Duke has jumped out to a 2-0 record and will look to build momentum Saturday when it hosts Stanford at Wallace Wade Stadium for the team’s first ACC game of the season. Here are my five keys to the game for the Blue Devils.
1. Which Duke defense shows up?
Duke’s defense looked like it had returned to form in the Week 1 victory over Tulane.
Then it allowed 264 yards and 24 points in the first half against Illinois. The unit tightened its belts in the second half, allowing just 119 yards and 3 points, proving that it’s still capable of stepping up.
This week’s league opener serves as a great test for the group as a whole to put together its second complete performance of 2026.
2. Third-down production
An area the Blue Devils will likely look to improve in this week is in third down production on offense.
Offensive coordinator Johnathan Brewer’s crew went 2/9 on third down versus Illinois.
The attack did, however, convert on both of its fourth down attempts last week, so there’s certainly some hope for Duke on the money downs.
Stanford currently sits at 132nd in the country in third down conversion percentage allowed, so the Blue Devils have a chance to greatly improve in this area this week.
3. Can Walker Eget start stacking games?
Many wrote Duke’s starting quarterback off after a rather lackluster Week 1 performance in Durham.
It didn’t warrant an immediate benching or anything like that, but it did call into question the trajectory of the Blue Devils’ season with him at the helm.
Eget’s Week 2 performance forced any doubters to pump the brakes just a tad bit. The San Jose State transfer completed 15/21 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns.
Now, Eget has an opportunity to begin stacking solid performances. He’ll have a great canvas to work on against one of the worst defenses in the country this week.
4. Penalties
The Blue Devils currently rank tied for 124th in most penalties per game. This has to improve down the stretch as their level of competition increases.
I expect Duke to focus heavily on cleaning this up this week.
5. The secondary
Stanford surprisingly boats the best passing attack by yardage of any team Duke has faced in 2026. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils will trot out the 101st ranked passing defense.
While the Cardinal offense ranks just 45th in passing, it’ll still have an opportunity to expose a Duke secondary that showed holes last week in Champaign.
Duke and Stanford will kick off from Durham at 4 p.m. ET, and the game can be streamed on The CW.
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This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: Duke vs. Stanford: 5 keys to the Blue Devils, Cardinal matchup
