Early look at Florida State football’s Week 8 opponent Duke

Florida State’s football team’s second ACC road game will be in Week 8 The Seminoles will play Duke on Friday night.

Also, the Seminoles will be coming off a bye week after their showdown against Clemson. Halfway through the season, the Seminoles will push to return to the ACC Championship.

For Duke, it’s a new era.

Duke went 8-5 last season. Mike Elko then left to be the head coach at Texas A&M. The Blue Devils hired Manny Diaz on Dec. 7, 2023. Duke lost some of its top players from the NFL Draft and the transfer portal.

Its biggest loss was quarterback Riley Leonard, who left to play for Notre Dame.

Presumably, if FSU goes unbeaten, it will be the second straight time the Seminoles start 6-0 entering the Duke game. Here’s what we need to know about Duke.

Who is Duke’s head coach

Manny Diaz will be entering his first season with the Duke Blue Devils. Diaz returns to the ACC after two seasons as a defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Penn State.

Diaz was a defensive coordinator for five teams in 13 seasons before landing his first head coaching job at the University of Miami.

He was let go after three seasons with the Hurricanes. He was 21-15 and 0-2 in bowl games.

Diaz, of course, began his coaching career as a student assistant coach at FSU under Bobby Bowden.

Diaz’s staff at Duke also features former Florida A&M coach – and former Quincy Shanks star quarterback – Willie Simmons.

FSU vs. Duke all-time record

22-0, FSU

Last meeting between FSU and Duke

FSU defeated Duke 38-20 last year on Oct. 21

Duke’s Top Players

Offense: QB Grayson Loftis, 1,006 yards, eight touchdowns, 4 INTs; RB Jaquez Moore, 674 yards, six touchdowns; WR Jordan Moore, 62 rec. 835 yards, eight touchdowns

Defense: Tre Freeman, 127 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, one INT, three passes defended, one forced fumble; 48 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 4.0 sacks, one INT, two passes defended; S Terry Moore, 45 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, two passes defended

Duke’s key losses, additions

Losses: QB Riley Leonard, RB Jordan Waters, OL Graham Barton, OL Jacob Monk, DL DeWayne Carter, DL Aeneas Peebles, DL RJ Oben, LB Dorian Mausi Jr., CB Al Blades Jr., S Brandon Johnson, P Porter Wilson,

Additions: QB Maalik Murphy, RB Al Wooten, RB Star Thomas, WR Javon Harvey, OL Micah Sahakian, OL Michael Barr, OL Caleb Krings, OL Bruno Fina, OL Jack Purcell, OL Eroc Schon, Will Seiler, DL Kendy Charles, LB Alex Howard, DB Tre’Shon Devones

Manny Diaz’s and his Florida State, ACC ties

Diaz has some Seminole in him.

The Miami native is a Florida State alum, and his first coaching role with the Seminoles was as a graduate assistant in 1998 and 1999. Diaz worked under former defensive coordinator Micky Andrews as part of Bobby Bowden’s coaching staff.

During his time at FSU, the Seminoles played back-to-back BCS National Championship games. In 1999, the Seminoles lost to Tennessee 23-16 in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. They beat Virginia Tech 46-29 in the Nokia Sugar Bowl the following year.

Since then, Diaz worked his way to a higher coaching role. After leaving FSU, he stayed in the ACC and joined North Carolina State’s coaching staff for six seasons. (2000-07).

He went from GA to linebackers coach in the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Then, he moved to safeties coach and special teams for two more years for Wolfpack before accepting his first defensive coordinator role at Middle Tennessee.

Diaz is 2-1 against Florida State as a head coach at Miami.

Outlook on Duke

History is not on Duke’s side. The Blue Devils have not beaten the Seminoles in program history. What does help is Diaz’s experience facing them back in his UM days.

Losing Leonard hurts the Blue Devils. Fortunately for Duke, sophomore QB Grayson Loftis saw playing time after Leonard went down with an ankle injury. Loftis played in eight games last year and threw eight touchdowns.

Duke’s first four games are Elon, Northwestern, UConn, and Middle Tennessee. The Blue Devils will open their first ACC game on the road against Georgia Tech and head to their bye week before hosting FSU.

Some can say the Blue Devils are in a rebuilding year. Depending on the season’s development, FSU will likely be a favorite to leave Wallace Wade Stadium with a victory.

• Aug. 24 vs. Georgia Tech *Dublin, Ireland at noon p.m., ESPN

• Sept. 2 vs. Boston College at 7:30 p.m., ESPN

• Sept. 14 vs. Memphis

• Sept. 21 vs. California

• Sept. 28 at SMU

• Oct. 5 vs. Clemson

• Oct. 18 at Duke

• Oct. 26 at (U) Miami

• Nov. 2 vs. North Carolina

• Nov. 9 at Notre Dame

• Nov. 23 vs. Charleston Southern

• Nov. 30: Florida

• Dec. 7: ACC Championship

BOLD = ACC

* = Neutral Site

Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Deep dive on Florida State football’s matchup against Duke