Leading up to Saturday night’s primetime matchup between the No. 4 Florida State Seminoles and No. 16 Duke Blue Devils, perhaps the biggest storyline has been the status of Duke quarterback Riley Leonard.

Leonard, who was hurt three weeks ago during the Blue Devil’s loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, missed last week’s win against the NC State Wolfpack.

Starting in his place was redshirt freshman Henry Belin IV, who went 4 of 12 for 107 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Leonard will be a game-time decision with the team set to evaluate his capability of suiting up after pregame drills.

He has remained limited in practice as the chances of a return in the near future increase.

“He’s been rehabbing like a beast,” a source said. “He’s doing everything he can to get back.”

Leonard’s ankle injury looms large in part because a key aspect of his skill set is running the ball. He is Duke’s second leading rusher with 345 yards and he has four rushing touchdowns. One of the country’s top dual-threat quarterbacks, Leonard has completed 62.7% of his passes this year and has 912 passing yards and three passing touchdowns.

Belin is a redshirt freshman who will be appearing in his fourth game this season and entered the year with 21 snaps.

Florida State Seminoles vs. Duke Blue Devils

Pre-Game Coverage from Tomahawk Nation

• TN Staff Predictions: Florida State Seminoles vs Duke Blue Devils
• How To Watch: Florida State vs. Duke: How to watch, stream, TV info, game notes, odds
• Depth Chart: FSU football releases projected depth chart for matchup vs. Duke
• Line of Scrimmage: Talking Florida State and Duke matchup with Donald Wine of Duke Basketball Roundup
• Seminole Wrap Podcast: What did we learn about FSU in blowout win over Syracuse? How do Seminoles match up with Duke?
• Making the grade: What the analytics say about FSU’s offensive line against CUSE
• 2023 Florida State Schedule Preview: Duke Blue Devils
• College Football Week 8 Picks, DFS Plays & Podcast: B1G matchup in Columbus
• Reacts Survey: Which side of the ball has been FSU’s strength so far in 2023?
• Situational Wednesday: News and Notes from a brisk FSU football practice
• FSU Practice Notes: “No one needs a motivational speech:” FSU back to work as they prepare for a ranked matchup vs. Duke
• FSU Practice Notes: Mike Norvell offers injury updates on Johnny Wilson, Bless Harris, Darius Washington, and Jordan Travis
• Media Monday: “It’s time to take another step:” Mike Norvell and FSU coordinators recap Syracuse win, preview Duke matchup
• Rankings: Week 8 AP Top 25, USA Today Coaches Poll: FSU maintains ranking in both polls
• Florida State is 6-0: Thoughts, analysis after Seminoles’ win over Syracuse-FSU is off to its best start since 2015 — how far can this team go?
• Keon Coleman recognized as one of the ACC Players of the Week
• What went right, what went wrong on defense for FSU in a dominant victory over Syracuse
• What went right, what went wrong on offense for FSU vs. Syracuse
• Realignment News: Florida State and Clemson’s fates are tied together in potential ACC exit: How will this impact conference realignment?
• A BRAND SPANKING NEW RECRUITING THREAD #13 is up- NoleThruandThru and Josh Pick keep you up to date on the LATEST FSU RECRUITING NEWS @ Tomahawk Nation’s hub for all things relating to Florida State football recruiting -OFFICIAL Tribe ‘24 Recruiting and Transfer Portal Thread #13

Florida State Seminoles vs. Duke Blue Devils: How to watch

Date

Saturday, October 21

Time

7:30 p.m.

Watch

ABC

Stream

ESPN

Listen

Seminoles Radio Network, SiriusXM RADIO FSU Broadcast: CH. 82, National Radio (Learfield)

Florida State vs. Duke: Game notes

» Florida State hosts Duke inside a sold-out Doak Campbell Stadium as part of Homecoming activities on the FSU campus in a primetime matchup on ABC. Florida State, which is also celebrating its inaugural Seminole Heritage game, is playing on ABC for the sixth time in seven games this season.

» The Seminoles defeated Syracuse 41-3 last week to improve to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the ACC. The overall and ACC records are FSU’s best start in each category since 2015. Florida State’s defense held the Orange to three points for the second straight game in the series, marking the sixth time in program history the Seminoles held an ACC opponent to three or fewer points in back-to-back games.

» Florida State is No. 4 in this week’s Associated Press poll. It is the seventh consecutive week FSU has been ranked in the top-5, the program’s longest streak since 2013-14 when Florida State was in the top-5 for 27 consecutive polls.

» The Seminoles extended their winning streak to 12 games, the longest active streak in the ACC and the 3rd-longest active streak in the country. During its streak, Florida State has outscored its opponents 506-219.

» FSU has scored at least 30 points in 12 straight games, the longest active streak in the ACC, the 2nd-longest active streak in the nation and the 2nd-longest streak in ACC history, trailing only FSU’s 17 games from 2012-14.

» Florida State is one of two teams ranked in the top-20 in red zone offense and red zone defense. FSU’s offense ranks 8th in the country having converted 95.8 percent of its red zone opportunities into points, and the defense has held opponents to points on 71.4 percent of red zone trips to rank 16th nationally.

» The Seminoles are one of seven teams nationally to have a receiver and a rusher with a three-touchdown game this season. Keon Coleman caught a career-high three scores vs. No. 5 LSU, and Trey Benson tied his single-game career- high with three rushing scores vs. Southern Miss. Coleman is one of 24 receivers nationally with a three-touchdown game this year, and Benson is one of 43 players with three rushing scores in a game.

» Florida State’s defense has faced 35 plays inside their 10-yard line this season and allowed just nine touchdowns. In the 45-24 win over No. 5 LSU, the Seminoles faced 10 snaps inside their own 5-yard line and allowed only two scores. On LSU’s first drive of the game, the Tigers had six plays inside the five-yard line, including four snaps from the 1-yard line, and the FSU defense forced a turnover on downs with a 13-yard sack on 4th-and-1. Syracuse did not have a snap inside the 10-yard line and took only one snap inside FSU’s 15-yard line.

» The Seminoles have scored on 10 of their 12 opening drives of a half this season. In those half-opening drives, Florida State has scored seven touchdowns and three field goals for an average of 4.9 points per drive.

» Florida State made 10 tackles for loss while allowing 0 TFLs, including sacks, in its win at Boston College. It was the first time in recorded program history FSU did not allow a TFL against an FBS opponent and the first time nationally a team had 10 TFLs while allowing 0 against a P5 opponent since Missouri’s 2017 win over Florida. The only other time FSU did not allow a tackle for loss in a game was 2012 vs. FCS Murray State.

» FSU scored 31 points after halftime vs. No. 5 LSU, the most second-half points against a top-5 opponent in program history. It also was the most second-half points nationally against a top-5 opponent in a non-playoff game since September 26, 2020, when Kansas State scored 31 second-half points at No. 3 Oklahoma. That has only happened two other times since the beginning of the 2014 season, both in 2018, when Purdue scored 35 second-half points against No. 2 Ohio State and Ohio State scored 38 second-half points against No. 4 Michigan. The only other team to score at least 31 points in a game against a top-5 opponent this season is Texas’ 34-24 win over No. 3 Alabama.

Odds/lines are subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.