Once again, Duke is set to face a talented ACC team looking for revenge.
For the second straight year, the Blue Devils (1-6, 0-4 in the ACC) will face a Florida State team coming off a rare conference loss. The No. 11 Seminoles (5-1, 3-1) come to Duke following a 26-21 defeat at Virginia Oct. 15. Last week the Blue Devils fell 35-10 to Georgia Tech, which was bouncing back from an Oct. 6 loss to N.C. State.
Duke has struggled greatly in its ACC matchups thus far, losing by an average of 36.5 points. The offense has been especially paltry, averaging fewer than 165 yards per game while totaling four more punts than first downs in conference play. These difficulties, however, have come against the cream of the ACC crop-every team Duke has played has been ranked in the AP top 25 this season.
The Blue Devils have managed to stay competitive early against ACC teams, as they did last week, leading the Yellow Jackets 10-7 at halftime. A week after a loss at Maryland last year, heavily-favored FSU started slowly against the Blue Devils and only led by two at halftime. Duke head coach Ted Roof, however, said he does not know if catching the Seminoles after a loss is favorable.
"I could drive myself bananas trying to figure that out, and I really can't control anything about Florida State," Roof said. "Coach [Bobby] Bowden will have his team ready to play, he always does. My focus and our focus is just trying to get us better, get us working to improve and get through these tough times together."
Last week, FSU's defense had trouble containing elusive Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans, who threw for more than 300 yards in a performance Bowden said was reminiscent of Michael Vick.
Although Roof said Duke freshman quarterback Zack Asack has "a little mobility," he did not think the Cavaliers exposed any specific deficiencies the Blue Devil offense could exploit.
"I think they are one of the best defenses around," Roof said. "They are extremely aggressive, they tackle well and play extremely hard. I really don't see any weaknesses in that group."
Asack is the clear-cut choice at quarterback, as junior Mike Schneider will not play after suffering internal injuries to his chest against Georgia Tech.
The injury-riddled Blue Devils will benefit from the return of freshman running back Re'quan Boyette and junior defensive tackle Brian Sallee, but are still missing wide receivers Jomar Wright and Ronnie Elliot and running back Cedric Dargan.
In addition to missing two of his top receivers, Asack may not have enough time in the pocket to improve on his performance last week-the freshman had two interceptions and one fumble in the third quarter against Georgia Tech. The Seminoles rank fourth in the nation with 24 total sacks, while Duke has given up the most sacks in the ACC.
"If they are bringing heat from the outside, we have to get the ball to the receivers faster because this is a fast team," Asack said. "Lineman just have to do their assignments and we just have to play the game."
The Seminoles' passing attack was expected to be their offensive weakness, but redshirt freshman Drew Weatherford has led the top passing offense in the ACC. Weatherford, however, has made some rookie mistakes-including three interceptions in the loss to Virginia-and Roof said the Blue Devils would try to pressure the redshirt freshman.
"You want to change the picture for him and do some different things to try to attack different protections because some teams have been able to get some pressure on him," Roof said. "We just can't let the ball go over our heads, that's one of the big keys for our secondary on Saturday."
In order to have a chance against the "Criminoles"-as one Duke unit called FSU in its post-practice rally, referring to the program's history of off-the-field issues-Roof said the Blue Devils must avoid early mistakes and keep hanging around as they did last year.
"We really need to work the clock," Asack said. "They can really score points so if we can control the game and by the end of the game have more time of possession, it will definitely work to our advantage."
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