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Duke will try and keep pace with Alabama in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff

By Kevin Connelly

WACO, TX - SEPTEMBER 15: Quentin Harris #18 of the Duke Blue Devils scrambles against the Baylor Bears during the first half of a football game at McLane Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
WACO, TX - SEPTEMBER 15: Quentin Harris #18 of the Duke Blue Devils scrambles against the Baylor Bears during the first half of a football game at McLane Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Football team has the daunting task of facing the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday afternoon in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game.

Things don’t normally go well for teams when they face the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Duke Blue Devils try and buck that trend on Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Devils and the Tide meet in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game from the Mercedes Benz Stadium.

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Duke has previously met Alabama in 2010 with the Crimson Tide rolling Duke in Durham 62-13.

Nick Saban‘s team enters the 2019 season off of an embarrassing loss in the National Championship Game last season to the Clemson Tigers and thus are the No. 2 team in the country.

Alabama brings back a lot of talent this season including Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Tua Tagovalioa and wide reciever Jerry Jeudy.

As for Duke, the Blue Devils will undergo a lot of turnover in its roster, most notably losing star quarterback Daniel Jones to the NFL Draft.

Head coach David Cutcliffe will turn to Quentin Harris who started two games last season and saw some action in most games, completing 50% of his passes for seven touchdowns and rushing for five more.

The Blue Devils are also very inexperienced at wide receiver, losing T.J. Rahming and Johnathan Lloyd and will most likely be without projected starter Jake Bobo who suffered an injury in training camp that required surgery.

Next. Game by game predictions for 2019 Duke Football season. dark

While the injury news hasn’t been great this preseason for the Blue Devils, starting linebacker Koby Quansah is lined up to play after suffering a thumb injury earlier in August that required surgery.

It’ll take a lot for Duke to try and keep this game close and competitive with Alabama as the Tide are just far superior on the gridiron to the Blue Devils.

Fans can watch the game Saturday, August 31 on ABC with coverage starting at 3:30pm EST.

PREDICTION: Alabama 45, Duke 13

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