After making an appearance in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll for the first time this season, the Blue Devils are seeking a 5-0 start as they take on Miami Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Sun Life Stadium. Every week throughout the football season, we’ll break down a player on each team who could be the difference-maker in the upcoming contest.
Duke: safety Jeremy Cash
Cash, a tenacious second team All-American safety, leads a confident Duke secondary that is coming off of a strong 47-13 win against Tulane last week. Cash recorded 11 tackles and an interception to spearhead the effort. Having registered 35 tackles—third best on the team—and adding 1.5 sacks to go along with his interception through the first four games of the season, the redshirt junior will need to have a big game again this week as the Blue Devils open up ACC play on the road against Miami. For the Duke defense to come up big on the road—where the team has won six consecutive games—the Miami native will have to lead his fellow defensive backs against an inexperienced but explosive Hurricane passing game.
Through four games this season, Miami true freshman quarterback Brad Kaaya has struggled with consistency, thrown seven interceptions—with at least one in every game—and been sacked eight times. Cash is poised to step up and take advantage of the inexperience on the other side of the line of scrimmage to produce big plays for the defense. If the Blue Devils want to prove that their nonconference results will be indicative of ACC play this season, the secondary will have to keep Kaaya in check and help a young linebacking corp shore up the run defense against the dangerous Duke Johnson.
It may be a homecoming for the defensive captain, but he will have his work cut out for him coming out of the secondary to pressure Kaaya into mistakes and trying to tackle the 206-pound Johnson.
Miami: running back Duke Johnson
Johnson's absence was a major factor in Duke's 48-30 victory against the Hurricanes last year, but the Blue Devils will have to take on Miami with its most talented offensive player this time around. The junior will bring his 6.2 yards-per-carry average and three touchdowns to bear against a Duke defense that is allowing 182.3 rush yards per game, a clip that has the unit ranked 90th out of 124 eligible FBS teams. The Blue Devils ranked 101st last year after allowing 201.54 yards per game on the ground.
Expect the Miami offense to utilize its All-ACC running back to take pressure off Kaaya on the ground and as an option out of the backfield, where Johnson has already recorded eight receptions for 114 yards this season.
If the Hurricanes can establish a solid running game through Johnson, they will be able to take advantage of their speed on the outside using play action and put a lot of pressure on a Duke defense that has only allowed 16 points in the second half this season.
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