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Duke Football: Kickoff time set for Blue Devils and Alabama Crimson Tide

By Kevin Connelly

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 01: A detail of a pylon during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between the Auburn Tigers and the UCF Knights at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 01: A detail of a pylon during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between the Auburn Tigers and the UCF Knights at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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The kickoff time has been announced for the Opening Weekend showdown between the Duke Football team and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The game that Duke Football fans have been dreaming of, or dreading, finally has a kickoff time and the Blue Devils will be facing Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide at 3:30pm EST on August 31.

The game is in partnership with Chick-fil-A, naturally called the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game and will be held in Atlanta, Georgia at the Mercedes Benz Stadium and also broadcasted on ABC.

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This will be the fifth meeting between the two teams, with last coming in 2010 as the Crimson Tide rolled the Blue Devils 62-13 in Durham in 2010.

Of the five games, only four count since a 2006 win by the Tide was vacated.

Alabama won a 1972 meeting with Duke, but the Blue Devils struck first in the series between the teams all the way back in 1945.

Duke is coming off of a 8-5 season, but went 3-5 in ACC play, however, the season culminated in a victory in the Walk-On’s Independence Bowl over the Temple Owls.

Despite trending in the right direction, Duke will not have key contributors of last season such as Daniel Jones, TJ Rahming, Johnathan Lloyd, Ben Humphreys, Joe Giles-Harris, along with others due to graduation and departing Durham a year early for the NFL.

The Blue Devils offense will be under the direction of Quentin Harris, who filled in nicely for Daniel Jones last season.

Starting just two games, but Harris had 68 pass attempts, Harris completed 50.0% of his passes for 437 total yards, seven touchdowns, and just one interception, in addition to 195 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns in 46 carries.

Unlike Duke, Alabama ended the season with a loss in the National Championship Game again the Blue Devils’ fellow ACC foe, the Clemson Tigers.

The SEC Champions ended the season 14-1 and 8-0 in conference and return one of the Heisman Trophy frontrunners, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Once again, Alabama is a favorite to win the College Football Playoff as well as an extremely heavy favorite to win this game with Duke, but stranger things have happened.

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