Duke football improved to a bowl-eligible 6-1 (2-1 ACC) this season and 1-22 in its all-time series against Florida State (1-6, 1-5 ACC) via Friday night’s 23-16 home win.

Speaking of home wins and given the circumstances with FSU, one could argue that the Blue Devils‘ brilliant 15-2 record in the-little-engine-that-could Wallace Wade Stadium over the past three seasons, beginning with Mike Elko’s two-year tenure and continuing with a 4-0 mark in Manny Diaz’s first campaign, is far more meaningful than the program’s first-ever victory over the Seminoles.

After all, 15 home wins matches that total from the last 5.5 seasons of the David Cutcliffe era. And for those admirable Duke football supporters who were in the stands throughout the program’s altogether dismal 1990s and 2000s, note that the Blue Devils tallied only 14 home wins from the beginning of the 1995 season through the end of 2007.

Yes, that’s fewer home wins in one 13-season stretch than the program has recorded since 2022 alone.

“That’s 15-2, Duke’s record at home in the last three years now,” Diaz pointed out to the media following his team’s latest notably resilient winning effort. “And I don’t know where that ranks in the league or where that ranks in whatever. But Wallace Wade is a hard place for an opposing team to come win.

“That’s just what the facts say. And our players, they believe that. They feel great playing at home.”

Well, for comparison’s sake, examine the results of Duke’s closest ACC neighbors.

UNC has lost seven games in Chapel Hill since 2022 while NC State has fallen five times in Raleigh. The Tar Heels have already dropped three home games this season, and the Wolfpack’s 2024 count sits at two.

Consider that UNC’s Kenan Stadium and NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium each has a capacity over 50,000, equating to roughly 50 percent more seats apiece than what is now down to a 35,018-seat Wallace Wade as a result of the Devils Deck construction ahead of this season. Moreover, sellouts at the Triangle’s two largest college football venues are more frequent than in Durham.

Utterly unimaginable until recently, perhaps it’s only a matter of time before sellouts become a common sight for what is currently the only bowl-eligible ACC attraction in North Carolina.

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Looking to ensure a winning season, Manny Diaz’s 2024 Blue Devils encounter their most daunting home test when they welcome No. 21-ranked SMU (5-1, 2-0 ACC) to Durham under the suddenly magical Wallace Wade lights at 8 p.m. ET next Saturday (ACC Network).

Stay tuned to Duke Blue Devils On SI for more Duke football and basketball news.