Though the schedule says that Duke will play Army Saturday, the Blue Devils will really battle two opponents. In addition to the Black Knights, Duke’s players will face the challenge of overcoming the remnants of the 62-13 drubbing they received at the hands of No. 1 Alabama last weekend.
“We played against the number one team,” freshman Josh Snead said. “They dominated us in all phases of the game, but we feel like with some of the stuff we did we improved a little bit.”
Snead and the rest of the Blue Devils will get a chance to show that improvement in Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Snead in particular has built some nice momentum for the game, after running for 83 yards, at an average of nearly six yards a carry, against the Crimson Tide.
“With my great offensive line we prepared really well to run the ball,” Snead said. “I did a great job of seeing where the cuts were and how to handle certain movements in the line that I can prepare for the rest of the season.”
Against Army, running the ball will be a huge key to success. Snead, Desmond Scott and the rest of Duke’s stable of backs will need to be effective in order to keep the Black Knights’ run-option offense off the field.
Army’s unique scheme could make that difficult, however. The Black Knights favor the Bear-flex defense, an aggressive scheme aimed at stopping the run game.
“Their defensive scheme is very difficult,” head coach David Cutcliffe said. “Everyone talks about the option offense—and it does require a lot of work to get ready for—but it requires a lot of work to get ready for their defense.... They have been very successful instituting this unusual defensive scheme, and not a lot of people do it.”
While Army’s defense will challenge the Blue Devils running attack, Duke’s defense could be in for a long day. The Blue Devils have given up an average of 58 points the past two Saturdays, and have especially struggled against the run. The defense has examined itself, and it is looking for specific things to build from despite its recent difficulties.
“There’s a lot of positive,” senior linebacker Abraham Kromah said. “We learned we need to tackle better, swarm the ball better, get our assignments right. We need to do the little things that we can control.”
If the Blue Devils haven’t learned their lesson, Army’s running backs will be there to teach them.
So far this season, the Black Knights have dominated the ground, averaging over 280 yards rushing per game. While the yards themselves are damaging enough, the mental and physical drains that come with extended time on the field are even more debilitating. Throw in the expected high temperature of 95 degrees, and the Blue Devil defense will have its hands full.
The toughest part of it all may be handling the emotional toll of the confidence-draining defeat on Saturday.
“All athletes get mad,” Snead said. “Especially if you’ve got the winning, competitive nature you’re going to get upset when you lose ballgames.”
To help counteract any distractions, Cutcliffe didn’t give the team much time to dwell on their struggles.
“We had to put it behind us real quickly,” Snead said. “We had to come out the next day and practice. Coach told us that we just got dominated in all phases of the game, and that this week we need to come out and prepare and try to make a statement.”
Recovering from the past two weeks and clawing back to .500 would be a great start.
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