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half on September 8, 2018 at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images) /
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It’s Week Three in the College Football season and Duke Football is ready for life without Daniel Jones and Mark Gilbert for the time being as they take on the Baylor Bears.

It’ll be an uphill challenge for Head Coach David Cutcliffe and the rest of the Duke Blue Devils as they head down to Waco, Texas to face the Baylor Bears on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams are entering this game at 2-0 on the season and have yet to play a conference game, despite the Blue Devils having faced much tougher opponents than the Bears.

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However, the Blue Devils will line up a little different this Saturday with the absence of quarterback Daniel Jones and cornerback Mark Gilbert.

Both players were injured over the win against Northwestern, Jones suffered a broken clavicle which he had surgery on and will be out indefinitely.

Gilbert on the other hand suffered a hip injury and also underwent surgery but he has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.

It’ll be Quentin Harris starting as the Duke signal caller and he will have the luxury of going up against a Baylor defense that is not very strong. The Bears surrendered 27 points to FCS Abilene Christian and then 20 points to the University of Texas at San Antonio in the first two weeks of the season.

The Blue Devils should rely heavily on their running game on Saturday with the combination of Brittain Brown and Deon Jackson, who have rushed for a combined 186 yards and two touchdowns in the first two games of the season.

As for the Duke defense, it’ll be up to the front seven to make up for the loss of All-ACC cornerback Mark Gilbert with creating pressure on whoever Baylor starts at quarterback, Charlie Brewer or Jalan McClendon.

This game will truly be a test of the depth of Duke and how well David Cutcliffe has developed his players and if they are ready to compete at a high level.

The injuries have caused Duke to come into this game around a 6 point underdog, which seems very generous to a Baylor team that has yet to truly prove anything this season.

The Blue Devils will cater the playbook to Quentin Harris’ strengths and the tenacious front seven will be in the Baylor backfield all day long led by Joe Giles-Harris and Ben Humphreys.

PREDICTION: Duke 27, Baylor 23

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