Perhaps the greatest challenge of the David Cutcliffe era will take place Saturday when the defending national champions, No. 1 Alabama, storm into Wallace Wade at 3:30 p.m.
Cutcliffe minced no words when analyzing how good the Crimson Tide are.
“In my opinion, they are the most talented team in the country,” he said. “They are a completely balanced football team offensively, defensively and on special teams. They put pressure on you to execute in all three areas.”
The Blue Devils’ offense has been extremely effective so far during the young season, averaging over 44 points per game, but points will probably be more scarce this week. Alabama has allowed only six points thus far this year, and only gave up three against then-No. 18 Penn State last week. Despite the Crimson Tide’s stinginess, Cutcliffe will count on his team’s effectiveness to work again this week, and will not change the offensive attack to combat Alabama.
“Their front seven is big, they’re a tough team,” redshirt-senior tight end Brandon King said. “We need to step up and establish ourselves. They’re good, they’re big and we need to be aggressive. We stress that we are not going to change our game plan for them.”
One of the leaders of Alabama’s physical front seven is defensive tackle Marcell Dareus. Dareus exploded onto the national scene last year, winning MVP of the BCS National Championship Game. Dareus had 6.5 sacks last season, but has missed the first two games this year due to a suspension for illegal contact with an agent.
Also returning this week is reigning Heisman trophy winner Mark Ingram. Ingram, who scored 20 touchdowns while accounting for 1,992 all-purpose yards last year, injured his left knee during preseason workouts and will have not played a regular season down until Saturday.
Although Ingram’s season debut is much anticipated, running back Trent Richardson has competently filled Ingram’s shoes to this point. The Blue Devils are aware of this talented duo.
“We better tackle extremely well,” Cutcliffe said. “I haven’t seen backs break as many tackles as they do.”
Richardson is a physical runner who may win a Heisman trophy of his own some day. After scoring eight touchdowns as a true freshman, Richardson has run for 210 yards in two games as the starter this year. Cutcliffe knows that both running backs are threats to go the distance each time they touch the ball.
“Trent is a lot like Mark,” he said. “They both have lower body strength, are fast, have great vision, and are always gaining yards. [Richardson] is faster than people think, and he has shown against San Jose State that he can take it to the house.”
Under center, the Crimson Tide boast Greg McElroy, a two-year starter who has not lost a game since middle school. McElroy also has not thrown an interception since November 7, 2009, against LSU. He benefits from his favorite target, talented wide receiver Julio Jones.
“[Jones] is a very impressive, aggressive wide-out,” junior safety Matt Daniels said. “He looks for contact and runs great routes. He’s great with yards after the catch. Once he receives the ball, we are really emphasizing gang-tackling.”
Jones, a home run threat, is one of the best wide receivers Duke will face all season. He showed off his explosiveness in last season’s matchup with LSU. Down two points in the fourth quarter, McElroy connected with Jones on a screen pass at the Alabama 27-yard line. Jones got to the sideline and was off to the races for a 73-yard touchdown—nearly all of it yards after the catch. If Duke’s secondary misses a tackle, it could easily be six points on the board for Alabama.
The Blue Devils face this week a team unlike any it has played since Cutcliffe came to Durham. They cannot afford any mistakes against the defending champs—but what if they don’t make many mistakes? Cutcliffe has an answer.
“If we play really, really well, we’re capable of winning this game,” Cutcliffe said.
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