What does Duke football need to do to win the ACC?

Duke football is now 2-0 and on the season and should move to 4-0 with its next matchups at home against UConn (1-1) and at Middle Tennessee State (1-1). It then moves into its conference slate with three straight games against North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Florida State.

The ACC is looking to be a little weaker than the media was expecting coming into the preseason. Florida State, which was ranked #10 in the preseason AP Poll, is now 0-2 and looks completely unraveled. Virginia Tech also got a lot of preseason buzz as a possible sleeper team but lost its opening game against Vanderbilt, so it is yet to be determined what the Hokies bring to the table as well.

There are several schools in that middle ground, meaning the programs have potential to be contenders, but have yet to really prove it. These include the likes of North Carolina State, Syracuse, and Clemson. In the most recent AP Poll, The ACC has four teams ranked. #10 Miami, #19 Louisville, #22 Clemson, and newest member #24 Boston College.

Duke did not receive any votes in the poll.

Once the conference slate starts, Duke faces North Carolina, Florida State, SMU, and Virginia Tech at home. These are all winnable games for the Blue Devils, as all of these programs besides the Tar Heels are top ten in the conference in points allowed. The Blue Devils sit at fifteenth as it's proven to be a defensive powerhouse through its first two games under Manny Diaz.

On the road, Duke will face Georgia Tech, NC State, and Wake Forest. Its most daunting game of the season comes against Miami in Coral Gables in the middle of that schedule, as the Hurricanes are looking like one of the best teams in the country and quarterback Cam Ward looks like a Heisman contender.

If the Blue Devils can manage to go undefeated at home, which is a realistic possibility, it will put itself in a great position to finish at the top of the conference. On the road, Georgia Tech and NC State match up similarly to Duke as defensive-minded squads.

It seems inevitable this Duke front seven on defense will continue to be one of the more explosive and impactful in the ACC, which will need to be the case for Duke to truly compete against the likes of Miami and Wake Forest, two teams who have the ability to run up its total. From there, offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer is still trying to find the right schemes to work with quarterback Maalik Murphy's strengths and put the rest of the skill players on that offense in the best position to succeed.

Running back Jaquez Moore left Friday night's contest in a walking boot after suffering an ankle injury, and it is still unclear the severity of the injury or the timetable of his return. In the meantime, Star Thomas will be looking at the bulk of the carries in the backfield. Thomas tallied seventeen carries for 58 yards against the Wildcats.

All in all, Duke needs to protect its home field and pick off a few of its opponents at the top of the conference on the road to bring home its first ACC Championship since 1989. The offense still has some growing pains and is far from being completely polished, but these next two games for Duke will be prime opportunities to hone that part of the game in. More importantly, there were more than enough self-imposed errors that hurt the Blue Devils that simply can't happen if it's going to contend. The muffed punt returns, the errant throws, and the fumbles late in the game won't come at such a lenient cost once conference play heats up.