Week One: Florida International versus Duke

Florida International at Duke: This is a matchup between the Florida International Golden Panthers of the Sun Belt and The Duke Blue Devils of the Atlantic Coast Conference. FIU went 8-5 in 2011 and made their second consecutive bowl game losing to Marshall in the St. Petersburg bowl. Duke went 3-9 on the season missing on a bowl game yet again.

Offense: The Duke Blue Devils were slightly below average on offense in 2011 finishing the season ranked 79th overall in the nation with 366 yards per game of total offense. The Blue Devils were horrible at running the ball with only 94 yards per game on the ground and an anemic 3.1 yards per carry average. Duke did find a way to get in the end zone 19 times on the ground. Duke was much better passing in 2011 with 272 yards per game in the air ranking them 28th in the country but were only able to find the end zone 15 times in the air with 12 interceptions. The 22.5 points scored per game put the Blue Devils in the bottom 30 nationally in scoring offense. The Florida International Golden Panthers ended the 2011 season as the 82nd ranked offense in the nation with 360 yards of total offense per game. The Golden Panthers ran for 145 yards per game with a solid 4.0 yards per carry average and 18 rushing touchdowns on the season. The passing offense threw for 214 yards per game with 15 touchdown passes and only 5 interceptions on the season. The Golden Panthers turned the ball over a total of 15 times on the season. FIU only put up 25 points per game ranking them 74th nationally in scoring offense. EDGE: Push

Defense: Duke was not very good on defense in 2011 ending the season as the 92nd ranked defense in the country giving up 425 yards per game on the season. The Blue Devils gave up 180 yards per game on the ground with a 4.9 yards per carry average and 22 touchdowns on the season. The passing game was not much better giving up 244 yards per game and 22 touchdowns while only forcing 6 interceptions and 11 total turnovers on the season. Duke were the 90th ranked scoring defense in the country with 31.2 points allowed per game in 2011. Florida International had a very good defense in 2011 ranking in the top 30 nationally with 344 yards allowed per game on the season. The Golden Panther run defense was tight giving up 118 yards per game and only 3.4 yards per carry on the season. Opponents were able to find the end zone 15 times on the season. The pass defense gave up more in terms of yardage with 226 yards allowed per game but pulled in 3 more interceptions than touchdown passes allowed (14-11). FIU forced 20 turnovers on the season and only gave up 19.5 points per game, ranking the Golden Panthers 14th nationally. EDGE: FIU

Coaching: David Cutcliffe is the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils and is entering his 5th season as the head coach of the Blue Devils. Cutcliffe started coaching in 1976 at Banks HS. After Banks HS, Cutcliffe went to Tennessee, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Tennessee and finally Duke. Cutcliffe was previously a head coach at Ole Miss going 44-29 in 6+ seasons including a 4-1 bowl record and one top 15 finish. Cutcliffe has gone 15-33 in his 4 seasons at Duke. Mario Cristobal is the head coach of Florida International and is entering his 6th season as the head coach. Cristobal started coaching in 1998 at Miami before moving to Rutgers, Miami again and finally FIU. In his 5 years as head coach of the Golden Panthers, Cristobal has gone 24-38 with bowl berths in each of the last two seasons. EDGE: Push

This will be the second meeting between the two schools with Duke winning the only previous meeting 31-27 in 2011.

This is a fairly even matchup that hinges on the ability of Florida International to stop Duke's offense better than they did in 2011. FIU gave up 31 points versus Duke as part of a streak that the Golden Panthers gave up 30+ points in 3 of 4 games. Many experts are predicting big things out of FIU this fall so they have the chance to show in week one that they are what the media built them up to be. Expect FIU to win but it will not be easy and should come down to the 4th quarter. FIU wins by a field goal or so although things could go like last season with Duke pulling out a hard fought win.