The Bye Week is in the rear view mirror with the second half of the regular season now front and center. The team utilized the past week to recover from bumps and bruises, and enjoy a little down time with many players traveling home, over the weekend, to visit family and enjoy mom's home cooking. Before taking a look at the six second half opponents, let's recap the first half of the season, look at notable performances and rank the conference.

Recap:

While the lost to Northwestern was disappointing, Duke's 5-1 performance with two conference victories over Georgia Tech and Boston College was outstanding resulting in the Blue Devils being ranked number 21 in the Coaches Poll, number 23 in the AP Poll and sets the team up to compete to be the Coastal Division representative in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte on December 5. All in all, Duke had a very successful first half of the season.

Notable Performances:

Jeremy Cash and Ross Martin are listed as Mid-season All Americans by ESPN and CBS Sports. Cash has been an absolute monster on defense leading the team in Tackles for Loss with 11.5, while Martin has been a perfect 12-12 on field goals and 19-19 on extra points.

Shaquille Powell has been the workhorse everyone expected him to be on offense leading the team in All Purpose yards with 410 (302 rushing/108 receiving).

DeVon Edwards continued to demonstrate explosiveness as a kick returner running two kick-offs back for touchdowns, while averaging 39.7 yards per return.

A question mark coming into the season was who would perform punt return duties. Ryan Smith has answered the question returning 16 punts for 137 yards.

The performance of the defensive unit as a whole has been noteworthy as Duke is ranked number two in the nation in Scoring Defense, number two in Passing Yards Allowed, number four in Total Defense and number 29 in Rushing Defense.

Finally, despite being microanalyzed and at times criticized on every Duke sports website and message board known to mankind, Thomas Sirk's performance has been notable. He leads the team in rushing with 321 yards on 74 carries, while throwing seven touchdown passes against three interceptions. His 264.2 yards Total Offense per game ranks third in the conference.

ACC Power Rankings:

Power rankings are both fickle and constantly shifting. They are fickle due to teams being ranked below teams they have beaten and constantly changing as each week of the season brings surprise results and new developments such as breakout performances and, unfortunately, injuries. Here is how the teams currently line up, at midseason.

1. Clemson
2. Florida State
3. North Carolina
4. Duke
5. Pittsburgh
6. Louisville
7. Miami
8. Georgia Tech
9. Virginia Tech
10. N.C. State
11. Boston College
12. Virginia
13. Syracuse
14. Wake Forest

The Next Six Opponents, What's in Store for the Blue Devils:

Virginia Tech - the Hokies have a reputation as a tough nosed defensive team. The last two seasons saw Duke and Virginia Tech split two games with a combined total of 56 points scored. Duke won 13-10 in 2013 and Virginia Tech won 17-16 in 2014. The 2015 edition of the Hokies is not as tough on defense as they are yielding 23.4 points per game ranking 10th in the conference in Scoring Defense. The key to this game will be for Duke's powerful defense to contain the Virginia Tech running game. The Hokies are 3-0 in games where they rush for more than 200 yards and 0-4 in games where they do not.

Miami - Al Golden inherited a mess when he took over as the 'Canes head coach as the Nevin Shapiro scandal became public. Unfortunately, the fans and alumni have poor memories and are calling for his job, which creates a volatile atmosphere within the program. Miami is a dangerous team with the best quarterback in the ACC in Brad Kaaya and several talented receivers in Rashawn Scott, Herb Waters and Stacy Coley. The Blue Devils defense will have to be at the top of their game against the Hurricanes with the Duke offense providing support by scoring significant points. This will be a tough game.

North Carolina - the Tar Heels are a powerful offensive team, which lead the conference in Scoring Offense at 40.5 points per game. Marquise Williams can effectively pass and run the ball, and tailback Elijah Hood is an elite talent. Add in large, fast receivers Quinshad Davis, Bug Howard and Mack Hollins plus explosive punt returner Ryan Switzer and the result is a team capable of scoring a lot of points as long as they do not self destruct. I say self destruct because Williams has thrown six interceptions sometimes in inopportune situations such as in the Red Zone against South Carolina.

Pittsburgh - the last home game of season features a team that has scored 106 points against Duke the past two seasons. Of course, Duke also scored 106 against the Panthers with the two teams splitting the series 1-1. Pitt won 58-55 in 2013 and Duke won 51-48 in 2014, so 2015 is the rubber game with no one expecting either team to score 50 points. This one should feature a lot more defense.

Virginia - Mike London is on the proverbial hot seat so the looming question for the second half of the season is will the Cavaliers be playing inspired football attempting to save their head coach his job or will they give up and cash in the season? Duke is 6-1 against Virginia in the Coach David Cutcliffe era. Odds are the record will improve to 7-1 in 2015.

Wake Forest - the season finale, on the road, is another game Duke should win. Duke has been very good the past few seasons beating the teams they are suppose to beat. The Demon Deacons have struggled on both sides of the ball so far in 2015 with their inability to score standing out. Wake Forest is last in the ACC in Scoring Offense, while Duke is number one in Scoring Defense.

Final Prediction:

Duke will go 4-2 over the second half of the season to finish the regular season at 9-3 earning a trip to the Pinstripe Bowl in New York City on December 26 to play a Big Ten Conference opponent.

Preview of the Second Half of the Season