FSU football: Noles near two touchdown betting favorites over Duke

No. 4 FSU football dismantled the Syracuse Orange 41-3 Saturday afternoon to improve their record to 6-0 and remain atop the ACC standings.

They’ve played arguably the two most talented teams on their schedule but will welcome one of the best-coached teams to Tallahassee for a primetime showdown against the No.17 Duke Blue Devils.

Duke’s only loss was against Notre Dame, where they were one tackle away from remaining undefeated.

However, they lost their starting quarterback, Riley Leonard, at the end of that game with a high ankle sprain, and the question remains if he’ll play or be close to 100 percent healthy if he can play.

As a former college athlete, I’ve had a high ankle sprain, and it’s not something that heals overnight. Nevertheless, FSU will be near two touchdown betting favorites over the Blue Devils at -13.5. The over/under points total is 49, which implies a 31-17 victory for the Noles.

Duke got the benefit of a bye-week and a mediocre NC State team that allowed them to take a conservative approach to get the win against an in-state rival. Duke only ran 42 plays, 12 passes, and 30 rushing attempts against NC State.

They forced NC State’s offense to execute long drives that ate up the clock, but ultimately got stops to force punts. Duke hasn’t allowed more than 21 points in any game this season, but they haven’t faced an offense with the talent or QB play FSU possesses.

FSU football has never lost to Duke in 19 contests, with the 2020 COVID season being the last time the two teams faced one another. That was Mike Norvell’s first season at FSU, and Duke’s Mike Elko wasn’t a head coach yet.

It should be a solid game, especially if Riley Leonard can play. If not, it should be more of FSU blowing the doors off another team. It might be that anyway because, while Duke is well-coached, there’s still a significant talent gap.