The Duke Blue Devils, rolled to a 10-2 regular season record after two consecutive ACC losses to Pitt and Georgia Tech a season ago. The Blue Devils lost their ACC opener to Miami this season and now must travel to Georgia Tech.  And the Yellow Jackets?   They're  seemingly in the driver's seat in the Coastal Division with wins over the Hurricanes and Virginia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets have been a perpetual thorn in the Blue Devils side not only in the Cut era but for a decade or better.  They run that hard to stop option and you fear injuries when facing them due to their use of the cut block.  With an undefeated record and a national ranking, this seems to be a daunting task for the Dukies.

It's hard to realistically envision a scenario where Duke can lose this game and stay in contention in their division.  In short, do not expect last seasons magic to take place twice if they go to 0-2 in the ACC.

While nobody may talk of it around the Duke Football camp, this has to be one of those games circled on the calendar.  A year ago, the Yellow Jackets literally ran the score up late in their 38-14 win in Durham.  A cold hard fact is that they have a history under their head man of handling the Blue Devils with relative ease.

If that is not enough, some fans remember fiery Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson dissing Duke during their last coaching search for less money in Atlanta.  Duke fans are undoubtedly happy with the way things turned out and having David Cutliffe at the helm, but there has been disrespect. If there is any team that Duke should want to rise up against on their schedule it is clearly Georgia Tech.

For Duke to defeat the Yellow Jackets in their backyard, they will have to control the ball and make few if any mistakes.  With a newfound running game, this can happen, but ironing out wrinkles in the passing game will be the key.

The Blue Devils have had a bye week to aid in getting said passing game going.  Senior quarterback Anthony Boone will have to improve upon his decision-making for that to happen.

A year ago, the Duke passing game struggled a bit early with concern to finding the end zone, but this season the Blue Devils rarely stretch the field.  A week ago Miami forced Duke to throw short and that led to a lot of unsuccessful third down plays.

Last season, Duke was able to correct many weaknesses during the bye week which enabled them to go on a roll.  They need similar results this year to stay in contention for a division title.

David Cutcliffe and Duke Football has shown a trend of resilience of late but will that continue?  The Blue Devils destiny is in their own hands for this weekends match up is huge for the team.

A win over an arch nemesis would be just the shot in the arm the Blue Devils need for their confidence and to show they are a contender.  A loss would seriously damage their hopes to defend their division title.

While a loss would not end Duke Football's ascent to consistent respectability, it would stall the process. The Duke fan base is a mere two years removed from just wanting to get to a bowl game.  However, there is now some expectations for success and that's new to most in Durham.

Duke Football can go a long ways in meeting the new expectations by finding a way to win this weekend.  The team can thwart those comments from some who say they were a flash in the pan.  And this should be a game where they want to show up and play their best football.

Under David Cutcliffe, Duke has beaten every team in their division now with the exception of this weeks opponent.  It's time that Duke finds a way to get over the next hump.

If Duke is to beat Georgia Tech this weekend, it will be because the offense clicks after a bye week.  The Yellow Jackets will grind it out on offense against anyone.  But the one way to take them down to be aggressive on the offensive end.

Make no mistake about it, this is a critical and huge game for Duke Football.  It is clearly their most important game to date this season.  And after this Saturdays result, we'll know a lot more about this team.

The Duke vs Georgia Tech game kicks off at 12:30 this Saturday on the ACC Network.