Elon vs Duke Prediction College Football Picks 8/30/24

The Elon Phoenix and the Duke Blue Devils meet Friday in college football action from Wallace Wade Stadium. Here’s an Elon vs Duke prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Elon vs Duke pick. We will examine:

The Elon Phoenix recent form and player performance

The Duke Blue Devils recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Elon Phoenix

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Duke Blue Devils

Recent betting trends in games played between Elon and Duke

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Elon vs Duke game

Elon Phoenix Betting Preview

The Phoenix were barely able to keep their heads above the .500 mark last year, going 6-5 overall with a better 6-2 result in CAA matchups. Elon only finished in fifth place among a tough conference though, behind Albany, Villanova, Richmond and Delaware.

Elon gets head coach Tony Trisciani back at the helm this season for his sixth year. Wide receiver Chandler Brayboy is back as well. He was able to post 30 catches for 589 yards and four TDs along with 430 kick return yards last season.

Duke Blue Devils Betting Preview

Over on the Duke side, they had some successes here and there in 2023. The Blue Devils ended up with an 8-5 overall record and a 4-4 run in ACC games, finishing tied with North Carolina and Clemson for conference performance. Duke won their Birmingham Bowl matchup versus Troy 17-10 to finish strong.

It’s a new era at Duke in 2024 as Manny Diaz steps into the head coaching slot. He takes over a Blue Devils team that finished near the bottom of the ACC with 348.1 yards of offense per game last year. The defense ranked seventh in the conference with 354.6 yards per game allowed, however.

Why the Duke Blue Devils will win

• Duke has won each of its last 11 home games against non-FBS teams.
• Duke has covered the spread in seven of its last eight home openers as a favorite.

Total Points Facts

• Five of Duke’s last six games as a favorite have gone OVER the total points line.

Matchup/League Facts

• Duke ranked 16th among FBS teams for H1 points allowed per game last season (9.1).
• Duke ranked T16th among FBS teams for H2 win percentage last season (.692).

Elon vs Duke Prediction

I’ll stick with Duke. The Blue Devils are getting used to success on the football field these days, as they’ve gone a much-improved 17-9 over the past two seasons. Duke should be a lot of fun to watch under the aggressive defense-minded Diaz, who blitzed at the third-highest rate in the country (57.9 percent) last year with Penn State. It takes a strong secondary to pull that off, which Duke does have.

On the downside, Duke has a host of new players in other areas who need to prove themselves. There will be a learning curve and some growing pains for this team early on, but this is quite the favorable matchup to open the season with.

Andrew Jett's Pick: Duke Blue Devils -23.5