Duke @ Northwestern preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 9, 2017 ) Northwestern 17, Duke 41

Northwestern looks to gain a bit of revenge when it hosts Duke in its home opener Saturday in a non-conference matchup of teams that won their openers. The Blue Devils routed the Wildcats 41-17 in the second week of the 2017 season, outgaining Northwestern 538-191.

Duke is coming off a convincing 34-14 victory over Army in its season opener, with junior quarterback Daniel Jones completing 13-of-17 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown while sophomore running back Brittain Brown rushed 11 times for 75 yards and a score. Jones had a big game against the Wildcats last season, notching only the second 300-passing and 100-rushing yard performance in school history, something Northwestern certainly won't have forgotten. Coach Pat Fitzgerald is hoping for a repeat of his team's defensive performance in the season opener, when the Wildcats had three interceptions in jumping out to a 14-point advantage against Purdue en route to a 31-27 victory. Sophomore running back Jeremy Larkin paced the offensive attack, rushing 26 times for 143 yards and two scores, something Northwestern may try to repeat to keep the Duke offense off the field.

TV: Noon ET, ESPNU. LINE: Northwestern -3

ABOUT DUKE (1-0): The Blue Devils got a big game out of Brown against Army, though it was almost costly as Brown hurt his right knee during a third-quarter run that sidelined him for all but one rushing attempt the rest of the contest. Coach David Cutcliffe said Brown is fine and will play against the Wildcats, which is a big boost for Duke's offense, which will try to be balanced to keep Northwestern guessing. The Blue Devils had a total of 184 yards rushing against the Black Knights, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt, which they will try to repeat against a Wildcats defense that allowed 202 yards on the ground in its opener.

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (1-0): After listing Clayton Thorson and TJ Green as first-team quarterbacks for the opener, Fitzgerald has both listed that way on the depth chart for the Duke game, and both should see plenty of time. The senior Thorson was more productive against Purdue, completing 16-of-26 passes for 172 yards, but Green, a junior, was also solid, hitting on 7 of 11 attempts for 63 yards and leading a non-scoring fourth-quarter drive that took 7:57 off the clock to ice the win. Fitzgerald likes having both quarterbacks at his disposal and has no plans to designate a single starter any time soon.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Duke WR Aaron Young had a big game against Army, making four catches for 114 yards and a score, already a fourth of his reception total from 2017.

2. Northwestern was turnover-free and didn't allow a sack against Purdue, the first time it has accomplished that feat since September 2015.

3. The Wildcats are looking to extend their winning streak to 10 games, which would be the second-longest in school history.

PREDICTION: Northwestern 31, Duke 24