Duke’s 2010 season took a turn for the worse after a shellacking at the hands of then-No. 1 Alabama. The 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mark Ingram, missed the first part of the season with a knee injury, but showed no signs of rust in his return, as he shredded the Blue Devil defense for 119 yards and two scores in the first quarter. On Saturday, Duke’s defense hopes to have a better performance containing one of this year’s Heisman Trophy contenders, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.
The Blue Devils have their work cut out for them, as they have not beaten a ranked team since November 1994, but they are convinced that last year’s embarrassing result on national television has taught them a lesson.
“[Having that experience] will make it easier,” starting cornerback Ross Cockrell said. “There’s no way that you can prepare for an Alabama-type team during the week without having seen them before…. We’re ready for it and we’re more settled in our attitude.”
Cockrell and the rest of the defense will have to maintain their composure as they face a very potent offense led by Luck. Duke faced two signal callers last year who went on to the NFL—Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor and Alabama’s Greg McElroy—but the Blue Devil players realize Luck is in another league. In addition to completing over 70 percent of his passes as a redshirt sophomore last year, Luck was also the second-leading rusher for the Cardinal.
“Andrew Luck brings a whole different thing,” linebacker Kelby Brown said. “He’s a true pocket passer but he’s also a great athlete. He can run in the open field. We’re going to have to keep him contained in the pocket and try to get some pressure on him.”
The defensive front will have to do a better job of generating pressure against No. 6 Stanford than it did against Richmond. Although senior captain Charlie Hatcher and his fellow defensive linemen hurried quarterback Aaron Corp several times last week, they failed to record a sack. The pass rushers will play a pivotal role in Duke’s ability to keep the Cardinal offense in check.
Ball control will be crucial for the Blue Devils, who will need to keep the Stanford offense on the sidelines. That could be more difficult for Duke without two of its top three running backs, including last year’s leading rusher Desmond Scott. This week, Juwan Thompson, who combined with Scott for 168 yards on 26 carries against the Spiders, will be counted to shoulder the load this weekend in just his second career start.
Duke must put points on the board as well to keep pace with a Cardinal offense that scored 57 points in its opening matchup against San Jose State. Blue Devil quarterback Sean Renfree threw for over 300 yards in five games last year, so he has proven his ability to have big games. However, in 2010, he played poorly against his strongest competition, failing to get into a rhythm against top-ranked Alabama and completing just 17-of-37 attempts.
If the outcome is to be different this time around, Renfree will have to stay comfortable and find his playmakers, Conner Vernon and Donovan Varner, to reach the end zone. Each wideout has seven career 100-yard games to his name, but the pair combined for just seven catches in the Alabama game last year. The Blue Devils will need their dynamic receiving duo to step up in a big way in order to keep pace with Stanford.
Although they know it is a tall task, Duke’s players are looking forward to the challenge.
“You can win every game you play,” offensive lineman Dave Harding said. “I expect to go to a bowl game still. I know the rest of the team does. It’s tough, but our expectations have not changed.”
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