The national spotlight is on Duke this weekend, and it’ll shine its brightest tomorrow in Wallace Wade Stadium.
After years of planning and with decades of history in the backdrop, the young Blue Devils (1-1) will face their biggest test of the season against No. 1 Alabama (2-0) Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
While much of the focus is on the reigning national champions—and the return of the defending Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram—Duke faces its own questions independent of the Crimson Tide after a lackluster finish in its 54-48 loss to Wake Forest last week.
“Because of our performance in the first two games, I’m a whole lot more interested in Duke than I am Alabama coming out of this football game,” head coach David Cutcliffe said. “I have great respect for Alabama, I have great respect for who they are and what they have accomplished, but I have concerns about Duke right now.”
Those concerns start on the defensive side of the ball for the Blue Devils. Duke has conceded 453 yards of offense per game, ranking 105th out of the 120 teams in the FBS. The Crimson Tide are averaging a tidy 500 yards per game to the tune of 36 points per contest and will be sure to test the young Blue Devil defense from the get-go, especially by running the ball.
Alabama utilizes a more traditional offensive scheme than what Duke saw last week from the Demon Deacons, but it has been brutally effective pounding the ball against its opponents. Even in the absence of Ingram for the first two games, underclassmen running backs Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy have totaled 342 yards for five touchdowns. Duke has struggled stopping the run, giving up six yards per carry to Elon in the season opener and over four yards per carry against Wake Forest, and will need to tackle better against the Crimson Tide’s rushing juggernaut.
“We’re playing really good football players, so we have to get more people to the ball,” Cutcliffe said. “We have to get off of blocks, be consistent in... our assignments to have a chance to stop Alabama’s offense.”
Offensively, the Blue Devils have been impressive, but in spurts. The passing game has looked spectacular at times—especially when coupled with Duke’s increasingly consistent running attack—and sophomore wideout Conner Vernon leads the country in receiving yards. But the Blue Devils have also looked stagnant, most notably in the second half against the Demon Deacons when the rain took the luster off a lethal passing offense that had scored 35 points in the first two quarters.
Duke will also have to cut down on its mistakes against the Crimson Tide. Three first half turnovers against Wake Forest led to 21 points and prevented the Blue Devils from building an advantage, and Alabama will be just as quick to capitalize on any blunders.
“I want this team to respond in preparation,” Cutcliffe said. “I want this team to be prepared well enough to win if things fall in their way. Therefore, the total amount of focus is to play as well as we can play.”
Even if Duke can execute its game plan, there is still a mental hurdle of playing likely the toughest opponent the squad will ever face—a Crimson Tide team that hasn’t lost a contest since 2008, when Mountain West underdog Utah beat Alabama by 14 points to capture the Sugar Bowl and cap off a perfect 13-0 season.
But in an always-unpredictable college football landscape, in which Virginia Tech became only the second ranked team to ever lose to an FCS opponent last Saturday, the possibility of a monumental upset is real, even if unlikely.
“They occur, not all that often, but once in a blue moon they occur,” Cutcliffe said. “When you have the chance to be a part of one of those, that’s a pretty great thing.”
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