Duke fans may recall the Blue Devils’ exciting win over Army last season when cornerback Leon Wright returned two interceptions for touchdowns, and quarterback Sean Renfree provided a spark off the bench after halftime.
That Black Knight team is better this year, however, and even though the Blue Devils won the prior meeting by double digits, they know that Army presents a challenge and is not to be taken lightly.
“I have had the opportunity to coach against Army, Navy and Air Force,” head coach David Cutcliffe said. “They execute, play very hard and they are disciplined.”
Duke will have to be disciplined in order to stop the Black Knights’ option rushing attack, which will come early and often against the Blue Devils’ defense. Last year, Army rushed the ball 57 times for 266 yards against Duke. This year, the Black Knights have 176 rushing attempts compared to only 27 passing tries, and they currently average 283 rushing yards per game. Duke’s defense, on the other hand, has allowed over 220 yards per game on the ground thus far.
Linebacker Damian Thornton knows that the option may appear simple, especially when it is played the majority of the time, but he still says the defense must always remain on its toes—and especially watch for the occassional pass.
“[Linebackers] can be more aggressive, but we still can’t over-pursue,” Thornton said. “We can’t let them hit us with a play-action pass.”
One player to keep an eye on is sophomore running back Brian Cobbs. Cobbs saw action on special teams and as a defensive back last season, but he converted to running back in the spring. He had a breakout performance last week in Army’s showdown with North Texas when he rushed for 75 yards on seven carries.
Cobbs’ recent impressive showing combined with his elite speed draws parallels to Blue Devil running back Josh Snead, who hopes to help improve last year’s rushing numbers against Army, when Duke was held to just 2.2 yards per carry on 32 attempts. Their rushing attack has been much improved in this young season with sophomore Desmond Scott already over 200 yards while Snead boasts over 100 of his own. The Blue Devils must sustain long drives in order to keep its defense fresh against an offense that routinely picks up multiple first downs per drive.
“Our offense is capable of making first down after first down,” Cutcliffe said. “We’ve got to run some ball-control offense against [Army].”
Last season, Duke’s defense was on the field for over 36 minutes—60 percent of the game. The Blue Devils will try to keep their defense off the field to limit the Black Knights’ offensive production.
In order to keep their defense rested, the offense will have to adapt when it faces Army’s unique defensive scheme. The team runs a bear flex defense similar to a 5-3, unlike any other formation that Duke will see this season.
“[The scheme] creates problems with twists and stunts on the defensive line, but they also leave their corners on islands which hopefully will help us,” Snead said.
Last time these teams met, Duke scored 21 points on offense. With its performance so far this season, it hopes for a stronger offensive showing Saturday. Talented wide receivers Conner Vernon and Donovan Varner hope to thrive in single coverage, brought on by the mass of Black Knights near the line of scrimmage.
The Blue Devils’ offensive line has done a good job thus far protecting Renfree, allowing just three sacks. It will have its work cut out for it, though, as the Black Knights have eight sacks already on the season, and they are led by skilled defensive end Josh McNary. Coming off an impressive junior year campaign in which he had 12.5 sacks, McNary has five this season and will look to disrupt the Duke passing attack on Saturday.
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